5 March 2005
Front Line has condemned the violent repression of human rights defenders in Tunisia. On the 4th of March hundreds of police brutally assaulted peaceful human rights defenders and members of opposition political parties as they attempted to gather for a demonstration. Human rights lawyer Radhia Nasraoui (left) was badly beaten which resulted in a broken nose, damage to her arm and back, cuts and severe bruising. Her daughter who was also beaten required stitches to her head.
Following news of the Tunisian Government's invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to attend the UN World Summit on the Information Society in November, several protests took place in various parts of the country to protest against the decision. Tunisian human rights defenders called for Sharon to be prosecuted as a war criminal for the massacres of civilians. The violent repression on the 4th of March is part of a pattern of attacks on human rights defenders by the Tunisian authorities.
On the 1st of March, Mohammed Abbou, lawyer and member of the Conseil national pour les libertés en Tunisie (CNLT) was detained on charges of disseminating false information, libel, enticing people to break the law and publishing offences. The charges related to an August 2004 article denouncing torture in Tunisia, however, it is widely believed that his arrest was linked to a recent article he had written on Ariel Sharon's proposed visit to Tunisia.
On the 2nd of March lawyers who gathered at the Palais de Justice in Tunis to protest against Mohammed Abbou's arrest were physically assaulted by plain-clothed police officers. Those attacked included Mohammed Abbou's wife. The brutal beating of Radhia Nasraoui on the 4th of March was reportedly linked to her outspoken criticism following the arrest of Mohammed Abbou.
These incidents are part of an ongoing campaign of repression against human rights defenders by the Tunisian authorities. Their actions mock the decision of the United Nations to hold the second part of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunisia. The Tunisian Government has repeatedly demonstrated a total disregard for human rights and freedom of expression which were reiterated as fundamental elements to the building of an information society in the Declaration of Principles adopted at the end of the first part of the WSIS in Geneva in December 2003.