Tunisie Réveille Toi !

Timeline : Tunisia

Ibn Khouldoun — 2004-10-27T13:59:40Z

Timeline : Tunisia

A chronology of key events :

circa 1100 BC - Phoenicians establish settlements along the North African coast, including the city of Carthage, near the site of present-day Tunis. Carthage later becomes a major naval power in the Mediterranean.

146 BC - Carthage falls to the Romans.

439 AD - Vandals conquer the region ; Roman buildings and artefacts are destroyed.

600s - Arabs conquer the territory of present-day Tunisia.

909 - Berber uprising wrests the region from Arab control.

Ottoman Empire

1600s - Tunisia becomes part of the Turkish Ottoman empire, but comes to have a high degree of autonomy.

1800s - French and Turkish designs on Tunisia force the country to tread a careful path.

1881 - French troops occupy Tunis. France assumes control of Tunisia's economic and foreign affairs ; Tunisia formally becomes a French protectorate in 1883.

1934 - Habib Bourguiba founds the pro-independence Neo-Dustour Party

1942 - World War II : German troops arrive to resist allied forces in Algeria. Allied forces drive German, Italian troops out of Tunisia in 1943.

Independence

1956 20 March - Tunisia becomes fully independent with Bourguiba as prime minister.

1957 - The monarchy is abolished and Tunisia becomes a republic.

1961 - Tunisia demands that French forces leave their base in Bizerte. Fighting breaks out between Tunisian and French forces. France pulls out of Bizerte in 1963, after long talks.

1981 - First multi-party parliamentary elections since independence. President Bourguiba's party wins landslide victory.

1985 - Israel raids Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) headquarters in Tunis ; 60 people are killed. The attack is in revenge for a PLO attack on a yacht in the Cypriot port of Larnaca, in which three Israeli tourists were killed.

1987 - Bloodless palace coup : Prime Minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has President Bourguiba declared mentally unfit to rule and takes power himself.

Ben Ali election win

1989 - Ben Ali wins presidential elections, and is re-elected in 1994. He is uncontested in both polls.

1999 - First multi-party presidential elections ; Ben Ali is re-elected for a third term.

2000 April - Habib Bourguiba, the founding father of independent Tunisia, dies ; thousands line the funeral procession route.

2002 April - 19 people - 11 of them German tourists - are killed in a bomb explosion at a synagogue in the resort of Djerba ; later, al-Qaeda claims responsibility.

2002 May - President Ben Ali wins a referendum on constitutional changes which could help him stay in power for a fourth term.

2002 September - Head of Communist Workers' Party, Hamma Hammami, freed from prison on health grounds. He had been accused of belonging to an illegal organisation and inciting rebellion.

2004 March - Tunisia shocks Arab states by cancelling summit of Arab leaders which it was due to host, citing disagreements over agenda. Delayed summit is held in May.

2004 July - Tunis denies allegations from a human rights organisation that up to 40 political prisoners have been kept in solitary confinement for years.

2004 October - Presidential elections : President Ben Ali wins a further term in office.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mi...

Ne parlons pas d'invasion américaine...

Ibn Khouldoun — 2004-10-21T15:20:02Z

Ce texte est également consultable sur nawaat

Il faut que ca pète une bonne fois et une fois pour toutes, et cette échéance des élections est l'occasion ou jamais. Je ne sais pas comment qu'on va faire pour endurer cette gueule si laide et méchante de flic sanguinaire pour encore cinq ans au moins ? Je ne sais pas comment faire pour éviter d'entendre ce nom pendant si longtemps ? C'est vraiment trop demander aux tunisiens ! Tout un quinquennat d'escroquerie, de mensonges, d'oppression et de presse monotone et vide de contenu, une presse, qui n'a rien à foutre à part de faire le tam-tam élogieux d'un minable dictateur corrompu ?

