[WSIS CS-Plenary] News/ Use the information summit to pressure the Tunisian authoritie

[Robert Guerra]

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp? 
edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=19531#

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Copyright (c) 2005 The Daily Star

Monday, October 24, 2005
Use the information summit to pressure the Tunisian authorities


By Bassam Bounenni
Commentary by

The choice of Tunisia to host the November 16-18 second World Summit  
on the Information Society (WSIS) has provoked much controversy. The  
idea behind the summit is to bridge the gap between rich and poor  
countries in a field that has proven to be one of the focal points of  
present and future progress. Tunisia, however, excels neither in  
informatics and related fields nor in allowing freedom of expression  
and respecting the rights of civil society. A September 26 report by  
the Tunisian Monitoring Group stated specifically that "Tunisia is  
not the appropriate country to host the Information Society summit,"  
especially in view of escalating measures targeting free speech.

The Tunisian authorities have been working for months on creating a  
"new look" for the world, exploiting preparations for the summit to  
improve the image of the country in terms of the media, human rights  
and civil society. A regulation requiring all newspapers to submit  
editions to the government in advance of publication, which led to  
widespread self-censorship, was revoked in May. Numerous other  
problems remain, however, for opposition newspapers such as the  
weekly Al-Mawqif, mouthpiece of the Progressive Democratic Party.  
Opposition newspapers still suffer from frequent confiscations and  
lack of access to public sector advertising revenues.

As part of their cosmetic efforts, the Tunisian authorities loosened  
restrictions on television and radio and created new radio stations  
such as Mosaic FM and Al-Jawhara, as well as the satellite television  
station Hanbal. These stations are run by individuals close to the  
government, while members of the independent media wait to obtain  
licenses to form new stations. Independents will not obtain licenses,  
in view of the fact that the legislation for loosening restrictions  
on television and radio media is riddled with loopholes.

This "new look" for Tunisia amounts to no more than an effort to  
mislead the world into missing the forest for the trees. The Tunisian  
authorities continue to repress all those who dare question the  
legitimacy of the political authority as well as its respect for  
public freedoms and rights.

In April, a Tunisian court sentenced Mohammad Abbou, a lawyer and  
human rights activist, to three-and-a-half years in prison. Abbou was  
sentenced after publishing two articles, one of which compared the  
situation of Tunisian prisons to Abu Ghraib, and the other that  
compared President Zein al-Abedin ben Ali to Israeli Prime Minister  
Ariel Sharon (in reference to the expected visit of the latter to  
Tunisia for the summit). The International Association for the  
Support of Political Prisoners described the decision against Abbou  
as "a thunderbolt," adding that "for the first time in the history of  
Tunisian justice, a defendant was overtly denied his right to defend  
himself."

Measures against free expression escalated further when the Tunisian  
authorities cancelled the first conference of the Tunisian  
Journalists Syndicate, founded by independent journalists, to have  
been held in early September. Human rights organizations expressed  
surprise at this decision, especially as syndicate activities are a  
right provided for in the Tunisian Constitution as well as in  
international agreements to which Tunisia is party. Authorities also  
took measures to restrict the Tunisian League for Human Rights and  
the Association of Tunisian Judges.

Even if one sets aside the concerns of those in the politically- 
active elite, ordinary Tunisians are also deprived of information  
because only a single point of view and limited sources of  
information are tolerated. Even surfing the Internet is fraught with  
obstacles because many foreign sites are banned.

What is strange is that Tunisia has been at times a pioneer in many  
fields such as media and human rights, especially in terms of its  
legislation and organizations. The Tunisian League for Human Rights,  
for example, was the first non-governmental organization in the Arab  
world charged with defending human rights. But like many other such  
organizations it is now barely surviving, hoping for deeper political  
reforms or foreign pressures that will strike a balance between  
economic interests and the need for democracy.

Tunisian civil society organizations, along with those in media and  
human rights groups, are hoping to use the WSIS as an opportunity to  
demand their foremost right: to exist. So far Tunisian authorities  
deny this right and continue their harassment of such forces. The  
silence of Western countries - or even in some cases their approval  
of repressive Tunisian policies, in light of the so-called war on  
terror - has only exacerbated the situation.

It is possible, rather it is imperative, for the international  
community to use the summit to turn a spotlight on the problems that  
have afflicted Tunisian society and led to an all-time high in  
internal tensions. As the summit will be held in Tunisia, the  
international community must at least use that opportunity to apply  
its recommendations both to faraway countries and to the host country  
itself.



Bassam Bounenni is a Tunisian journalist and researcher based in  
Paris. He wrote this commentary for THE DAILY STAR.



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Copyright (c) 2005 The Daily Star



--
Robert Guerra <rguerra at privaterra.org>
Director, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR)
WSIS Civil Society Bureau, Focal Point for North America & Europe
Tel +1 416 893 0377 Fax +1 416 893 0374