Amnesty International Report 1998 - Tunisia

(This report covers the period January-December 1997) Hundreds of prisoners of conscience were detained, including human rights defenders and people suspected of supporting unauthorized political opposition groups. The wives and relatives of imprisoned or exiled opponents were detained and harassed. Up to 2,000 political prisoners arrested in previous years, most of them prisoners of conscience, remained imprisoned. Political trials frequently violated international standards for fair trial. Torture and ill-treatment remained widespread, especially during incommunicado detention, and at least six people died in custody. Several people remained under sentence of death, although no executions were reported. The crack-down by the government of President Zine el ‘Abidine Ben ‘Ali against human rights defenders and critics and non-violent political opponents of the government continued. Further restrictions were imposed on the activities of local and international human rights organizations and the media.   An amendment to the law on the external security of the state was approved by the government in September and was awaiting ratification by parliament at the end of the year. The amendment proposed making contacts with agents of foreign or international organizations a crime punishable by between five and 12 years' imprisonment. Human rights defenders were increasingly targeted and intimidated. Hechmi Jegham, a lawyer and President of the Tunisian Section of Amnesty International, was arrested without a warrant on two consecutive days in March and interrogated at the Central Police Station in Sousse about his participation in a legal conference which was scheduled to take place in Tunisia, and about his contacts with non-governmental organizations abroad. He was released without charge on both occasions. Khemais Ksila, Vice-President of the Ligue tunisienne des droits de l'homme (ltdh), Tunisian League for Human Rights, was arrested at his home in September after he issued a communique condemning human rights violations in Tunisia and announcing that he was beginning an unlimited hunger-strike to protest against the harassment to which he and his family were subjected. He was charged with undermining public order, spreading false information and inciting the population to violate the law. He remained detained awaiting trial at the end of the year. Former ltdh President Moncef Marzouki and human rights lawyer Najib Hosni, both former prisoners of conscience (see Amnesty International Reports 1995 to 1997), and Khemais Ksila were subjected to constant harassment. They were prevented from working, their telephone lines were disconnected, their mail intercepted, and their passports confiscated. They were prevented from leaving the country to attend a meeting on the human rights situation in Tunisia at the European Parliament in June. Hundreds of prisoners of conscience suspected of links with unauthorized political groups were arrested. Many were released without charge or trial, but scores were sentenced to prison terms, including people who had previously been imprisoned on similar charges. Most were accused of links with the unauthorized Islamist group al-Nahda, and others of links with the Parti communiste des ouvriers tunisiens, Tunisian Workers' Communist Party, or the Union de la jeunesse communiste, Union of Communist Youth ‘Abdelmoumen Belanes, detained in 1995 and 1996 (see Amnesty International Reports 1996 and 1997), was rearrested in March, accused of having complained, during a previous period of imprisonment, that Tunisian newspapers carried too many photographs of government officials. He was sentenced in April to one year's imprisonment. The sentence was upheld on appeal in May. Lazhar No‘man, a high-school teacher and father of five, was arrested in August, less than two weeks after his release from prison. He had previously been imprisoned on political charges in 1991 and 1994 for a total of four years. He was accused of links with al-Nahda and remained detained awaiting trial at the end of the year At least nine senior members of the Union générale des travailleurs tunisiens, Tunisian General Workers' Union, were arrested in April, and accused of involvement in the issuing of several petitions criticizing the increasing restrictions on civil liberties, trade union rights and human rights. Five were promptly released, but four – Rachid 'Ennajar, Monji Sou‘ab, Jilali Hammami and 'Ahmed Berramila – were detained for up to five weeks and charged with distributing leaflets, spreading false information aimed at disturbing public order and insulting an official institution. They were released on bail in May. No trial had taken place by the end of the year. Scores of wives and relatives of imprisoned or exiled supporters of al-Nahda were detained as prisoners of conscience and interrogated about their contacts with their exiled husbands and relatives, and about any financial assistance given to, or received from, families of prisoners. Dozens of women reported having been ill-treated, threatened with torture, including rape, and asked to divorce their exiled or imprisoned