Une guerre civile est plus supportable à la limite, car une guerre a une fin. Mais un dictateur qui ne songe qu'à s'éterniser au pouvoir, d'ailleurs il l'a dit : "Qu'il ne quitterait Carthage que mort !" Toute autre illusion est vaine ! Un soulèvement, une révolution populaire en finirait avec lui et sa horde mafieuse une fois pour toutes. Tout autre recours me semble vide de sens. Et si les tunisiens ne sont pas capables d'en finir avec lui, alors je vois la solution venir des USA.

Et, je vous prie chers tunisiens de ne pas parler d'Irak cette fois-ci, car ce sont deux cas vraiment différents. La Tunisie et l'Irak n'ont en commun, que leurs dictateurs ! Les enjeux ne sont en aucun cas comparables, de plus qu'on le veuille ou pas, ce sont les américains, qui auront le derniers mot dans cette situation. Vous voyez ces hypocrites d'européens faire quelque chose ? Ils n'interviennent que lorsque le mal est déjà fait et quand il est vraiment trop tard ! Les européens attendent jusqu'à la catastrophe, et là tout le monde fait ce qu'il peut de toutes facons. Quand il y a un incendie, tout le monde retrousse ses manches, n'est-ce pas ?

Mais dans ce cas précis, je ne vois que l'efficacité des américains. Je ne dis pas ceci, parce que je suis pro-américain, loin de là, c'est cette situation de désarroi, et en tenant compte des avertissements de Bush et de Powell à l'endroit de Ben Ali. Je ne veux pas spéculer, mais les américains sont en train d'observer Ben Ali de très près à mon sens, je dirai même que s'ils n'étaient pas pris par leur bazar d'élections, qui malheureusement ont lieu parallèlement, ils auraient peut-être dépêché des observateurs en Tunisie ? La CIA fait son travail de toutes les manières, Ben Ali ne sait pas encore quand est-ce qu'il aura son coup de grâce ? Et je le lui souhaite ainsi qu'au peuple tunisien de tout mon coeur !

Quelque soit l'issue de ces élections, les tunisiens doivent bouger et battre le fer tant qu'il est chaud !

La parole des sages

Ibn Khouldoun — 2004-09-22T15:37:34Z

Paul Valéry :

« La politique c'est l'art d'empêcher les gens de se mêler de ce qui les regarde »

Churchill :

« Mieux vaut prendre le changement par la main si vous ne voulez pas qu'il vous saisisse à la gorge »

Einstein :

« Ce n'est pas avec ceux qui ont créé les problèmes qu'il faut espérer les résoudre »

Ghandi :

« la vraie démocratie ne viendra pas de la prise du pouvoir par quelques-uns, mais du pouvoir que tous auront de s'opposer aux abus du pouvoir »

André Compte-Sponville :

« Qu'on évite de voter pour un imbécile, c'est entendu. Mais cela ne signifie pas qu'on vote pour le plus intelligent, ni pour le plus savant, ni pour le plus compétent.… Que l'on ne vote pas pour un assassin ou un escroc notoire, cela va de soi. La morale fixe des limites, qu'on évitera de franchir. »

Marcel Gauchet :

« Que l'un commande soit, mais qu'il soit clair qu'aussi bien ce pourrait être l'autre, qu'il soit entendu et marqué que ce n'est, en aucune manière, au nom d'une supériorité intrinsèque et incarnée que s'exerce l'autorité. »

Finkielkraut :

« Ma culture : l'esprit du peuple auquel j'appartiens et qui imprègne à la fois ma pensée la plus haute et les gestes les plus simples de mon existence quotidienne »

Herder :

« Suivons notre propre chemin.…Laissons les hommes dire du bien ou du mal de notre nation, de notre littérature, de notre langue : ils sont notres, ils sont nous-mêmes, cela suffit »

Condorcet :

« Quand bien même la liberté serait respectée en apparence et conservée dans le livre de la loi, la prospérité publique n'exige-t-elle pas que le peuple soit en état de connaître ceux qui sont capables de la maintenir, et l'homme qui, dans les actions de la vie commune, tombe, par le défaut de lumières, dans la dépendance d'un autre homme, peut-il se dire véritablement libre ? »

