Freedom in the World 1999 - Tunisia

1999 Scores

Status: Not Free
Freedom Rating: 5.5
Civil Liberties: 5
Political Rights: 6

Overview

As expected, President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali won a third five-year presidential term in a landslide victory in October 24 elections. Parliament amended the constitution in June to relax some restrictions on candidacy, thus allowing opposition candidates to contest presidential elections for the first time. While Ben Ali touted this move as a courageous concession to dissent, most analysts described the electoral process as a farce. Of the two opposition leaders who met the stringent conditions placed on potential candidates, one refused to criticize the president and even claimed that he was running "not against Ben Ali, but with him." The other received so little media attention that most citizens could not recognize him. Both publicly conceded that their role was largely symbolic.

Elections to the 182-seat legislature were also held on October 24. A bill adopted by parliament earlier in the year increased the allotment of seats reserved for opposition candidates from 11.6 percent to 20 percent. Not surprisingly, Ben Ali's ruling Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD) won 80 percent of seats. Six opposition parties shared the remaining 20 percent.

Following Tunisia's independence from France in 1956, President Habib Bourguiba pursued secular pro-Western policies while moving toward political liberalization and modernization. In 1987, Prime Minister Ben Ali succeeded Bourguiba, who was deemed medically unfit to govern, and offered a brief promise of an open political system. However, his rule became increasingly autocratic and repressive. Intolerant of public criticism, he has allowed almost no credible opposition to exist; opposition parties have been banned or crippled by arrests and harassment. The government has consistently targeted trade unionists, human rights activists, student leaders, and the media, but it treats Islamists most harshly, claiming the need to avoid the kind of unrest seen in neighboring Algeria. Ben Ali has escaped meaningful criticism from Western governments, in part because much of the worst abuse is aimed at Islamic fundamentalists, but also because Tunisia is an important trading partner for several European countries.

The 1959 constitution provides for a president with broad powers, including the right to select the prime minister and to rule by decree during legislative adjournments. Under Ben Ali, the role of prime minister was reduced from leader of the government to "coordinator" of ministerial activities. The unicameral legislature is elected to five-year terms by universal suffrage. The president appoints a governor to each of Tunisia's 23 provinces, and municipal councils are elected.

Ben Ali named Mohammed Ghannouchi prime minister in November. An economist in charge of international development and foreign investment under the outgoing government, Ghannouchi represents Ben Ali's commitment to continue the economic reforms that have won him praise from the IMF. With the economy growing at between five and six percent a year, Ben Ali promises further privatization, foreign investment, cuts in public spending, and the creation of jobs. Unemployment stands at about 15 percent. An IMF report in October described Tunisia's social indicators as "outstanding by regional standards," notably in education, gender gaps, housing, and health care.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

Tunisians cannot change their government democratically. Despite a slight relaxation of restrictions on opposition candidates in 1999 presidential elections, the elections were neither open nor competitive. The ruling RCD and its predecessor parties have controlled the government since independence. No political party based on religion or region is permitted, and all parties must be licensed.

Despite legal reforms that broadened the state's definition of torture and reduced the length of incommunicado detention from ten to three days, illegal detention and torture continued in 1999. According to Human Rights Watch, security forces act with impunity, as judges ignored evidence of torture and routinely convicted defendants on the basis of coerced confessions. In a notable case, 21 defendants, including 13 students, were tried in a single 20-hour session in July on charges that included terrorist activities and unauthorized meetings. Sixteen of the accused had been in pretrial detention since early 1998, and almost all reported being tortured into signing confessions. One of their lawyers, Radhia Nasraoui, along with her husband and four others, was also indicted as a codefendant. Amnesty International reported that the trial was characterized by "disrespect for defence rights and culminated in a unanimous walkout by defence lawyers protesting the judge's decision to prevent one of the lawyers from continuing his argument to the court." While Nasraoui received a suspended six-month jail sentence, the other 20 defendants received prison sentences ranging from 15 months to nine years.

Suspected Islamist sympathizers face severe repression. Actual or suspected members of the outlawed An-Nahdha movement constitute the majority of an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 political prisoners in Tunisia, according to Human Rights Watch. Many others are in exile. Former political prisoners are often deprived of their passports, monitored and searched by police, and discriminated against with regard to employment.

Press freedom is severely restricted. The press code prohibits subversion and defamation, both broadly defined, under threat of fines and confiscation. Newsprint subsidies and control over public advertising revenues are used by the government to limit dissent and encourage self-censorship. Prepublication submission requirements allow authorities to seize publications at will. All foreign publications are censored. The government tightly controls domestic broadcast media and restricts the rebroadcasting of foreign programming. Ownership of satellite dishes is restricted, but many people use them illegally.

On October 11, President Ben Ali announced his intention to submit amendments to the press code to "stimulate democratic dialogue even further." However, media coverage of the 1999 presidential campaign overwhelmingly favored Ben Ali, giving the two opposition candidates almost no attention. Throughout 1999, Taoufik Ben Brick, Tunis correspondent with a French daily, suffered intimidation by authorities. His telephone line was cut, his mail was confiscated, he was under constant police surveillance, he was interrogated, and his passport was confiscated. In the run-up to presidential elections, the government suspended broadcasts of France 2 television and blocked distribution of the French daily Le Monde.

Permission is required for public gatherings. Nongovernmental organizations dealing with human rights issues or other sensitive matters face harassment, and their meetings are routinely blocked. Printers are generally unwilling to risk government retribution by printing statements and reports from human rights groups. Agendas and papers from meetings and conferences must be submitted to the interior ministry in advance, and hotel managers must report on all gatherings on their premises.

Islam is the state religion, but is practiced under intense government scrutiny. The government controls and subsidizes mosques and pays the salaries of prayer leaders. Proselytizing by non-Muslims is prohibited. Other religions are generally tolerated, with the exception of Baha'i, whose adherents may not practice publicly.

General equality for women has advanced more in Tunisia than elsewhere in the Arab world. Inheritance law is based on Shari'a (Islamic law) and discriminates against women, although the government enacted legislation in 1998 to improve women's rights in matters of divorce and property ownership. Women are well represented in academics and in the professions. Twenty-one seats in the national legislature went to women following October 1999 elections.

Tunisia's sole labor federation, the Tunisian General Federation of Labor, operates under severe legal constraints. However, assertive union dissidents campaigned in 1999 for greater autonomy. Ten of them were detained briefly in May.