FM ABDALLAH CRITIQUES EMBASSY VISITS TO HUNGER

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 002420


NEA/MAG FOR LAWRENCE, GERMAIN
PARIS FOR NEA WATCHER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/27/2015
TAGS: PREL PHUM TS
SUBJECT: FM ABDALLAH CRITIQUES EMBASSY VISITS TO HUNGER
STRIKE

REF: A. TUNIS 2395

B. TUNIS 2329

C. TUNIS 2034

D. TUNIS 2404

Classified By: Ambassador William Hudson for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: Ambassador met with the Foreign Minister on
October 31 to discuss recent visits by the Embassy to the
group of eight civil society leaders currently on a hunger
strike to protest the lack of freedom of expression and
association in Tunisia, and to demand the release of
political prisoners (refs A and B). Foreign Minister
Abdallah defended Tunisia's record on these issues, pledged
that further progress would be made, "little by little", and
asked what concrete steps Tunisia should take. Ambassador
reiterated several suggestions, including the authorization
of new newspapers and NGOs, that we have raised on multiple
occasions. End Summary.


2. (C) Ambassador met with Foreign Minister Abdelwaheb
Abdallah on October 31, three days after a one-on-one meeting
on Tunisian preparations for WSIS (ref D). Abdallah began by
noting the increasing presence of conservative Islam in
Tunisia. Ambassador said that Tunisians were widely and
positively viewed as being religiously tolerant. Abdallah
replied that previously Tunisians had been even more
tolerant, but that there had been a "regression." He said
that in past decades, during the month of Ramadan, secular
Tunisians could be observed eating and drinking, even
alcohol, in sidewalk cafes during the daylight hours of
fasting. Now however, such acts would be considered
scandalous. Abdallah commented that there is an increasing
trend toward religious practice among Tunisians and that he
personally has noticed full parking lots at mosques. He
emphasized that there is a careful balance between the "good
practice" of strong religious behavior, and "deviations" that
could lead to extremism.


3. (C) Abdallah said he realized the USG and GOT were both
concerned with the success of the upcoming UN World Summit on
Information Society (WSIS) to be held next month in Tunis.
He said that the eight civil society activists currently on a
hunger strike to protest lack of freedom of expression and
association in Tunisia, and to demand the release of
political prisoners, were attempting to sabotage and pull
attention away from WSIS. Abdallah said that representatives
of several embassies had visited the hunger strikers on
multiple occasions. (NB: Embassy HRoff has visited twice, as
have representatives from the UK embassy and the EU
delegation. The German ambassador and German Federal
Delegate for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs Tom
Koenigs visited the hunger strikers on October 27). Abdallah
said that he understood the necessity to visit once, but that
multiple or regular visits were construed as signs of
support, and encouraged the hunger strikers. He stated that
the office site of the strike was open to all visitors, that
their phones were not blocked, and that they had access to
medical care.


4. (C) Abdallah then launched a defense of Tunisia's record
on freedom of expression and association, saying that the
freedom that the hunger strikers had to carry out their
activities demonstrated the GOT's commitment to these goals.
He then showed a copy of opposition paper Al-Mawqif which had
a picture of the hunger strikers on its front page. (NB:
Al-Mawqif has a distribution of about 4000. Despite the
presence of journalists from five mainstream Tunisian dailies
at a hunger strike press conference on October 19, there was
no other local press coverage). Abdallah asked if anyone
could provide a list of the political prisoners currently in
Tunisian prisons. He said that the prisoners often referred
to by human rights groups were in fact "condemned for acts of
violence" and other security related crimes. Abdallah closed
by asking the Ambassador what we would suggest the GOT do in
concrete, specific terms to show progress in these areas.


5. (C) The Ambassador began by noting the GOT's measured
response to the hunger strike. He said that the free access
to the hunger strikers as well as their ability to hold a
press conference without interference had been positively
noted. Taking up the Foreign Minister's request for specific
suggestions for positive concrete actions, the Ambassador
said that the GOT's willingness to make progress on freedom
of expression issues could be demonstrated, for example, by
legalizing pending newspaper applications, allowing the
creation of new newspapers and giving permission to
journalists to speak more freely. The Ambassador mentioned
the GOT refusal to allow the registration of Lotfi Hajji's
Tunisian Journalists' Syndicate (ref C),as both a freedom of
expression and association issue. The Ambassador noted that
the right to free expression and association of non-violent
groups were at the foundation of a democracy, and that these
freedoms would help contain, not encourage, fundamentalist
and violent tendencies. The GOT needed to take a political
decision to move forward in these areas.


6. (C) Abdallah responded that these freedoms were important,
and that Tunisia would make progress "little by little". He
said that responding boldly now would run the risk of
appearing to buckle under pressure from the hunger strikers,
and that it was critical that "governments be respected."
Abdallah said there had been some opening up, and that
another newspaper may begin printing as early as the end of
this year. However, he said there were some pending
applications that would never be approved, because the
individuals applying were "harebrained", and the GOT could
not risk "playing with public opinion." (NB: Abdallah is
likely referring to well-known human rights activists such as
Radia Nasraoui and Sihem Ben Sedrine, both who lead illegal
NGOs and have been personally denounced by GOT officials and
the mainstream press). On political prisoners, Abdallah said
that there may be some prisoners released as per custom on
the November 7 holiday.


7. (C) Comment: The hunger strikers have gained enough
visibility to irk the RCD machine, which is geared up to make
the upcoming Summit as smooth as possible. Abdallah seemed
most interested in what the GOT could do to minimize the
impact of the hunger strike and divert U.S. and other
countries' attention from the strikers' demands. The GOT
continues to maintain that these activists represent fringe
elements, are potentially harmful to Tunisian society and are
supported by radical islamists; we continue to maintain that
their basic demands of freedom of speech and association are
legitimate and that Tunisia has publicly committed itself to
reform.


HUDSON