(IFEX-TMG) – The following is a joint declaration by members of the IFEX-TMG: The Tunisian authorities are asked to investigate the treatment of Lotfi Hajji, President of the Independent Syndicate of Tunisian journalists, who had 15 books unjustly confiscated on his arrival at Tunis airport on 25 April. The books should be returned to him […]
(IFEX-TMG) – The following is a joint declaration by members of the IFEX-TMG:
The Tunisian authorities are asked to investigate the treatment of Lotfi Hajji, President of the Independent Syndicate of Tunisian journalists, who had 15 books unjustly confiscated on his arrival at Tunis airport on 25 April.
The books should be returned to him immediately, and steps taken to ensure that publications that do not breach reasonable law are not taken away in this way. The confiscated books are sold freely in Morocco.
“Hundreds of journalists, writers, academics and other experts will be arriving in Tunis in November to participate in the World Summit on the Information Society, and they will all need to be sure that their papers and publications will not be confiscated,” said Ursula Owen, editor-in-chief of Index on Censorship magazine in London, on behalf of thirteen national, regional and international NGOs committed to the protection and promotion of freedom of expression worldwide. (See below for full list.)
The 15 books were confiscated at Tunis airport on 25 April, as Hajji returned from a regional conference on press freedom in Marrakech. The confiscated volumes included works by Moroccan philosopher Mohamed Abed Al-Jabri (La Raison Politique Arabe, La Raison Éthique Arabe), and Les Nouveaux Penseurs de l’Islam, by Moroccan-born, Paris-based analyst Rachid Benzine.
“Books should not be treated like drugs,” said Lotfi Hajji after the incident ? a view shared by the 13 NGOs, all members of the Tunisia Monitoring Group (TMG), which acts under the umbrella of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX).
The TMG has documented other cases where books have been confiscated by airport authorities, including works belonging to Tunisian historian Mohamed Talbi and publisher Neji Merzouk. The government should end this kind of censorship and abide by international standards.
Lotfi Hajji is the President of the Tunisian Syndicate of Journalists, established in May 2004. The country’s officials did not welcome its founding or Hajji’s part in it. A former editor at the weekly Realites and known for his independent views, Hajji was also denied Tunisian accreditation as correspondent of the Qatar-based satellite channel al-Jazeera in 2004. Al-Jazeera is allowed throughout the Arab world, except in Tunisia, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
The Tunisia Monitoring Group fully expects that its members and other travelers to the WSIS will get official assurances that international visitors will not be troubled in a similar fashion. However the group also considers the right of Tunisians to carry books without fear of official interference, as equally important.
“If the books are promptly returned and there are no more reports of similar incidents at the borders – from Tunisians and international visitors alike – then we will know that the Tunisian government is sincere in this matter,” added Lars Grahn, Chairman of IPA’s Freedom to Publish Committee.
IFEX-TMG Members:
ARTICLE 19, UK
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE)
Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES), Nepal
Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR)
Index on Censorship, UK
International Publishers’ Association (IPA), Switzerland
Journaliste en danger (JED), Democratic Republic of Congo
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Namibia
Norwegian PEN
Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN (WiPC), UK
World Association of Newspapers (WAN), France
World Press Freedom Committee (WPFC), USA
World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC)
The Arabic version of this joint action is at http://www.wsisarabicnews.org/news/tunisia-tunis-airport-book-seizures-criticis.shtml
