[WSIS CS-Plenary] Tunisia and Human rights: NGO's protest deterioration of rights

[karen banks]

Dear all,

Please find below a statement issued by a coalition of organisations in 
response to deterioration of human rights in Tunisia, with the Summit just 
2 months away.

The statement calls on all governments to "fully recognize the severity of 
the situation and to bring pressure to bear on the Tunisian authorities to 
respect their international obligations".

The statement is online at: http://www.crisinfo.org/content/view/full/941

We are working to have the statement translated into spanish and french as 
soon as possible.

If you would like to endorse the statement, please send your organisational 
endorsement offlist to karenb at gn.apc.org

In the next message, i will post a report from Sean O' Siochro, who was in 
Tunis, representing the CRIS campaign.

karen
=====

JOINT ACTION: NGOs protest deterioration of rights in Tunisia two months 
ahead of WSIS

IFEX

TUNIS, Sept 9, 2005 - International and Tunisian non-governmental 
organisations express their outrage at the rapid deterioration of the human 
rights situation in Tunisia just two months prior to the World Summit on 
the Information Society (WSIS), to be held in Tunis, November 15-18, 2005. 
After prohibiting the founding congress of the Tunisian Journalists' Union 
(SJT) on September 7, authorities prevented the Tunisian League for Human 
Rights (LTDH) from holding its 6th Congress, scheduled to begin today.

This drastic decision, targeting the oldest human rights' organisation in 
the Arab World and Africa, aims to stifle the most important organisation 
for the defence of human rights in Tunisia.

While processed through formal legal channels, this decision illustrates 
the manipulation of the law by authorities. Another victim, the Association 
of Tunisian Judges (AMT) itself, was locked out of their offices for taking 
a public position in favour of the independence of the judiciary.

This dark week for Tunisian human rights is part of an ongoing attack on 
fundamental freedoms which has included police surrounding the offices of 
human rights defenders, physical and verbal aggression, libellous campaigns 
and harassment.

These provocative policies do not augur well for a successful Summit. It is 
unconscionable to hold a summit in such dire circumstances, with the LTDH, 
pillar of independent civil society, under attack.

We call upon the Tunisian government to respect its commitments on human 
rights, particularly freedom of expression and association guaranteed by 
international treaties ratified by the Tunisian Government and re-affirmed 
in December 2003 during the first phase of the WSIS.

We call upon the governments which will meet in Tunis in November 2005 to 
fully recognize the severity of the situation and to bring pressure to bear 
on the Tunisian authorities to respect their international obligations.

International Association to Support Political Prisoners (AISPP)
League for Free Writers (LEL)
National Council for Liberties in Tunisia (CNLT)
Observatory of the Freedom of the Press Publishing and Creativity (OLPEC)
Raid-ATTAC Tunisia Tunisian Association for the Struggle against Torture(ALTT)
Tunisian Centre for the Independence of Justice (CIJT)
Tunisian Committee for the Respect of Human Rights (CRDHT) Tunisian 
Journalists' Syndicate (SJT)
Tunisian League of Human Rights (LTDH)

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APC.au (c2o / Toy Satellite), Australia
ARTICLE 19
Association des Journalistes Transfrontaliers (AJT)
Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
Bluelink, Bulgaria
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE)
CEPES, Peru
Communication Rights in the Information Society (CRIS)
Comunica-ch (Swiss coalition for WSIS) Deutscher Journalisten-Verband
DRC Alternatives, DRC
Egyptian Organisation of Human Rights
Euromed Network
Fantsuam Foundation, Nigeria
Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA), Philippines
Greennet, UK
Index on Censorship
Instituto del Tercer Mundo, Uruguay
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions/Free 
Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (IFLA/FAIFE)
PEN International
Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC)
International Publishers' Association (IPA)
Jinbonet, South Korea
Journalistes en Danger (JED)
Ligue française des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen (LDH)
Ligue Tunisienne des Droits de l'Homme (LTDH)
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
Nodo Tau, Argentina
PEN Norway
Rights and Democracy RITS Brazil
World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC)
World Association of Newspapers (WAN)
World Organisation against Torture (OMCT)
World Press Freedom Committee
World Association for Christian Communication (WACC)
Zamirnet, Croatia

http://www.crisinfo.org/content/view/full/941