L'inextricable toile/web tunisien(ne) crie misère

Ibn Khouldoun — 2004-09-15T14:40:13Z

Sihem Ben Sedrine crie sa frustration, "selon elle tous les sites qui parlent de liberté sont bloqués en Tunisie". L'impossibilité d'accéder aux sites de RSF et d'autres sites jugés nuisibles par le régime de ZABA.
Pour Souhayer Bel-Hassen, "la Tunisie est économiquement libérée, mais politiquement elle vit dans l'ère soviétique des années 1950". L'engagement des états arabes dans la déclaration de Tunis lors du dernier sommet arabe, de respecter les libertés fondamentales, la liberté d'expression, l'indépendance judiciaire et d'accorder plus d'importance à la société civile. Apparemment, internet a fait un mauvais départ en Tunisie, du fait que la toute première license ou concession a été octroyée à la fille aînée du président, Cyrine Ben Ali, dont la compagnie Planète Tunisie est à rôle prédominant, malgré l'existence de douze fournisseurs. Il est aussi remarquable que la Tunisie est le pays le plus répressif parmi tous les régimes arabes pour ce qui est d'internet. Mais puisque Ben Ali est un bon partenaire dans la guerre contre le terrorisme, les américains laissent faire, malgré tous les abus anti-démocratiques...
Les activistes et les opposants tunisiens n'ayant pas le choix de s'exprimer, ni de publier leurs documents, sont ainsi contraints de faire usage de la "technique Samizdat" de l'ère des U.R.S.S., sans oublier bien sûr l'affaire des jeunes internautes de Zarzis.

Tunisia's Tangled Web Is Sticking Point for Reform

TUNIS - Walking toward an Internet cafe in this balmy Mediterranean capital, Siham Bensedrine, a journalist and human rights advocate, quietly points out the secret police agent regularly assigned to watch her building.

She chooses a cafe at some distance from her apartment, lest the owner take fright at her surfing the Web with foreign visitors and ban her.

Once inside, she sits at a terminal beneath several intimidating signs. "It is strictly forbidden to connect to banned sites,'' reads one in part, while another warns, "The use of any diskettes except those provided by the manager is absolutely forbidden.''

Mrs. Bensedrine taps in the address for her weekly magazine, Kalima, and the standard page for an inaccessible Web site pops onto the screen. She runs through a half-dozen addresses for other independent Tunisian publications and is equally thwarted. Her attempts to open a scattering of foreign sites, like that of Reporters Without Borders, fail as well.

"In this country, all the sites that speak about freedom are blocked,'' sighs Mrs. Bensedrine, a short, wan woman dressed mostly in black, adding that she was forced to use the heavily monitored Web cafes because her phone line at home was inexplicably severed.

The experiences of Mrs. Bensedrine and other activists like her in Tunis and across the region reflect the practical difficulty in trying to carry through reform in the Arab world. Governments have become very adept at paying the idea of reform lip service - especially in the months since Washington adopted the issue - but practice lags.

Indeed, Arab leaders at their annual summit meeting in this capital last month issued a five-page Tunis Declaration committing themselves to basic rights like freedom of speech, an independent judiciary and fostering civil society. The Tunisian president, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, told the assembled leaders in a speech that the measures they adopted "will help our peoples make further strides on the path of reform and change.'' But a far more stifling reality prevails in the real-life Arab world, where frustrated political activists hear promises from their own leaders or from Washington and ask, "When ?''

To take the Internet as just one example, Tunis has proven itself to be perhaps the most repressive Arab government, activists here say. Not only are many Web sites blocked, they say, but e-mail is also heavily monitored. The ability to offer Web services is kept within a small privileged circle. Web cafes are shuttered if deemed too lax about monitoring every site visited by patrons. Harsh jail sentences are meted out to young men convicted of creating or even visiting banned sites. The number of Web cafes is shrinking in Tunis because so many have been closed.

