(IPI/IFEX) – In a 31 May 2000 letter to President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, IPI stated that it is deeply concerned at the Tunisian government’s readiness to extend retribution to family members of journalists, and its tolerance of the climate of hate which is encouraging others to attack the media. On 2 May, Tunisian journalist […]
(IPI/IFEX) – In a 31 May 2000 letter to President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, IPI stated that it is deeply concerned at the Tunisian government’s readiness to extend retribution to family members of journalists, and its tolerance of the climate of hate which is encouraging others to attack the media.
On 2 May, Tunisian journalist Noureddine Aouididi, former editor-in-chief of the “Al-Akhbar” newspaper, commenced a hunger strike in protest at the cruel and unnecessary treatment of his family members in Tunisia. As of 31 May, Aouididi was on his twenty-ninth day without food and was suffering a grave deterioration in his health. He is displaying all the signs of under nourishment, including exhaustion, lack of concentration, severe headaches and an increased heart rate. Since the start of his hunger strike he has lost ten kilograms.
IPI understands that Aouididi has gone on hunger strike in order to protest the failure of the government to release his sister, Radhia Aouididi, from imprisonment and to allow her a passport so that she may join her husband in France. He is also seeking passports for other members of his family who have suffered mistreatment at the hands of the government.
Resident in the United Kingdom (UK) since 1994, Aouididi fled Tunisia to escape the government’s anger at articles critical of the deterioration of the human rights situation in Tunisia. In 1997, he was granted asylum in the UK. Four years after his exile in the UK, he was sentenced by the Tunisian courts, in absentia, to life imprisonment and five year’s administrative control.
Since his flight from Tunisia, Aouididi’s family have been punished for his articles. His father has been maltreated by the Tunisian police and his brother was tortured and imprisoned for five and a half months. In November 1996, his sister Radhia was arrested and in 1998 was sentenced to three and a half years in prison and five years of administrative control.
In the belief of IPI, the harassment and intimidation of journalist’s families is a callous attempt to seek retribution for the alleged “wrongdoings” of the journalist. Moreover, the persecution of journalists and their families is creating a climate of hate which is actively encouraging others to come forward and vent their anger at the media.
A glaring example of the climate of hate may be seen in the case of Ben Fadhel, former editor of the Arabic edition of “Le Monde”. On 23 May, Ben Fadhel was shot by two unknown assailants; he suffered wounds to his shoulder, neck and chest. During the attack, one of the assailants, in an allusion to his articles, called him a “traitor dog”. The attack occurred three days after the publication of an article by Ben Fadhel criticising the government’s treatment of Taoufik Ben Brik, the journalist who carried out a forty-three day hunger strike to protest at the parlous state of press freedom in Tunisia (see IFEX alert of 25 May 2000).
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the president:
– stating that you regard his government’s attitude towards the media to be intolerable
– suggesting that no democratic society can expect to thrive without objective and informed criticism of the government processes
– reminding His Excellency that according to article 13 (2) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and return to his own country”
– further noting that Article 19 of the aforementioned Declaration states that “every person has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers”
– urging him to adhere to these principles and allow journalists to carry on with their profession free of intimidation
– calling upon him to release Aouididi’s sister, and give her and the other members of his family a passport
– asking him to do everything within his power to ensure that the perpetrators of the attempted assassination of Ben Fadhel are brought to justice immediately
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:
His Excellency Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali
President
Republic of Tunisia
c/o His Excellency The Ambassador to London
Fax: +7225 2884
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
