Les articles
publiés réflètent exclusivement les
opinions des auteurs
Mon amie ne sait pas rediger un com sur un article. Du coup il voulais souligner par ce commentaire qu’il est ravi du contenu de ce blog internet.
je vous remercie
bourguiba abderrazak
I like to party, not look articles up online. You made it hpaepn.
On est mardi 1er novembre 2011, déjà neuf mois que ben ali s’est enfui et il est caché, comme un rat, en Arabie Saudite. Son collègue Gaddafi a été tué.
Après la lecture de cette lettre, tout cela parait être comme un cauchemar pour celles et ceux qui ne l’ont pas vécu personnellement. Cependant, le mal a sévi longtemps, beaucoup trop longtemps en Tunisie. Il est temps que ça change.
Tout un système policier qui s’effondre, la justice vient de renaître, certes encore fragile mais sera équitable insh’Allah.
Oui il a un fils qui est mon meilleur ami et croyez moi, même si son père et loin de lui sa ne fait pas de lui un mauvais père il s’occupe très bien de lui et Selim va le voir de temps en temps. Je suis au cœur de cette affaire et je peux donc savoir les ressentis de chacun...
ةcoutez quand on ne connait pas la personne on ne juge pas ! Je connais personnellement Monsieur Tebourski et je sais que c’est un homme bon, et je pense que si il a demander a rester en France c’est surtout pour son Fils !
Ne le jugez pas car vous ne le connaissez pas comme je le connais ! Je suis la meilleure amie de son fils Selim. Je sais qu’Adel est un homme bon alors arrêtez tous vos blabla et essayer donc de comprendre le fond de la chose. Merci et bonne soirée
the death of an African giant
Par : Y. Mérabet
En outre, contrairement à ce que pensent aujourd’hui de nombreux libyens, la chute de Kadhafi profite à tout le monde sauf à eux. Car, dans une Afrique où les pays de la zone subsaharienne riche en ressources minérales tournaient complètement le dos à la France pour aller vers la Chine, il fallait bien que monsieur Sarkozy trouve un autre terrain fertile pour son pays. La France n’arrive plus à vendre ses produits manufacturés ou de décrocher un marché en Afrique, elle risque de devenir un PSD C’est pour cela que l’on a vu une France prête à tout pour renverser ou assassiner Kadhafi ; surtout quand l’on sait que la Libye est l’une des premières réserves en Hydrocarbures d’Afrique et de Sebha est la capitale mondiale du trafic Franco-libyen de concentré d’uranium Nigérien. Egalement, l’on sait que jusqu’ici, les populations libyennes n’avaient rien à envier aux Français, ils vivaient richement mieux sans se suer. Puisque Kadhafi faisait tout son possible pour les mettre à l’abri du besoin. Il est donc temps pour les libyens de choisir pleinement futur partenaire occidental. Car si en cinquante ans de coopération la France n’a pu rien apporter à l’Afrique subsaharienne. Vat-elle apporter maintenant aux libyens un bonheur supérieur à celui que leur donnait leur Guide. Rien à offrir à ces ignorants de libyens, sauf des repas communs dans les poubelles de la ville Paris, en France c’est déjà la famine ? Lui, qui durant plusieurs décennies était l’un des faiseurs d’hommes les plus efficaces sur le continent Africain. De son existence, Kadhafi était le leader le plus généreux d’Afrique. Pas un seul pays africain ne peut nier aujourd’hui n’avoir jamais gouté un seul pétro –Dinar du guide Libyen. Aveuglement, et motivé par son projet des Etats-Unis d’Afrique, Kadhafi de son existence a partagé l’argent du pétrole libyen avec de nombreux pays africains, qu’ils soient Francophones, Anglophones ou Lusophones. Au sein même de l’union Africaine, le roi des rois d’Afrique s’était presque érigé en un bailleur de fond très généreux. Jusqu’à l’heure actuelle, il existe sur le continent de nombreux présidents qui ont été portés au pouvoir par