With more sophisticated filtering techniques that block restricted sites far more vigorously, struggling Tunisian publications like Kalima resort to the samizdat techniques of the old Soviet Union - photocopying their magazines and passing them around clandestinely. For the Web versions available outside Tunisia, articles are smuggled or e-mailed out piecemeal. "Tunisia is economically liberated, but politically we live in the Soviet Union of the 1950's ; that is the paradox,'' says Souhayer BelHassen, the deputy director of the Tunisian League for Human Rights.

Activists are especially incensed that the United Nations has chosen Tunis for the next international conference on information technology in November 2005, wondering how a country that so heavily curbs Internet access can be used to help showcase its future potential.

Many activists say the Internet got off to a bad start when the first license went to the president's oldest daughter, Cyrine Ben Ali, whose company Planet Tunisie still dominates, though there are now about 12 providers. (Tunisian officials say she is a respected businesswoman and her company has nothing to do with the government's seeking to maintain control.)

This spring, eight mostly young men accused of terrorism were given nearly 20-year prison sentences. The government accuses them of trying to learn how to use explosives via the Internet and planning to attack a police station and a girls' school. Defense lawyers say they had a healthy adolescent curiosity and were visiting sites about the Palestinian cause and Al Qaeda. "There is actually no law against entering certain Internet sites, and yet they used the sites they entered as the strongest evidence that they are terrorists,'' said Samir Ben Amor, one defense lawyer. Defense lawyers say not even the documents the group supposedly downloaded were in the case files, so they saw no evidence to support the charges. "They received such severe sentences as a means of telling the Americans that 'Ben Ali is the only one who can help defend you against terrorists - he is the one who resists change. If you throw me out, the terrorists will take over Tunis,' '' said Radhia Nasraoui, one of Tunisia's most prominent human rights lawyers.

The case of the defendants, from Zarzis, is hardly unique. Another group stands similarly accused, and there have been several infamous individual cases. Zohair Yahyaoui, lacking a job eight years after graduating from college with a management degree, decided a few years ago to start a Web magazine called Tunezine. Its sarcastic political commentaries soon irritated the government. When President Ben Ali organized a referendum in 2002 to alter the Constitution to lift the limit on presidential terms, Mr. Yahyaoui organized a referendum, too, asking visitors to his Web site to choose whether Tunisia was a republic, a monarchy, a prison, a zoo or none of the above. The government voted by jailing Mr. Yahyaoui for nearly 18 months.

The extent of the surveillance can be baffling. When a Western diplomat complained to his service provider that his e-mail had failed for a few days and he wanted back messages, he received every message from the preceding two years.

Tunisian officials defend the country's Internet record. They point out that the country is advanced in deploying the computer for everything from university registration to soccer tickets to paying utility bills. They also note that sites that were once blocked, like Amnesty International and much of the French press, are now open. "The sites that are blocked belong to fundamentalist and terrorist groups,'' one Tunisian official said. Those jailed in the Zarzis case, he said, were trying to get logistical support from Al Qaeda and experimenting with explosives.

As to the question of freedom of speech overall, he said, "Our media landscape is improving, but we are doing it gradually.''The United States made note of the government's heavy hand in May, when it lumped Tunisia along with repressive states like China, Cuba and Burma in terms of press freedom. Tunis protested by withdrawing its ambassador from Washington for several weeks. But Tunisian activists don't expect any real American pressure for internal change any time soon. Indeed, Washington has announced plans to set up an office here this August to help spread its vision of reform in the region. Because Mr. Ben Ali "is a good partner in the war against terrorism,'' Mrs. Bensedrine said, "the Americans ignore all the measures taken against democracy.''>>

