Currently, a registered sexual offender convicted for rape and possession of child porn is member of the InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS). With that, they are able to attend meetings of the C++ standards committee (WG21) and their subgroups in person.

In that situation, multiple people see themselves as unable to attend those meetings. This is out of fear of being harassed or assaulted, or that some trauma might get triggered. Said group is diverse and includes many women, who are vastly underrepresented in WG21. However, other minorities are closely watching how WG21 deals with this issue and will adjust their involvement in the standardization process accordingly.

While the convict has served time and is allowed to participate in society as a whole, this does not exempt individual groups like WG21 and INCITS from making their own explicit choices. Actions, especially violent ones like sexual assault, always have consequences beyond legal repercussions.

The choice WG21 has is between an individual convicted felon and diversity and inclusivity. There is no third option, as inaction is a decision for the status quo and the convict.

Therefore, these are our pleas:

1. We ask WG21 to ban the convict in question from attending meetings in person as soon as possible. This does not exclude them from the standardization process through papers or mailings, and from attending meetings virtually.
2. We ask the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), to clarify, amend, and/or change their rules to enable WG21 to execute the ban mentioned in #1. ISO rules should not be an excuse for WG21 to choose sexual offenders over diversity.
3. We ask INCITS to terminate membership of the convict or ban their in-person attendance of ISO working group meetings through other means, by changing their membership rules, if necessary, at least until WG21 has executed the ban mentioned in #1.
4. We ask WG21, ISO, and INCITS for transparency and publicly report their progress of #1, #2, and #3, respectively.
5. We ask WG21 to immediately switch to virtual-only meetings until #1 is implemented, so that women and other minorities can participate in the meetings without fear.