Tunisian human rights defender remains in prison
21 September 2005
The final preparatory committee for the upcoming UN World Summit on Information Technology (WSIS) in Tunis in November, which discusses the future of the Internet, is currently being held in Geneva. Paradoxically, human rights defender and lawyer Mr Mohammed Abbou remains imprisoned in Tunis for exercising his freedom of expression on the very medium up for discussion.
Front Line’s Deputy Director, Andrew Anderson and representatives from other international human rights organisations went to Geneva to raise their objections on the imprisonment of Mr Abbou and the deteriorating human rights situation in Tunisia, particularly the numerous repressive restrictions on the media and the Internet.
Mary Lawlor, Director of Front Line said: "President Zine el-Abidene Ben Ali approved the final statement of the last WSIS that stipulates that freedom of expression is an ‘essential foundation’ of the information society. It should be inconceivable that an international summit on the information society is to be held in a country that shows no respect for freedom of expression. Mohammed Abbou should be released immediately and unconditionally.”
Mr. Abbou, a prominent human rights lawyer and a member of the National Committee for Liberties in Tunisia was arrested in March for publishing statements that were “likely to disturb public order” and for “defaming the judicial process” On 28 April he was sentenced to three and a half years in prison and the decision was upheld in June at his appeal. The statements, which appeared in an article on the website Tunisnews.net in April 2004, compared the torture and ill treatment suffered by Tunisian prisoners to that suffered by prisoners in Abu Ghraib, Iraq.
Many observers believe that Mr Abbou was in fact being punished for another article posted just days before his arrest on Tunisnews.net, in which he criticised a government decision to invite the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to attend the WSIS.
Tunisian and international human rights organisations have condemned the trial of Mr Abbou as unfair and arbitrary. Lawyers, journalists, diplomats and Mr. Abbou’s wife were expelled from the courtroom leaving only legal observers from international NGO’s present.
Brigette Azema-Peyret, a French lawyer sent by Front Line and Amnesty International to observe the appeal proceedings said: “The court did not even try to give a legal appearance to its sentence. The defendant could never be heard; neither could his lawyers or witnesses. The court by no means wished to be informed on the facts but hastened to carry out orders with contempt for any rule of procedure. “
Both Mr Abbou and his wife went on hunger strike for a few days on 25 July. They wanted to draw attention to what happens to people in their country who voice their dissent. The lawyers and family of Mr Abbou believed his food in prison may have been drugged as psychological and physical problems he was experiencing ceased when he stopped eating.
President Ben Ali has continuously expressed his commitment to the development of the Internet while according to the Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights (LTDH), publinets (internet cafes) are being monitored by the telecommunications ministry and people exploring the net have been harassed, arrested and sentenced to heavy prison terms following unfair trials. In 2002 a cyber police unit was set up to track down and block “subversive” websites, intercept attempts to reach sites containing “political or critical” material and track down “over-active” internet users
In January of this year the Tunisia Monitoring Group (TMG) under the umbrella of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) undertook a fact-finding mission to evaluate conditions for The WSIS in November. Their report “Tunisia: Freedom of expression under siege” expresses grave concerns about human rights violations in Tunisia including the use of torture by security services, imprisonment of individuals who express their opinions, blocking of news and information websites including international NGO’s and restrictions on freedom of association. According to the TMG-IFEX report, more Tunisians have been arrested for expressing their opinion on the Internet in the last three years than people arrested for views in the print media since Tunisian independence 48 years ago.
The human rights community in Tunisia has also been under sustained harassment and pressure from state authorities. On 7 September the Tunisian Journalists Union was prohibited from holding its first conference. The authorities locked the Association of Tunisian judges out of its offices for taking a public position in favour of the independence of the judiciary, and the LTDH were prevented from holding its 6th congress on 9 September. The Mahdia section of the LTDH were reportedly attacked by police on 18 September for attempting to hold a meeting and the section president, Mohamed Attia was brought to hospital after suffering a heart attack which the LDTD believe was brought on by the police beatings he received.
Front Line has called on the Tunisian government to release Mohammed Abbou immediately and unconditionally and to ensure that human rights defenders are permitted to carry out their legitimate human rights work without fear of reprisal in conformity with the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.