The New York Times, June 25, 2004

J'ai communiqué avec Charles Geiger Directeur exécutif adjoint du SMSI, et ce en 2003 déjà, parce que la première fois où j'ai vu que la Tunisie était impliquée dans ce sommet, je n'avais pas cru ce que voyaient mes yeux ! Donc, j'ai écrit à ce Monsieur par courriel (wsis.gov@ties.itu.int) lui demandant ce que la Tunisie dictatoriale avait à faire avec un sommet pareil et s'ils n'étaient pas informés de la situation de l'information, la presse, les libertés les plus élémentaires sous le régime de Zinochet ?
Dans sa réponse il m'a fait comprendre qu'ils avaient annoncé l'organisation de ce sommet, mais qu'aucun lieu ou pays n'ont été fixés pour héberger le sommet. Alors la Suisse s'est proposée et la Tunisie avait manifesté sa volonté d'inviter ce sommet. Il faut qu'on sache que Ben Ali le gigantomane a même le culot de se comparer avec les nations non seulement libres, mais riches ! En ce moment ils sont en train de faire une collecte de fonds pour organiser la seconde phase de Tunis en 2005 voir : http://www.itu.int/wsis/funding/contributors2-fr.html

Les Leaders Arabes évitent le débat démocratique

Ibn Khouldoun — 2004-09-08T14:30:31Z

La peur des tunisiens, le manque de volonté politique et d'unité au sein de l'opposition, n'auront comme conséquence que la prologation du cauchemard. Rien ne changera, à moins que les tunisiens revendiquent leurs droits sérieusement dans la rue tunisienne devant le palais de Carthage, et au besoin prendre les armes... L'espoir pour un changement de situation agonise...

Arab leaders avoid democracy debate

The Arab world's attempt to reform itself foundered in Tunisia, with the unprecedented cancellation of the Arab League summit. As Arab leaders continue efforts to resurrect the summit, the BBC's Middle East correspondent Paul Wood assesses the chances of making progress. Our taxi driver spoke as we passed beneath the huge poster of the Tunisian president.

"It is for Ben Ali's election. He will probably be the only candidate, again," our driver said. What was his opinion of the other Arab leaders due in Tunis ?

"I think they all like to remain as presidents," he said with a mischievous smile.

The leaders never did get to Tunis, but our driver's political analysis was spot on.

The Arab world has been called the least democratic region on earth, dominated by a collection of autocrats, semi-feudal monarchs, and presidents for life.

Now, as never before, Arab countries are facing demands for reform. And most of the pressure is coming from the United States.

Terrified

"Sixty years of Western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe because in the long run, stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty," President Bush said last year.

What the US means by this in practice may be quite cautious and limited. But Arab leaders are still terrified.

So, trying to pre-empt the Americans, the Arab League was debating no less than five separate reform plans : from Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Qatar and Tunisia.

Either I get my rights or my death will bear witness to how they abuse human rights Abdul Latif el-Meki Tunisian hunger striker

But some Arab states would not even allow the word "democracy" into the final communiqué, said a Tunisian official. The host country felt this was pointless and cancelled the summit.

But Tunisia itself exemplifies the problem for the US in trying to reform the Middle East.

President Ben Ali is one of America's friends : an ally in the "war on terror", warmly welcomed to the Oval Office.

Yet a referendum two years ago on whether President Ben Ali could stay in office produced the absurd figure of 99.52% in support.

During the summit, a small demonstration - just 50 or 60 people - calling for a free press was quickly broken up by the police.

There are, say human rights groups, some 600 Islamist "prisoners of conscience" in Tunisian jails.

Islamists who are at liberty complain of official persecution - and some have gone on hunger strike to protest.

Unusual solidarity

On the corner of a darkened street in one of the poorer quarters of Tunis, two men turned their backs as our car passed and began talking into portable radios.

These were secret policemen watching the house of the Islamist hunger striker I had come to see.

Abdul Latif el-Meki was lying perfectly still under a blanket, weak after 50 days of a sugar and water diet.

In a barely audible whisper, he told me he had emerged from a 10-year jail sentence to resume his training at medical school.

But then, he went on, the university had been ordered to expel him because of his political views.

"I am willing to go all the way to the end with this hunger strike," he said. "Either I get my rights or my death will bear witness to how they abuse human rights in my country."

A Tunisian human rights activist had brought us to the house.

