Zainab Mineeia
26 September 2008
Washington — Journalists and human rights activists in Tunisia are regularly imprisoned and harassed for criticising the government of President Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali's policies, according to a new report released this week by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York-based watchdog.
The report explains the role of the Tunisian government in imposing extensive restrictions on journalists' coverage of news which it considers offensive to the president. The government also bans and tightly regulates the licensing of print and broadcast media for those who are not considered allies to Ben Ali's government, explained the 10-page report authored by Middle East and North Africa Programme Coordinator Joel Campagna.
Slim Boukhdhir is one of several Tunisian journalists who faced the hardships of Ben Ali's government after criticising the president and alleged corruption. Boukhdhir was working for a Tunisian newspaper, Akhbar al-Jumhuriya, and, in a piece published on-line, had accused Ben Ali and his family of nepotism for funnelling state money to a private school run by a niece. Boukhdhir was dismissed from his job, but was not discouraged and kept writing.
On another occasion, Boukhdhir was assaulted in downtown Tunis by secret police after writing an article criticising the business practices by Ben Ali's son-in-law.
In November 2007, the authorities sent Boukhdhir a stronger message. The police stopped his taxi on his way from Sfax to Tunis and ordered Boukhdhir out of the vehicle. He was accused of insulting the police, which he strongly denied.
After being arrested, Boukhdhir was punched several times and accused of being a covert U.S. agent, the CPJ report said. Subsequently, Boukhdhir was sentenced to a year in prison for "insulting a public employee" and his unwillingness to hand over identification to the police.
"They sent him to prison to terrorise him," said the CPJ report, quoting a human rights lawyer, Mohamed Abbou. Abbou, who also served time in prison for criticising Ben Ali in on-line articles.
After an intensive international campaign by journalists and press freedom groups, including CPJ, Tunisian authorities released Boukhdhir in July, citing good behaviour.
In another government clampdown, International Association for the Support of Political Prisoners (AISPP) member Tareq Soussi was arrested more than three weeks ago after giving an interview to the pan-Arab satellite TV station Al-Jazeera.
Soussi is now facing a possible three-year jail sentence for "spreading false news liable to disturb public order."
The 48-year-old Soussi was ordered released by an appeals court yesterday, but still faces prosecution on the charges, according to Reporters Without Borders.
Human rights organisations have condemned actions by the government against a number of journalists and activists and urged U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to press the subject during her visit to Tunisia earlier this month.
"On her first official visit to the country, Rice should make clear that if Tunisia's record on civil liberties were to equal its economic performance, people like Tareq Soussi would be free to monitor human rights instead of sitting in a jail cell for speaking on television," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, on the eve of Rice's visit to Tunisia
Declaring Soussi a prisoner of conscience, Amnesty International condemned his trial as unfair and campaigned for his release. Amnesty International considered the sentence "another attempt by the authorities to stifle peaceful criticism."
The Tunisian president, along with his family, enjoys complete control of the economic and political life in the country. When then-Prime Minister Ben Ali deposed former Tunisian president Habib Bourguiba in 1987, Tunisians felt a sense of optimism as political prisoners were freed and elections were promised.
"From 1987 to 1989 there was a kind of political spring in Tunisia," CPJ quoted Rachid Kechana, the editor of Tunisia's opposition weekly newspaper Al-Mawkif. "There were elections coming up and people thought they were experiencing pluralism. But it was a deception. After this, the state became more authoritarian and the press was the first casualty."
A 2007 U.S. State Department report found that even nominally private media take direction from senior government officials and "all media were subject to significant governmental pressure over subject matter."
"Known across the world for its stunning beaches and tourist locales, Tunisia quietly operates a police state at home," said the CPJ report. "The print press does not criticise the president and is largely paralysed by self-censorship. The few critical voices who do write on the Internet, for foreign publications, and low-circulation opposition weeklies are regularly harassed and marginalised by the Tunisian authorities."
In May, Ben Ali was quoted in Reuters defending his record with the press, which CPJ called "disingenuous".
"We have constantly considered freedom of expression as a fundamental human right," Ben Ali said. "We reiterate our call to redouble efforts ... to diversify and enrich spaces of dialogue in the various media to guarantee developed and audacious national information ... away from all forms of self-censorship and external censorship."
Tunisia has strong relations with the U.S and has been praised for its stance against Islamic militant groups, its economic growth and support for women's rights. Yet Tunisian independent journalists consider the government to be "murderers" who killed the profession, according to Taoufik Ben Brik, a 48-year-old independent journalist.
CPJ has called on Tunisia and the U.S. government to implement changes to bring the country's practices in line with international standards.
"State publicly that the Tunisian government has a duty under internationally recognised norms of free expression to ensure media freedom and pluralism, including the dissemination of diverse views and opinions critical of prevailing state policies," CPJ recommended to Tunisian authorities.
The report also called on the U.S. to publicly and privately raise their concerns about "harassment, intimidation, and censorship of independent journalists" in high-level contacts with the Tunisians.
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