Washington, DC — The arrest on 26 June of Sihem Ben Sedrine, journalist and spokesperson for the National Council of liberties in Tunisia (CNLT), has yet again focused international attention on the political situation in Tunisia. The arrest was condemned as a flagrant violation of civil liberties by several human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Federation of Human Rights which put the number of "political prisoners" in Tunisia at 1000.
Ben Sedrine's arrest also triggered a series of demonstrations in several European cities over the weekend and spurred the ruling Socialist Party in France, which still has strong economic and political ties with its former North African colony, to call for more repect for people's rights in Tunisia.
Ben Sedrine was arrested after a Tunisian judge sued her for defamation. During a TV debate on the London-based Al-Mustaqilla Arabic TV Channel late last month, she quoted the judge as saying the Tunisian judiciary was controlled by the government. The statement led to a lawsuit against her and drew an indignant reaction from the Association of Tunisian Judges which accused Ben Sedrine of making unsubstantiated claims and spreading false information. The case will be tried on 5 July.
But human rights activists say Ben Sedrine's case is the latest in a series of arrests, which suggest that the Tunisian authorties are determined to stifle liberties and crack down on dissent. They point to the arrest of several prominent opponents including Mohamed Moada, a former political prisoner and seasoned polician who sent a letter to President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali condemning the "lack of political pluralism" in Tunisia.
Ben Ali has led the ruling Rassemblement Démocratique Constitutionnel since his 1987 take-over from the late President Habib Bourguiba who was declared unfit to rule by his doctors. Last February, Ben Ali told the Party that it will remain "the party of leadership today and tomorrow" because it helped the country make giant steps on the road of progress. Tunisia today is one of Africa's success stories. The economy has consistently grown at a rate over four per cent in recent years supported by a dynamic tourist industry which attracts an annual four million foreign visitors.
But government critics say to achieve this economic success the government sacrificed political freedom. Many Tunisians who may have supported the President's crack down on the Islamists in the late 1980's and early 1990's now say more human rights and freedom of expression are the real guarantors of political stability. Last May, Ben Ali responded by giving an interview to the local media, a first since he took office. "Democracy and pluralism are an irreversible choice for me," he said, "if we have opted for gradual change and decided against improvisation, it's because we take Tunisia's specific realities into account in order to avoid the slippery road taken by other people under different skies."
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While the political upheaval in next door Algeria seems to give credence to Ben Ali's cautious approach, his opponents, are becoming more vocal in their criticism. Their immediate objective, they say, is to break the cycle of fear that has muzzled freedom of expression for over a decade. But whether that criticism will eventually force the government to open up the political system and allow debate depends on the extent to which the opponents can sustain their current campaign, especially in France and other influential European states. In the meantime, the standoff continues.
