Harassment & Abuse of Journalists, Human Rights and Internet Activists
Present Ironic Contrast at WSIS Event Focusing on Internet Issues

November 17, 2005

Press Release by RIF/FIRE -- Margaret Thompson

Tunis, Tunisia

Dramatic ironies continue to spark debates at the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) taking place November 16-18, 2005 in Tunis, Tunisia.  Harassment and physical attacks on Tunisian and international journalists and human rights activists by Tunisian security officials, and repeated cancellations of reserved sites in Tunis for a Citizens’ Summit on the Information Society have prompted several international civil society organizations to cancel their side events at the WSIS, an international forum for discussion of the Internet.

Several women’s organizations signed a joint statement released at the WSIS denouncing “blatant violations of human rights, freedom of expression, access to information and freedom of assembly by the Tunisian government.”  The Women’s Networking Support Program (PARM) for APC – Association for Progressive Communications -- announced it had cancelled its presentation of the Manual of GEM –Gender Evaluation Methodology – in solidarity with the journalists and human rights activists who were harshly repressed by Tunisian police in recent days.  The GEM Manual is the result of a 5-year project, and was to be presented at the WSIS on November 16.

The Tunisia Monitoring Group, a coalition of 14 organizations monitoring freedom of expression issued a statement declaring that they were pulling out of the WSIS in protest of police repression. 

On November 12, a French journalist who had reported on a hunger strike by Tunisian human rights activists was beaten and stabbed by unidentified assailants near his hotel in Tunis, while police officers nearby took no action.  Likewise, harassment and abuse of Tunisian journalists and human rights activists has been an ongoing controversy, prompting criticism of the UN for its decision to hold the WSIS in that country. 

A local woman human rights activist (who asked to remain anonymous) told FIRE that several internet activists who have been sentenced up to 15 years in prison are being tortured and denied medical treatment, including a 17-year-old boy.  This source, along with several other activists, have been blocked from participating in WSIS-related meetings and events.

The Citizen’s Summit, a side event to the official WSIS event, was planned for Tuesday, November 15, by a coalition of 19 international NGOs along with Tunisian organizations.  But repeated bookings of venues in Tunis for the event were cancelled, and on Monday, November 14, a group of Tunisian and international journalists and human rights activists were harassed, abused and detained briefly by security officials when they tried to enter a downtown location to hold a planning meeting.    Likewise, the Citizen’s Summit and other Tunisian civil society websites have been blocked recently in all areas of Tunisia, except inside the official WSIS venue.

At the official opening of the WSIS on November 16, Shirin Ebadi, 2003 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and President of the Defenders of Human Rights Center spoke on behalf of Civil Society and denounced governments that imprison people for exercising their free expression rights:

“The other subject which is of concern to us, is the control of access to the internet which is primarily situated in Western countries. What guarantee is there that the governments of those countries would not deprive internet access as part of an economic regulation or embargo. Another problem is censorship. Certain governments under the pretext of maintaining national security or to prevent illicit trades filter the internet, therefore preventing people from getting information they need and their voices to be heard from the other side. Even worse, they tend to supress any kind of authors that critise their governments in any ways. Unfortunately in some countries human rights defenders and writers are imprisoned, there only crime being the exercise of freedom of expression.”

The President of Switzerland, Samuel Schmid received enthusiastic applause when he stated, “...It is unacceptable that the UN still has members that harass or imprison their citizens because they criticize them on the Internet. Freedom of speech has to be respected. Everyone has to be able to express their views freely. It is one of the crucial conditions for this conference to succeed...” 

The day before, Shashi Tharoor, UN Under Secretary General for Communications & Public Information said he assumed and hoped that the Tunisian government would investigate the incident of the beating of the French journalist in particular.  He also expressed disappointment that the civil society groups had elected to withdraw from the event, arguing that “engaging in the process” is far more productive than walking out.

At a press conference yesterday, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Anan stated that he had expressed his concerns about the situation to the Tunisian government.

Activists including Chat Ramilo Garcia, organizer of the PARM APC asked that representatives of civil society organizations contact government delegates of their home countries and urge them to denounce these human rights violations and also violations of free speech by Tunisian authorities.

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