[WSIS CS-Plenary] Tunisia post WSIS: Deportation of Swiss activist causes outcry

[Ralf Bendrath]

<http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/social_affairs/detail/Deportation_of_Swiss_activist_causes_outcry.html>

Deportation of Swiss activist causes outcry

The Swiss foreign ministry has condemned the deportation of a Swiss
human rights activist by Tunisia.
Yves Steiner, an official from Amnesty International's Swiss branch,
was arrested on Sunday while attending a meeting in the capital, Tunis.

A foreign ministry spokeswoman on Monday criticised the action by
police against Steiner as out of proportion.

She told swissinfo that the Tunisian chargé d'affaires in Bern had been
summoned to explain the incident.

Steiner was attending a meeting of the Tunisia chapter of Amnesty when
he was detained and told to leave the country. He was put on a flight
to Paris, France, on Sunday evening.

The foreign ministry confirmed allegations that police in Tunis
prevented Swiss ambassador Peter von Graffenried from intervening.

Steiner said that police in Tunis had given no reason for his arrest.

"It appears I'm considered a threat to public order, but I don't quite
know what makes me such a dangerous person," Steiner told swissinfo
after his return to Switzerland on Monday.

Steiner took part in last year's International Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS) and, in his Amnesty capacity, has repeatedly
accused the Tunis government of stifling the press, harassing rights
activists and beating opponents.

The government of President Ben Ali dismisses such allegations. It
insists that they are part of a smear campaign by its opponents and
their allies abroad.

Crackdown

Steiner said he knew that he was not popular with the authorities but
expected to be left alone after they let him enter the country on
Friday.

"I think my detention is an attempt to put an end to my activities
denouncing human rights violations in Tunisia and a further sign that
the government is cracking down on its critics," he added.

Steiner said he felt intimidated and humiliated by police who arrested
him without an official warrant.

Up to 50 police reinforcements were brought in after human rights
activists initially prevented Steiner's arrest, said Amnesty
spokeswoman Manon Schick.

Amnesty said it was considering taking steps against the Tunisian
authorities. However it is concerned that legal action might jeopardise
the work of human rights campaigners in the country.

It has condemned the incident and has called on the Swiss foreign
ministry to intervene on a diplomatic level with the Tunisian
authorities.

Strained relations

The deportation comes after relations between Tunisia and Switzerland
became strained over an incident at the Information Summit last
November.

During the opening of the summit, then Swiss President Samuel Schmid
was censored by Tunisian state television for harshly criticising
states that muzzle civil liberties.

The Swiss authorities later summoned the Tunisian ambassador in Bern to
complain about the treatment of the Swiss delegation in Tunis.

A meeting between Tunisian rights activists and Swiss Foreign Minister
Micheline Calmy-Rey in Bern in December led to a further deterioration
in bilateral ties.