13 July 2005

RSF REPORT SLAMS TUNISIA'S HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD


Don't believe the "positive news" Tunisia is spreading in the international media about its human rights record as it prepares to host the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in November 2005, says Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF).

Censorship in the North African country is alive and well, and claims by President Ben Ali that his government respects press freedom are "nothing but a subterfuge."

The IFEX member has released a new report highly critical of Ben Ali and his government's treatment of human rights defenders, independent journalists and others who criticise authorities.

The report details the findings of a 2-6 June 2005 fact-finding visit to Tunisia, where RSF met with journalists, human rights defenders and trade union leaders.

"Information pluralism does not exist," says RSF. "The so-called liberalization of the audiovisual media is a falsehood, and administrative censorship is still used to prevent the creation of independent media outlets."

RSF's findings mirror those of the IFEX Tunisia Monitoring Group (TMG), whose members visited Tunisia last January and released a 60-page report outlining serious concerns for freedom of expression in the country (see: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/64665/). The TMG

Visit:
- RSF Report on Tunisia: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=14347
- IFEX TMG: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/50685/
- IFLA/FAIFE Protests Book Bans:
http://www.ifla.org/faife/news/2005/Tunisia-Pr-08072005.htm
- Amnesty International: http://web.amnesty.org/library/eng-tun/index
- WSIS: http://www.itu.int/wsis/


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Also from the Communiqué, 13 July 2005

INTERNATIONAL: 2005 TURNING INTO DEADLY YEAR FOR JOURNALISTS: IPI 12 July 2005 TIBET (CHINA): RSF DECRIES CONTINUING CRACKDOWN ON FREE EXPRESSION 13 July 2005 RUSSIA: PUTIN URGED TO END IMPUNITY IN JOURNALISTS' MURDERS 13 July 2005 PERU: ATTACKS ON JOURNALISTS INCREASING 13 July 2005 BRAZIL: JOURNALIST MURDERED 13 July 2005 INTERNATIONAL: ETHIOPIA: NEWSPAPER DISTRIBUTOR DETAINED 13 July 2005 NEPAL: EIGHT IFEX MEMBERS JOIN INTERNATIONAL MISSION TO NEPAL 13 July 2005 INTERNATIONAL: IFJ OFFERS CAMPAIGN TOOLKIT ON CRIMINAL DEFAMATION 13 July 2005 INTERNATIONAL: MISA TO HOLD AGM AND CONFERENCE IN NAMIBIA 13 July 2005 INTERNATIONAL: RORY PECK AWARDS 13 July 2005

Tunisia

Judicial confusion puts press freedom in peril 14 May 2012 Clashes erupt outside national TV station after talk of privatizing state media 26 April 2012 Police attack journalists covering protest 11 April 2012 Seven-year prison terms handed down for mockery of Islam 9 April 2012 Al Jazeera journalist expelled from meeting, attacked 27 March 2012 See all alerts: Tunisia


North Africa

EGYPT: Police shutter Al-Alam's Cairo office 16 May 2012 MOROCCO: Rapper sentenced to one year in prison for criticising police 14 May 2012 ALGERIA: Crackdown on protest as election nears 9 May 2012 EGYPT: Two journalists report being brutalised in custody 8 May 2012


 
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