Tunisia

Front Line is concerned following information received regarding the arrest, on 27 January 2009, of journalist Mr Dhafer Otay, coordinator of Radio Kalima, and the harassment of other human rights defenders and journalists. This morning (Friday 30 Jan), police raided the offices of Radio Kalima, cut the telephone lines and seized the radio equipment. 

Front Line is deeply concerned following reports of the arrest and restricted movement of human rights defenders Zakia Dhifaoui, member of the Kairouan section of the Ligue tunisienne des droits de l'Homme (Tunisian League of Human Rights) (LTDH); Ali Ben Salem, president of the Bizerte section of the LTDH; Mohamed Ben Saïd, member of the Bizerte section of the LTDH; Othman Jmili and Faouzi Sadkaoui of the Association internationale de soutien aux prisonniers politiques en Tunisie (International Association for the Support of Political Prisoners in Tunisia) (AISPP). 

Front Line is deeply concerned by reports of police harassment of human rights defenders Anouar Kousri and Samir Dilou. Anouar Kousri is a board member of the Ligue tunisienne des droits de l'Homme – LTDH (Tunisian Human Rights League) and Samir Dilou is a board member of the Association internationale de soutien aux prisonniers politiques en Tunisie – AISPP (International Association for the Support of Political Prisoners). 

Front Line is deeply concerned following reports of the ill-treatment of human rights defender Slim Boukhdir while in detention. Slim Boukhdir was arrested on 26 November 2007 and on 18 January 2008 he was sentenced to one year's imprisonment. He is currently detained in Sfax prison, 230 kilometres south of Tunis. Slim Boukhdir is a correspondent with the London-based pan-Arab newspaper Al Quds Al Arabi and the website of the satellite news channel Al-Arabiya. He also writes for other news websites, including Tunisnews and Kantara. 

On 3 March 2008 at 8.15am, Omar Mestiri and Sihem Bensedrine were returning to Tunis from a trip to Europe when they were subjected to a full-body search on their arrival at the port of La Goulette. Members of the Tunisian Political Police requested that they follow them to the customs office, on the pretext of fulfilling an administrative formality. Once inside the office, the policemen reportedly locked the door and Omar Mestiri and Sihem Bensedrine were detained for six hours, during which time they were subject to beatings while their clothes were damaged and their bags torn open. The policemen reportedly confiscated their mobile phones and their bank cards. Several original documents were taken and the policemen also made copies of the hard discs of their lap-top computers. Sihem Bensedrine is currently suffering from a sprained wrist and an injury to her elbow as a result of the assault.