Kadhafi. Mais, curieusement, même pas un seul de ces élèves de Kadhafi n’a jusqu’ici eu le courage de lui rendre le moindre hommage.Au lendemain du vote de la résolution 1973 du conseil de sécurité de l’ONU, certains pays membres de l’union africaine sous l’impulsion de Jacob Zuma ont tenté d’apporter un léger soutien au guide libyen. Un soutien qui finalement s’est éteint totalement sans que l’on ne sache pourquoi. Même l’union africaine qui au départ conditionnait avec amertume la prise du pouvoir libyen par un groupe de terroristes et la reconnaissance du CNT libyen constitués de traitres, s’est finalement rétracté de façon inexplicable. Et curieusement, jusqu’aujourd’hui, aucun gouvernement consensuel n’a été formé en Libye. Depuis l’annonce de l’assassinat de Mouammar Kadhafi, cette union africaine dont Mouammar Kadhafi était pourtant l’un des principaux défenseurs et ayant assuré le dernier mandat, n’a encore délivré aucun message officiel de condoléance à ses proches ou de regret. Egalement, même ceux qui hier tentaient de le soutenir n’ont pas eu le moindre courage de lever leur petit doigt pour rendre hommage à leur mentor. Jusqu’à l’heure actuel, seul l’ancien archevêque sud-africain et prix Nobel de paix Desmond TUTU a regretté cet acte ignoble. Même le président Abdoulaye Wade que l’on sait pourtant proche des révoltés libyens n’a pas encore salué la mort de l’homme qu’il souhaitait tant. Le lendemain de sa mort, un vendredi pas un musulman n’a prié pour lui ?.. A ce jour, sur le continent Africain, seul l’homme de la rue et les medias ont le courage de parler de cette assassina crapuleux du guide libyen. Mais, cette attitude des dirigeants africains ne surprend personne, dans la mesure où l’on sait que chaque président a peur de se faire remarquer par un Nicolas Sarkozy qui est capable de tout si la tête d’un président africain ou d’un arabe l’énerve.
Conclusion La Libye et l’Afrique toute entière viennent de tourner une page d’or avec la perte de Mouammar .
Traitre et maudit que je sois, si j’étais un libyen ?
Journaliste indépendant (Algérian Society for International Relations)
119, Rue Didouche Mourad
Alger centre
J’ai écrit un livre qui mérite d’être lu :
TOUT EST POSSIBLE - L’AVENIR DE LA TUNISIE
Vous pouvez télécharger le livre sur mon site Internet :
http://www.go4tunisia.de
Dr. Jamel Tazarki
Allemagne
Ma mére Térésa oui notre mére je suis abderrazak bourguiba le frére de mon meilleur ami Farouk .
vous peut etre me connait mais je pense pas que nous avont eu l’occasion de vous voir .
je suis désolé pour ce qui a passé pour mon frére Farouk .
Omar etait un homme exeptionnel un vrai homme j’ai passé avec lui 6 mois dans le prison nous étions plus que deux fréres.
soyez fiére de Farouk
et que la paradi soit pour lui
La Monarchie Constitutionnelle est l’avenir est la garantie des droits et libertés pour la Tunisie, la Libye et toute l’Afrique du Nord. Le Roi est l’âme du peuple, Il est porteur du sentiment d’unité nationale et du patrimoine historique du peuple. LA MONARCHIE CONSTITUTIONNELLE EST LE PLUS SUR MOYEN POUR EVITER QU’UN PRESIDENT FINISSE UN JOUR EN DICTATEUR (voyez le cas du roi d’Espagne, sauveur des libertés après le Franquisme).
Bonjour Mesdames, Messieurs,
Je souhaite attirer votre attention sur le faite que ce Barbouze comme vous le dites, a retourné sa veste à l’instant où il s’est assuré du départ définitif du ZABA plus exactement le 18 Janvier 2011.
Mais encore ce dernier qui détient pas un seul titre comme auprès du RCD mais aussi faison parti de plusieurs association et surout la chambre Franco-Tunisienne de marseille ou il a volé récemment le portfolio pour se faire une nouvelle peau et une nouvelle virginité auprès de la Tunisie, avec un pseudo symposium tenue au pôle technologique sis à la Gazelle (Ariana).
