Freedom of Expression Under Siege - World Press Freedom ...

“Kalima” (word)
“Alternatives Citoyennes”
“La Maghrebine”
“El Adib” (the literary man)
Sihem Ben Sedrine
Nadia Omrane
Nora Borsali
Abdellatif Fourati
Research on Monitoring the Coverage of the October 2004 Elections in
Tunisia conducted by three Tunisian Human rights groups in cooperation
with the Copenhagen-based International Media Support confirmed that there
is still very little room for pluralism in the media. The Tunisian groups
involved in this research were the Tunisian League for Human Rights, the
Tunisian Association for Democratic women and the National Council for
Freedom in Tunisia.
“The media largely served the ruling party at the expense of democracy and
the public interest. Ultimately, the failure of the media is a failure of the
Tunisian political system to comply with international standards in this field,”
concluded the Tunisian and international researchers.
8. Use of torture by the security services with impunity.
Although the Tunisian government repeatedly trumpets that “torture is
forbidden” and Tunisia “has freely ratified all international conventions
banning torture,” local and international human rights groups have been
documenting hundreds of cases of torture, particularly in police custody
during the past years.
Under the Penal Code, torture is a crime punishable by up to eight years’
imprisonment. Yet, Tunisian detainees, including civil society activists,
continue to be tortured and subjected to degrading treatment at the hands of
security forces.
Only few cases of torture out of hundreds have been investigated over the past
decade. The Committee against Torture, which monitors adherence to the
international Convention against Torture expressed concern over “the
pressure and intimidation used by officials to prevent the victims from lodging
complaints.”
Scores of political activists have died under torture or lack of medical care
while in police custody or in prison during the past fifteen years. Many former
political prisoners of different trends, including Islamists and leftists tortured
before and after President Ben Ali seized power, have said torture sessions
have become far crueller after President Bourguiba’s eviction in 1987.
The Tunisian Human Rights League reported on 14 January 2005 that Lotfi
Idoudi, a former leading figure of the Tunisian General Union of Students
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