She was, she said, a secular feminist who would normally be campaigning against the Islamists but "the repression here means we have to stand with them".

"It is stupid, but this is what Ben Ali has achieved."

The dilemma for the Americans is all the more acute when it comes to countries like Saudi Arabia, where the radical Islamist threat is bigger and more violent.

So there was barely a whisper of protest from the US a few weeks ago, when the Saudis arrested the country's leading liberal dissidents petitioning for reform.

'Greater Middle East'

The Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, accused the liberals of sowing "dissension when the whole country is looking for unity, especially at a time when it is facing a terrorist threat".

He said this at a news conference, with the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, standing right next to him.

Mr Powell was on his "apology tour" of the Middle East, trying to calm Arab regimes' fears after the leaking of a draft of America's "Greater Middle East initiative" - the concrete proposals to put last year's declaration by President Bush into action.

They turn out to be pretty cautious : money for women's groups, promoting literacy, help in drafting legislation and parliamentary exchanges. And the funds will usually be channelled through the governments that Washington is trying to reform.

There was still a howl of protest. President Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt under emergency law for 23 years, said reform imposed from the outside was unacceptable.

He insisted that his country was reforming and would do so in its own way.

Otherwise, he warned, there would be "violence, anarchy and instability" and the "overtaking of the reform process by extremists who would steer it in a different direction".

So Mr Powell was forced to stress that the US would not impose its own agenda, but merely wanted to embrace the reform initiatives already being promoted by Arab governments.

Last year, President Bush quoted approvingly the UN Development Report which said the "global wave of democracy" had barely reached the Arab states.

At this point, the "wave" is still no more than a gentle lapping at the feet of Arab rulers.

Story from BBC NEWS : http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/3586645.stm

Ben Ali ou le Saint intouchable

Ibn Khouldoun — 2004-04-14T20:43:10Z

Le comportement de Ben Ali ne peut témoigner que de sa barbarie, de son ignorance et son primitivisme. Aucun homme intelligent et encore moins un président de république, ne peut se permettre de telles bassesses.

Même s'il était un chef d'état ayant à son actif une gouvernance irréprochable, la plus démocratique qui soit, cela ne l'épargnerait pas des critiques. C'est ainsi que le monde est fait, dès qu'on accède au pouvoir ou bien au rang des gens célèbres ou importants, on doit aussi accepter d'être sous les feux des critiques et des médias. Personne n'y échappe, ni acteurs, ni sportifs, ni même les saints !

Alors, comment se fait-il que tout ce qui tourne autour de la politique de notre pays soit tabouisé ? N'avons nous pas le droit, en tant que Tunisiens de savoir, ce que mijotent nos dirigeants derrières les coulisses ? On ne parle pas de Ben Ali dans sa sphère privée, mais du chef d'état qui doit rendre des comptes au peuple, aux médias, aux organismes internationaux etc... Après tout, il ne gouverne pas du bétail sur son ranch en Argentine !

Oui, une villa en Argentine ! Les nouvelles de ce palace secret, ont été révélées au peuple tunisien via les chaînes de TV espagnole et italienne. Ces sources d'information, que le régime n'a pas tardé de bloquer immédiatement après la diffusion des nouvelles d'un palais somptueux appartenant au bourreau du peuple tunisien.

Cette créature, ne fait pas partie de l'humanité, il n'est pas digne de respect, ni de considération, parce qu'il n'est pas un homme, mais il n'est pas un animal non plus. Je respecte et aime tous les animaux, même les plus féroces parmi eux. Mais une existence aussi étrange que Ben Ali, qui ne fait partie, ni du genre humain, ni du règne animal, je n'éprouve que du mépris pour le phénomène.

C'est du domaine de l'absurde ! Tous ces Hommes (femmes et hommes) brisés à jamais, toutes ces âmes et vies, dont il devra expliquer la disparition ou la mort un jour ? Maintenant, ce sont les jeunes internautes, et pour très bientôt ce sera au tour des filles du lycée ? Et nous, les cyberdissidents de la diaspora, où c'est qu'il nous a réservé une place ? Si les jeunes de Zarzis ont été condamnés à 19 et 26 ans, pour nous autres ce serait indubitablement la guillotine.