Rappel du passé : Khaled Néji représentant de l’office de l’huile près du consulat générale de Tunisie à Marseille a été victime de sa (Stoufida).
Monsieur Kahled Néji a été limogé de son poste, radié de ses fonctions, décédés suite à une attaque cardiaque après avoir visité les prisons Tunisiennes
Je souhaite que cette personne n’intervienne plus sur le sol Tunisien afin de crée des réseaux encore pire qu’avant et revenir au pouvoir par la fenêtre.
Aidez moi à dire la vérité sur ce malheureux de la Sbikha (kairouan) qui fout la honte à son peuple.
Ce Virus, qui trompe sa femme sans scrupule ni honte. A trahit ce que nos ancêtres ont essayé de bâtir, bravour, fraternité dévouement, sincérité.
Il est et il sera toujours à l’antipode des Tunisiens , lèches botes et au plurielles
Vive la Tunisie sans hypocrites
bonjour je suis tres heureuse que mr tlili soit libere mais je n arrive pas avoir de nouvelles precises je tiens a dire que c est un MONSIEUR exceptionnel et qu il ne merite vraiment pas ce qu il a endure j aimerai pouvoir lui exprimer tte ma sympathie
Voilà quatre ans se sont écoulés et votre combat a porté ses fruits. J’aurais pas osé signer ces quelques mots par mon nom réel si vous n’avez pas milité pour ’ma’ liberté. Reconnaissante et le mot ne peut résumer ce que je ressens et tout le respect que je vous porte.
Merci...
Lilia Weslaty
Les petits cons s’amusent à faire leurs graffitis imbéciles même sur les statues couvertes de prestige et d’histoire de Carthage ; on en a maintenant fini avec Ben Ali, avec la censure et l’étouffement des idées et de coeur opéré par son régime. Mais on en finira jamais avec l’idiotie des fondamentalistes islamiques qui promenent leurs femmes en burka, parce que c’est la seule façon par laquelle savent voir une femme : comme une bête dangeureuse. On en finira pas facilement, terrible dictature, avec ceux qui demandent maintenant de couper les mains, les jambes et les bras, suivant l’obsolète loi coranique, sans se faire aucun souci de l’Homme. Jésus, le Christ en est le plus grand champion, le Rédempteur de l’humanité, Lui qui a porté la Croix pour nous TOUS ; quant à la mafia et à al-Capone, nous les plaçerons comme un héritage historique de cet islam que tant s’acharnent à défendre par l’ignorance (mafia vient de l’arabe dialectal anciene "mafiah", c’est-à-dire "protection", la mafia est nait et c’est culturellement radiquée dans une ancienne terre d’islam, la Sicile)
j’ai aimé ce que vous pensé . suis de ton coté. tu me trouvera a l’appui
Sexual assaults and fabrication of cases against journalists and activists "Tunisia, Egypt, and Bahrain"
Introduction : Freedom of expression and political dispute
No country in the world is void of political opposition, human rights activists, and journalists resisting corruption. Despite the intensity of the disagreement between these institutions and state authorities, this is a healthy disagreement indicating a process of political, social, or economic reform. Freedom of expression and civil society mobility contribute to the exposure of corruption, provide alternative solutions, and present a better vision to curing crises.
Of the most important indicators defining the level of advancement and democracy of any state is how it deals with its political opposition, the methods it administers in this dispute, and the space available for freedom of opinion and expression.
Accepting intense criticisms of political opposition is not a grant given by this ruler or that government. Rather, it is a natural right for people in any state given to journalists and human rights activists who use this right for the interest of the people. Here, all states and all people are equal, whether the country is developing or developed, whether the state is a democracy or an autocracy, and whether it is a secular government or a religious one.
