Human Rights: Tunisia

Some observations on the Tunisia section of the State Department's annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2006, released on March 6:

--Tunisia is often praised for its liberal attitudes, growing economy and booming tourism trade, but the human rights report reinforces Tunisia's reputation also as one of the most repressive countries in the Middle East. As the Tunisia section says in its introduction:

"The government continued to commit serious human rights abuses. There were significant limitations on citizens' right to change their government. Members of the security forces tortured and physically abused prisoners and detainees. Security forces arbitrarily arrested and detained individuals. Authorities did not charge any police or security force official with abuse during the year. Lengthy pretrial and incommunicado detention remained a serious problem. The government infringed on citizens' privacy rights, continued to impose severe restrictions on freedom of speech and of the press, and restricted freedom of assembly and association. The government remained intolerant of public criticism and used intimidation, criminal investigations, the court system, arbitrary arrests, residential restrictions, and travel controls (including denial of passports), to discourage criticism by human rights and opposition activists. Corruption was a problem."

--The report paints a picture of a regime that is aggressive in blocking opposition to President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali's policies and 20-year-old rule. The report cites human rights groups alleging that more than 500 Tunisians had been arrested since 2005 without sufficient evidence that they were involved in terrorism and that many had been tortured and forced to sign confessions. While the police largely seemed to focus on Islamist opponents, others came in the cross hairs as well. The report says the police allegedly attacked a group of lawyers staging a sit-in against new rules regulating the profession. Women violating a decree banning the Islamic veil were stopped, detained and verbally abused. Even at a pro-government women's conference, officials physically attempted to remove veils of women in attendance.

--The report identifies the Ministry of Interior as a main center of regime torture and speaks of prisons that are cruelly overcrowded. Police and prison officials "used sexual assault and threats of sexual assault against the wives of Islamist prisoners to extract information, intimidate, and punish," the report said, citing an Amnesty International report. In one prison, 140 prisoners shared a 323 sq. ft. cell.

--The report says the justice system is a party to the government's repression, citing numerous examples. The report says that judges routinely accept confessions that were obtained under torture and fail to investigate allegations of prisoner mistreatment. In one case in Bizerte, a prisoner detained on terrorism charges was assaulted after his lawyer filed a complaint that the prisoner had been tortured and requested an investigation.

--The report indicates that the methods of blocking and monitoring opponents are pervasive. Security forces often questioned Tunisians who had been seen talking with foreigners. The husband of a woman political activist was sentenced to six months in prison on a non-political zoning violation after she voiced political criticism in the foreign media. The police allegedly beat two Tunisian journalists after they met the wife of a local government critic, who had been jailed after comparing Ben Ali to Israeli leader Ariel Sharon.

--A tactic the report mentions is an effort by pro-government operatives to join independent non-government organizations such as civil society groups "to limit the NGOs' independence by gaining control through elections or disrupting their operations." The Tunisian Human Rights League, for example, was prevented from holding its national congress because of a law suit filed by seven members allegedly loyal to the ruling party.

--By Scott MacLeod/Cairo