26 April 2006
FREE EXPRESSION STILL UNDER SIEGE
Five months after the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) focused international attention on the host country Tunisia's poor human rights record, freedom of expression remains well below international standards, a fact-finding mission by the IFEX Tunisia Monitoring Group (TMG) has found.
"Freedom of expression continues to be heavily repressed in Tunisia since the [November 2005] WSIS and the Tunisian government has not only failed to improve the situation substantially, it has increased restrictions on human rights defenders, judges and some independent journalists," said Francesco Diasio of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), a member of the fact-finding mission.
Three members of the TMG - AMARC, the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (HRInfo) and the World Press Freedom Committee (WPFC) - visited Tunisia from 18 to 22 April 2006, where they met with government officials and Tunisian civil society representatives. The aim of the mission was to monitor freedom of the press, expression, and association, and related human rights issues. A follow-up report on the mission will be available soon at http://campaigns.ifex.org/tmg.
The TMG notes that while some small-circulation newspapers now carry more balanced reporting on local issues, the larger circulation official press continues to lack balance. Journalists interviewed by the TMG asserted that self-censorship due to government intimidation and pressure is still rampant.
Civil society organisations - even those legally recognised - continue to be harassed by plain-clothes police. Opposition activists are often blocked from reaching meetings and gatherings. They have reported that they are constantly under surveillance and their organisation websites are monitored and blocked.
Although journalist Hamdi Jebali and six young Internet users known as the Youth of Zarsis were released in February 2006, they continue to face harassment and are denied work.
During the mission, TMG members were denied a prison visit with Mohammed Abbou, a lawyer and human rights activist, who has been jailed for expressing criticism of the government on the Internet. Government officials informed the TMG that the planned visit to Abbou was unlawful. However, members of the TMG accompanied Abbou's wife, Samia, on her weekly trip to El-Kef, where Abbou is being detained. Madame Abbou was allowed a 15-minute visit. She has faced repeated harassment for speaking out about her husband?s case.
Tunisian government representatives have repeatedly claimed that Abbou and dissidents are "menaces to public order." The TMG is concerned with the arbitrary imprisonment of opposition activists deemed by authorities to be a threat.
For more information on the TMG, visit: http://campaigns.ifex.org/tmg/
Visit these links:
- AMARC: http://www.amarc.org
- HRInfo: http://www.hrinfo.net/en/
- WPFC: http://www.wpfc.org/index.html
- Tunisia's Rights Record under Scrutiny: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4450474.stm
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