In Egypt, as an example of a developing country, the court has passed famous sentences confirming these rights. In one case, the court ruled that it is agreed that in all constitutional countries, contesting political opposition is generally acceptable more than contesting a specific employee ... The person who nominates himself to represent the country is knowingly exposed to having all his or her work a target for contestation and criticism. Public discussions, regardless of how intense their criticisms to actions and opinions of political parties, are in the interest of the nation and that through these discussions can develop a correct opinion pertaining the party it trusts and supports. [1]
In the United States, as an example of a developed country, the Supreme Court said that for a public official to prove that he or she is right in a defamation case, the official has to prove with clear and convincing evidence that the false statement defaming his or her reputation was published with the newspaper’s knowledge that it was false or to prove that the newspaper has neglected in a careless manner the confirmation of whether this statement was false or not. [2]
These examples are to clarify that political criticism, regardless of its intensity, should not be punished and should not result in the desire for revenge.
Arab rulers : Describing Gods, describing oppressors
Most Arab rulers, with a few exceptions, have come to power through illegitimate methods, such as, military coups, or nominal elections by which inheritance of power is pursued. It is also rare to find amongst those rulers those who carry the title of "former president, former king or former prince ... etc". The rule has become, as a result, that whoever comes to power, regardless of the method, seeks to maintain it for the rest of his life. Many seek to hand down the rule to a family member.
Most of these rulers, despite the fact that they have been ruling for more than twenty years, use an iron fist against those who dare to criticise their policies and practices. They give a green light to security authorities to eliminate political opposition, human rights activists, and journalists who only have their pens and words to oppose these policies. A series of gross violations with no rules or limits are thus committed, starting with implicating opposition, activists, and journalists in cases, detaining them and imprisoning them, and physically attacking them, passing through coercive disappearance and ending with the most degrading violations, such as framing criminal cases against those opposition forces, attempting to defame their reputations and spreading fear amongst citizens to prevent them from participating in public affairs. This is what this brief paper discusses.
Police authorities : Fabricating cases, dirty operations
Police authorities in most Arab countries have wide experience in torture and fabricating political cases and physical assaults as a result of training and the large budgets that these authorities receive.
However, because these methods are occasionally insufficient in deterring some political and human rights activists, and journalists, some authorities have started to prepare policemen for what is known as "dirty operations". These operations, despite being few, have wide and long term effects in spreading fear amongst ordinary citizens and amongst some activists who fear that their turn will come. Such operations include fabricating criminal cases, committing sexual assaults, and scandals aiming at defaming reputations and breaking the spirits of the victims, in addition to spreading fear amongst others, sending a clear message to whoever thinks to criticise or oppose symbols of the regime and its authorities.
Dirty operations : When, why, and how ?
The use of dirty operations is not arbitrary. Rather, governments resort to them when they fail in using the accustomed methods in the Arab World, such as detention, fabrication of political cases, physical assault, and torture to limit the activities performed by victims, whether journalists, human rights activists, or political opposition whom governmental authorities view as a threat revealing their practices.
Accordingly, dirty operations are used against those activists for a specific aim or to achieve several goals depending on the case :
Case I : The resort to physical assault or sexual harassment against a specific activist aims at terrorising him or her and breaking his or her spirit. This is usually done whilst the activist is being arrested or after the activist has been kidnapped.
This kind of operation is used either as a punitive method or to force the activist to stop a specific activity, such as stopping the activist from continuing his or her writings on a governmental symbol or official, or to stop the activist from participating in political activities opposing the government.
Case II : This entails the fabrication of criminal cases or fabrication of immoral scandals against the activist without actually physically assaulting him or her. The scandal or case is then widely published, either through rumours or by using the media. In addition to the goals mentioned in Case I, other goals include spreading fear amongst the surrounding people that this procedure might be used against them if they perform the same or similar practices as the victim.
Case III : This entails the integration of all of the aforementioned-physical assault, fabrication of criminal cases, or an attempt to scandalise the activist using the media and/or by disseminating rumours.
The press and playing with fire
It is difficult to achieve the goals of "dirty operations", especially in the second and third cases mentioned above, without the cooperation or participation of some journalists. Rarely, this cooperation takes place without the journalist being aware of the circumstances of the case.
Danger lies in the fact that these cases in which journalists and newspapers cooperate, affect not only the victim but also the freedom of press.