husbands. Rachida Ben Salem was arrested in May as she prepared to leave Tunisia with her two children to join her husband, an al-Nahda supporter and refugee in the Netherlands who had fled Tunisia in 1992. In September she was sentenced to two years and three months' imprisonment on charges of belonging to an unauthorized association and unauthorized border crossing. The sentence was increased to two years and nine months' imprisonment on appeal in November. Radhia Aouididi, who had been arrested in 1996 as she attempted to leave Tunisia on a false passport in order to join her fiancé, an al-Nahda supporter exiled in France, remained detained awaiting trial at the end of the year. Both women had been subjected to repeated detention and harassment in previous years and were banned from leaving the country. ‘Aicha Dhaouadi and Tourkia Hamadi (see Amnesty International Report 1997), were allowed to leave Tunisia with their children in June. In October more than 40 wives of exiled political opponents were allowed to leave Tunisia with their children to join their husbands abroad Tunisians living outside the country were arrested and interrogated about their activities abroad when they returned to Tunisia. Lazhar Belgacem, a Tunisian worker resident in Austria and father of two, was arrested in July when he visited his family and was accused of unauthorized political activities abroad. He remained detained awaiting trial at the end of the year. ‘Ali Hadfi, who was arrested in 1996 (see Amnesty International Report 1997), was released in February but was required to report to the police daily and could not leave the country. Up to 2,000 political prisoners, most of them prisoners of conscience, arrested in previous years remained detained. They included ‘Imed ‘Ebdelli and Sou‘ad Charbati who were serving sentences of three and six years' imprisonment, respectively, and Salwa Dimassi and Ahlam Garat-‘Ali, who were arrested in 1996 and remained detained without trial at the end of the year, in violation of the maximum 14-month period allowed by Tunisian law for pre-trial detention (see Amnesty International Report 1997). ‘Ali Ba‘azaoui, who was imprisoned in 1995, was conditionally released in May (see Amnesty International Report 1997). Political trials continued to violate international standards for fair trial. The courts routinely failed to investigate allegations of torture and ill-treatment and accepted as evidence confessions retracted in court by defendants who stated that they had been forced to sign them under torture. Courts often convicted defendants even though no convincing evidence was produced to substantiate the charges. For example, Habib Hemissi, a teacher in Saudi Arabia and father of four who was arrested in 1996 when he returned to Tunisia to visit his family, was sentenced in May to 10 years' imprisonment on charges of links with al-Nahda. The charges, which he denied, were based on his contacts with his sister and her husband, both supporters of al-Nahda and refugees in the United Kingdom (uk). Torture and ill-treatment continued to be reported, including on the premises of the Ministry of the Interior and in prisons. ‘Abdelwahab Memmichi, a British national of Tunisian origin living in the uk, was arrested in January on arrival in Tunisia. He was beaten, kicked and threatened in the Ministry of the Interior, where he was questioned about his contacts with exiled Tunisian political opponents in the uk. He was released the same day without charge. ‘Abdelmoumen Belanes (see above) was tortured and ill-treated by guards in Nadhor Prison in April and May. At least six people died in detention, reportedly as a result of torture, ill-treatment and lack of medical care. Mabrouk Zran died in May after the amputation of a leg. He had been tortured after arrest in 1991 and had not received adequate medical care. Ridha Khimri, a teacher, died in Jendouba Prison in July, after having been on hunger-strike for more than 50 days. He had been detained without trial on political charges since his arrest in January, only days after having been released on expiry of an eight-year prison sentence, and had reportedly been tortured. No investigations were carried out into complaints of torture and deaths in custody in the previous year (see Amnesty International Report 1997). Several people remained under sentence of death, but no executions were reported. An Amnesty International researcher continued to be excluded from Tunisia. In June, Amnesty International issued a report, Tunisia: A widening circle of repression, highlighting the continuing and widespread human rights violations. In July it issued a joint statement with the Fédération internationale des droits de l'homme, Human Rights Watch, the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights and Reporters Sans Frontières, expressing concern at the increasing intimidation and harassment of human rights defenders and urging the Tunisian Government to respect human rights and honour international human rights treaties ratified by Tunisia. No response was received from the government and no measures were taken by the government to address the concerns raised