Lettre adressée à G. W. Bush et à Colin Powell.

Ibn Khouldoun — 2004-04-14T20:40:11Z

Mr. President, Mr. Secretary of State, Your Excellencies,

The Tunisian president Ben Ali never listens, or cares for his people, in spite of the anger, frustration and hopelessness of the civil society in Tunisia.

Unfortunately, he is increasing his repression compaign against the citizens and even against innocent school-boys, who did nothing, but to surf on probably censured websites on the internet. Remember that it cost Zouhaïr Yahyaoui a cyber-dissident, two years of prison, because he had built his own website known as Tunezine, a discussion forum about politics.

As we still have your meeting with Ben Ali fresh in mind, we remember quite well what you said : "I look forward to talking to you about the need to have a press corps that is vibrant and free, as well as an open political process. There's a lot we can talk about." All that seems to be forgotten, as if Mr. Ben Ali were blind and deaf to the hard and tough reality of democracy in Tunisia. The latest news is that he sent nine children to jail for 19 to 26 years on April 6, 2004.

Their crime was that they surfed on the internet and got access to censured websites, but in the official authorities allegations, it's a matter of subversive activities and terrorism. Everybody in Tunisia is virtually spied upon, because dictators such as Ben Ali suffer from paranoia and don't trust anybody. The political police and the police of the police, have no other mission, but to watch everybody at any given time.

When a Tunisian expresses herself or himself, especially about political matters, if you critisize Mr. Ben Ali or if you write something about any issue, the police will do the job according to the governmental instructions. This is to say, that they will indict the person and accuse him/her of belonging to a forbidden organization, subversive activities and terrorism. These are the "classical" and most common accusations you would basically find in most of those cases.

In two words, the authorities compose allegations and verdicts suitable to their interests and "laws". These laws are unfortunately, inconceivable. With regard to the future of those young boys and to the disaster and harm this judgement causes to their lives, their future and their parents.

This seems and feels ridiculous and paradoxal in itself, with regard to the next phase of The World Summit on the Information Society, due to take place in November 2005 in Tunis. How is it possible for a president to punish people for using the internet, while he encourages the introduction and use of it ? But there is one thing that you should know about, it is the fact that all internet in Tunisia is under total censorship.

President Ben Ali is living on pretentions of openness and democracy, we feel and know, that he is lying and manipulating the public opinion as well as the international community. His speech and his deeds are of such contradiction, that they simply collide frontally. Only fools could believe in what he says and represents. In brief, Mr. Ben Ali is a ruthless dictator and with him there is no hope for freedom or democracy.

"Mr. Ben Ali is the wrong man to promote democracy." as says journalist Kamel Labidi. All your recommendations to a free and vibrant press corps, a rule of law and a democratic society sound unfortunately, hollow in this context, because they are not effective and meaningless for a man like Ben Ali. How could you rely on a man like Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to help lead the greater Middle East to reform and freedom ? This man is unable to respect democracy and freedoms in his own country ?

Tunisia's prisons are swarming with dissidents, not islamic fundamentalists only, but also students, journalists, lawyers, physicians and lately the 9 college-boys. So how could he possibly lead the Greater Middle East to reform, when Tunisia itself, is in urgent need form reforms ?

All I know for the time being, is that the people of Tunisia have got enough of the rule and dictatorship of Ben Ali. He even dared to change the constitution to his advantage in May 2002, in order to remain ruling for more terms and for life. We can no longer live with Zine El Abidine Ben Ali as head of state. The people are at the very edge of exploding.

We Tunisians are in an urgent need for change and that will never come as long as Ben Ali is president ! He is simply a disaster for the history and civilization of the country. Poor ancient Carthage !

Thanks for your attention and your time Mr. President and Mr. Secretary of State.

Sincerely, Ibn Khouldoun