At the same time as some journalists accept to be used as tools by governmental authorities in launching campaigns targeting the reputation of activists, who might also be journalists, such campaigns also destroy the credibility of the press itself. This gives justification for the enemies of free press to attack it. In addition, many of those journalists who take a role in these "dirty operations" often themselves become victims of these operations when disagreement occurs between them and the governments and security authorities that use them. A careful look into a country such as Egypt and its current campaigns shows that some of the campaigns against journalists are because they at one time accepted to play such a role in the past. As a result these journalists find it difficult to find support from the press and activists.
Following is detailed accounts of some of these cases :
Tunisia
Tunisia is the most Arab country that is a member state in international human rights covenants. This is what some know about it. It is also the most stable country in North Africa, and this, too, some already know. This is exactly what the Tunisian government propagates. However, what many might know is not necessarily the truth. Ratifying and signing international human rights covenants or the stability of a country leads to an important question. How does that influence the situation of activists and the status of freedom of expression ? How did stability occur ? Was it through providing security or through the oppression and control of security forces ?
A recently published report by the World Organisation Against Torture and the International Federation of Human Rights stated in the Middle East and North Africa section on Tunisia that all violations were committed against civil society and human rights activists, starting with violence, arbitrary arrests, and terrorising them, in addition to violating the right to activity. This means that Tunisia is the only country that commits all these violations that could be distributed amongst several countries !
"In 2005, defenders were victims of assassinations, abductions and death threats (Iraq), acts of violence (Bahrain, Morocco, Tunisia), arbitrary arrests and judicial proceedings (Algeria, Bahrain, Libya, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia), acts of harassment and intimidation (Syria, Tunisia), as well as infringements to their freedom of movement (Occupied Palestinian Territories)" . [3]
As for the right of association, the report stated : "Freedom of association was once again blatantly flouted in Tunisia, where many independent associations were still not legally recognised by the authorities, such as the National Council for Liberties in Tunisia (CNLT), the International Association for the Support of Political Prisoners (AISPP), the Tunisian Association Against Torture (ALTT), the Centre for the Independence of Judiciary and Lawyers (CIJA), the Assembly for Alternative International Development (RAID-ATTAC) and the Observatory for the Freedoms of the Press, Publishing, and Creation (OLPEC)" . [4]
Of course, for these harassments to become tangible violations they have to strike at specific persons, whether they be journalists or political or human rights activists. Following are a few examples of such cases.
Sihem Bensedrine
No Arab human rights activist has been exposed to what Sihem Bensedrine was exposed to from assaults and fabricated cases, embodying the unity of state authorities in confronting an individual in order to defame her name and create obstacles to her efforts to shed light on the deteriorating situation created by security authorities that don’t know honourable disputes or the basics of the democratic process.
After security authorities failed in destroying Sihem Bensedrine’s will during the 1970s and 1980s, the use of "dirty operations" against her started with the participation of yellow press affiliated to the Tunisian government, such as Al-Shorouq, Al-Hadath, and Al-Sareeh. A rabid campaign started, aiming at defaming her name and reputation, beginning with accusing her of prostitution and the call for stoning her to forging pornographic pictures of her. The aim was to destroy her history and reputation. Fortunately, this did not work.
According to Lutfi Hajji, never had such obscene words been used or the situation reached such vileness towards a citizen. [5]
The situation reached the extent of eliminating all means by which Sihem Bensedrine could earn a living. She was deprived from receiving her membership card from the Tunisian Press Association after Ben Ali assumed full control of it. The publishing house Al-Sabbar, which Bensedrine established, was shut down. It reached an extent that whoever wanted to get close to the dictatorship had to attack Bensedrine and participate in the "’dirty operations" launched against her.
It seems as if it’s a natural solution to get rid of Sihem Bensedrine. She was prevented from receiving medical care while in the Manouba women’s prison when she fell ill in July 2001, especially that she did not fully recover from the brutal police assaults on her in 2000.
Despite these "dirty operations" targeting her, Bensedrine won the 2004 International Press Freedom Award in Canada for her struggle for a free press in Tunisia, even though Tunisian authorities have shut down all five newspapers in which she worked.
Radya Nasrawy
Whenever one searches her name on any of the Internet’s search engines, many headlines come out in the results. Many of the headlines include statements such as : "Radya Nasrawy was beaten ...", "Following the arrest of Radya Nasrawy ...", "Radya Nasrawy was targeted ...", etc. All these headlines reflect what the human rights activist suffered from as a result of her defence of the rights of Tunisian citizens, which the security authorities have been trying to deprive them of.
Radya Nasrawy’s face is scarred as a result of a brutal attack committed by Tunisian authorities, which also targeted her young daughter, while she was organising a demonstration in solidarity of the prisoner of opinion Mohammed Abbou in March 2005.
As a form of division of labour, we find attacks against Radya Nasrawy, the lawyer and head of the Tunisian Association Against torture (ALTT), take place on two levels. On the one hand, the Tunisian police clearly practiced physical assault on her, the last of which was the attack that broke her nose because of her solidarity with the prisoner of opinion Mohammed Abbou, in addition to burning her office door and stealing her files, not to mention stealing her car. On the other hand, under the supervision of the police, some journalists have started to dig up her past and have forged abhorrent stories about her. One of these journalists claimed that Radya Nasrawy was extramaritally impregnated by Hemma Al-Hammami during her visits as a lawyer to him while he was in prison. In response, Monsef Al-Marzuki said about this journalist, that he doubts that the journalist has ever been imprisoned because of a principle or a case like that of Hemma. The journalist did not even refrain from presenting Tunisian prisons as if they were parks in which reckless lawyers can get impregnated by their lovers. [6]
In this manner, press does not refrain from defaming activists and attempting to destroy their reputations, even though they are in prison, raising questions on the extent to which these "dirty operations" have reached.
Mohammed Abbou
On February 28, 2005, the lawyer Mohammed Abbou, leading member of the Congress for the Republic Party, published an article on the Internet. The article criticised the invitation of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to visit Tunisia during the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) organised by the United Nations in November of the same year in Tunisia. As a result, security authorities kidnapped Mohammed Abbou the following day and tried him. He was accused of a framed crime dating back to June 2002, claiming that Abbou had harmed his colleague Dalila Marad during a dispute between them in June 2002. In addition, he was accused of a crime related to the article he published on August 26, 2004 on Tunisianews Web site, entitled The Iraqi Abu Ghraib and the Tunisian Abu Ghraibs. In the article, Abbou compared between the status of Iraqi prisons and political prisoners in Tunisia. The article condemned torture practices on Tunisian prisoners and the silence of the judiciary.
Following an unfair trial that cannot be described at all as a fair trial, in which only 30 of the more than 850 lawyers who had voluntarily come forward to defend their colleague were recognized by the court, the court sentenced Mohammed Abbou to three and a half years imprisonment. The yellow press disseminated the news using the following headlines :
1. Al-Sabbah newspaper published on April 30, 2005, on the front page, "For violently attacking his colleague and defamation, the court sentences Mohammed About to three and a half years imprisonment".
2. Al-Shorouq newspaper on April 29, 2005, published an article entitled "Mohammed Abbou is tried for physically assaulting his colleague, causing her serious injuries, and for inciting the people to violate the country’s laws".
3. Al-Sareeh newspaper crossed all lines as it considered Mohammed Abbou’s trial to be unfit because the context of the trial was not related to the lawyer profession but rather to a citizen who attacked another citizen, in addition to another accusation that is totally contradictory with the fact that he is lawyer who should contribute to the implementation of the country’s laws.
These are all articles that present Mohammed Abbou as merely a deviant and violent person inciting the violation of the laws of the country and accused in a criminal case.
These articles ignored the basics of good journalism as they did not present to public opinion the circumstances of the accusations directed against Abbou. These articles also revealed the intentions of the judiciary, which insisted on connecting the two cases and dealing with them in the same session and judicial district, even though this is against the simplest guarantees of the right to defend oneself . [7]
Even though more than a year has passed since the imprisonment of Mohammed About and despite a wide campaign, the Tunisian police are currently continuing their "dirty operation" against Abbou. The police have threatened Abbou and his wife that they will frame the same immoral scandals against his wife if the solidarity for him and the demands for his release do not stop . [8]
Naziha Rajiba (Om Zied)
On February 28, 2004, the Tunisia appeals court sentenced Om Zied and Mohammed the Fifth Al-Hany to a six-month suspended sentence because she had 170 Euros in violation of the law.
This is what Tunisian newspapers affiliated to the government published. However, the newspapers intentionally ignored the fact that Om Zied had refused to stand before the appeals court because she was convinced that it was not independent and defence before the court that is controlled by the executive authority is useless. In addition, she stated that this case was framed in a scandalous manner. She was carrying 170 Euros sent to Mohammed the Fifth by his brother via Om Zied to help him pay the rent of his flat after the security authorities had closed all doors for the man to find a living, simply because he is the brother of Abdel Wahab Al-Hani, an activist. Also, these newspapers did not publish the comic procedures by which the trial was conducted ; comic to the extent that the judge told one of the lawyers not to worry as there won’t be any imprisonment. This only comes to prove that the sentence was pre-arranged.
Even more, the case-if you consider it to be one-does not carry a prison sentence in the first place. The case, according to law, simply entails confiscation ; not to mention the fact that the amount of money was small and trivial.
Om Zied, a teacher who had been teaching for 35 years, left her job with a reasoned resignation because of her fear of the police authorities that control teachers, particularly as Tunisian police are accustomed to attack teachers.
After that she worked as a journalist with several newspapers in addition to her Web site Tunisia’s Word http://www.kaklimatunisie.com , one of the Web sites expressing independent press and which has been blocked in Tunisia. Because Om Zied is one of those who cannot accept the horrific practices of the Tunisian government and has her free pen to confront the government with, and because her husband is the activist lawyer Mohammed Al-Mokhtar Jelali, she is a target for dirty operations performed by the Tunisian security authorities and their allies. The last of these operations was on March 7, 2006, when her husband received an anonymous letter threatening him with a sexual scandal and demanding 100,000 Dinars in return for silence.
A day before the letter arrived, Jelali received a telephone call in his office, also from an unknown person, using the same threats. The caller emphasised that he is not from the police and promised that Jelali would cry like a woman . [9]
In an article written by Om Zied, she presented evidence that the anonymous person is affiliated to the security authorities. She also insisted that such dirty operations do not affect her as they incriminate the perpetrators and not the victims . [10]
Abdallah Al-Zawary
In early 1991, journalist for Al-Fajr newspaper Abdullah Al-Zawary was arrested in a campaign that targeted many Tunisian citizens. On charges of belonging to the banned Al-Nahda Islamic movement, he was imprisoned for 11 years. Following his initial release in June 2002, however, Tunisian security forces did allow him to enjoy the freedom he had been deprived of for so long.
Zawary was re-arrested in August 2002 and sentenced to another eight months in jail for not respecting monitoring procedures. After his release he contested a decision by the minister of interior to send him into internal exile in Al-Gerba district of Gergeis City, which lies 500 km away from his residence. The goal was to deprive him from living with his family, and to make his and his family’s life difficult.
Zawary was released for a short period, during which a new case was being framed. He was accused of attacking the owner of an internet café by insulting her in public. As a result he was sentenced to four months in prison.
Zawary remains exiled, deprived from work and from living with his family. He is restricted from contacting the foreign world, even through the internet.
Conclusions
A report written by Hina Jilani, special rapporteur for the United Nations Commission of Human Rights (according to General Assembly resolution 55/98 dated 4 December 2000 and the Commission for Human Rights resolution 61/2000 dated 26 April 2000, which was ratified by the Economic and Social Council 220/2000 on 16 June 2000), cited several different kinds of violations that human rights activists and journalists face across the world. The following is a selection of these points :
Exposure and criticism of policies and practices that violate human rights have resulted in legal proceedings against human rights defenders as a retaliatory measure. Many have suffered long drawn-out trials, sometimes under procedures that, reportedly, fall far short of the standards of a fair trial. - The reporting of human rights violations has frequently led to charges of spreading false information, defamation of authorities or disturbance of public order. The peaceful expression of views on human rights issues has been termed as "incitement", civic education programs have led to charges of sedition and criticism of discriminatory practices has been prosecuted as an offence against religion.
Mail and faxes are commonly intercepted, Internet facilities cut off and telephones tapped. Incidents of offices being broken into and theft of information have been reported. Computers and disks containing information on the work of NGOs are usually what are carried away.
Smear campaigns against human rights defenders have become a tool increasingly used to discredit their work. Government-controlled media are used for slanderous accusations and attacks on the honour and reputation of non-Government human rights organizations and individual defenders. Many such campaigns carry comments of senior government officials, targeting human rights defenders who criticize or expose repressive State policies or action.
Human rights activity is reviled in such terms as "damaging national interests", "disturbing social peace" and, especially the propagation of women’s human rights, spreading "immorality" or "obscenity". In the case of women’s human rights defenders, vilification of this nature by Government or non-State entities has resulted in physical attacks, threats and ostracism.
Finally, a growing number of States tend to create governmental NGOs in order to discredit the work of independent NGOs at the national and international level. [11]
These points serve to clarify governmental malpractices against activists in the Arab world. And in the case of the three countries selected as case studies for the purposes of this report, the parallels are clear. As mentioned in the report, Tunisia, Egypt and Bahrain have all established semi-governmental human rights councils, which work in apposition to independent organizations.
However, none of these councils have condemned any of the ’dirty operations’ perpetrated against activists and journalists. In Tunisia, the governmental human rights council in Tunisia took no steps to condemn the sentencing of journalist Mohammed Abbou, who was imprisoned for three and a half years for an article he wrote. The Egyptian National Council for Human Rights did not lobby for an investigation into the attacks perpetrated against women journalists during the referendum in 2005. Likewise, the Human Rights Committee in Bahrain did not remind the minister of interior of his pledge to find out who sexually attacked Moussa Abd Aly.
The following are a series of recommendations issued by the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information to the relevant authorities. We have excluded security services as they are the tool used to carry out the ’dirty operations’. In future, we hope the security apparatus proves itself worthy of the respect that would enable us to address its members as authorities who respect the law and the rules of dealing with political opposition.
Recommendations
To Arab Governments :
1. Announce a renewal of commitment and genuine abidance by international human rights agreements they have signed, and to stop issuing accusations against activists and journalists in political and criminal cases.
2. Administer their disputes with political opposition groups, activists and journalists in accordance to standards of respect and values, including holding accountable those involved in the ’dirty operations’. To the media :
1. Abide by local and international professional codes of ethics, and work to maintain credibility.
2. Preserve the message of journalism by not allowing state security authorities to use media outlets to destroy the reputations of activists. To the public prosecution :
1. Work seriously to restore its independence, the remnants of which it is on the verge of losing. Its lack of independence has affected its credibility, because some members of the public prosecution have accepted to perform in the interest of governments and to be hijacked by the authorities in their political disputes.
2. Support the demand of human rights activists to revive the investigative judicial system, which supports the independence of judiciary and guarantees fair trials. To independent civil society :
1. Avoid turning a blind eye to violations against human rights activists, journalists and political opposition, regardless of pressure or incentive. This is key in the struggle to maintain independence.
2. Stand firm and collectively against ’dirty operations’, and expose those involved in such practices. To government-sponsored human rights councils and committees :
1. Preserve the sanctity of human rights work by ceasing to adulate governments while turning a blind eye to violations as shocking as cases of framing activists and journalists.
2. Use reasoned resignations if government bodies refrain from honouring pledges and continue implementing ’dirty operations’.
(Source : le site de l’ONG égyptienne HRINFO, le 11 avril 2006 )
URL de l’intégralité du rapport : http://www.hrinfo.net/en/reports/re2006/