TUNISIAN CIVIL SOCIETY URGES SOLIDARITY TO ADVANCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 001424

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/MAG - LAWRENCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/11/2016
TAGS: PHUM KDEM PREL TS
SUBJECT: TUNISIAN CIVIL SOCIETY URGES SOLIDARITY TO ADVANCE
DEMOCRACY

REF: A. TUNIS 1402


B. TUNIS 1308

C. TUNIS 1204

D. TUNIS 1155

E. TUNIS 388

Classified By: AMBASSADOR WILLIAM HUDSON FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) AND (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: The recent national congress of the Tunisian
Association of Democratic Women provided a unique opportunity
for independent Tunisian civil society activists to gather
and express their mutual aspirations to further democracy and
freedom in Tunisia. More than ten legal and illegal civil
society entities were represented at the event and official
remarks focused on the importance of working together to
achieve common goals related to democracy, human rights and
political freedoms. Despite the challenges of organizing and
executing such an event, the Congress was a positive
achievement for Tunisian civil society. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Nearly all of the major independent civil society
organizations attended the June 9 opening session of the
Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (ATFD) National
Congress, at the invitation of the ATFD. From the Tunisian
Human Rights League (LTDH) and the Bar Association (Ref C) to
the Tunisian General Worker's Union (UGTT, Ref D) and the
Tunisian branch of Amnesty International, approximately ten
to fifteen independent organizations were represented at the
ATFD opening session. Several illegal civil society entities
were also present, including the unrecognized Tunisian
Journalists Union (SJT),the National Council for Liberties
(CNLT),and the International Association for the Protection
of Political Prisoners (AISPP). In total, approximately 100
individuals attended the Congress' opening session, including
about sixty members of the ATFD, who represented a wide
variety of Tunisians -- from journalists to students, lawyers
to labor union members. The gathering of such a significant
group of independent activists did not go unnoticed by
Tunisian authorities, which deployed between ten and twenty
plain clothed security officials to observe the arrival and
departure of guests from the street outside the ATFD
headquarters in Tunis. While many remarked on their
presence, no one in attendance reported any obstruction or
harassment.


3. (C) ATFD President Ahlem Belhaj, who gave the opening
remarks, began by apologizing for the cramped quarters of the
session: attendees were crowded into two small rooms and the
adjoining hallway of the ATFD headquarters. Belhaj said the
ATFD spent several months attempting to secure a larger
location to convene its national congress, but no hotel was
willing to rent it space (Ref E). (NOTE: Civil society
activists allege that the GOT instructs hotels not to allow
independent groups -- including those that are legally
recognized -- to hold events in their facilities. END NOTE.)
While the UGTT-owned Amilcar hotel often hosts civil society
events, one ATFD member told Poloff that the recent seizure
and subsequent expulsion of a Swiss Amnesty International
activist from a May Amnesty International conference at the
Amilcar resulted in even the Amilcar to be unavailable.
During the remarks of a UGTT official attending the opening
session, ATFD members raised signs on which they had written
"Amilcar" in order to protest the Amilcar's unwillingness to
host the ATFD event.


4. (C) Despite this minor disruption, the representatives of
all civil society entities invited focused their remarks on
the importance of disregarding group differences in order to
present a united independent front to GOT harassment.
Speakers expressed their solidarity with the ATFD and each
other, as they seek to force the GOT to expand democracy and
speed political reform within Tunisia. Several speakers
denounced the GOT for its restrictions on its citizens' basic
human rights, specifically freedom of expression and
association. LTDH President Mokhtar Trifi congratulated the
ATFD for being one of the few independent organizations that
were able to convey a major meeting -- reminding attendees of
the GOT's aggressive prevention of the LTDH National Congress
on May 27 (Ref B). While there was additional discussion
about women's rights, the negative impact of globalization on
Tunisia, and expressing solidarity with "those living under
occupation" in Iraq and Palestine, the speakers and the
audience were clearly more focused on the deteriorating
situation of independent NGOs in Tunisia.


5. (C) COMMENT: The assembled group provided unique insight
into the strength and popularity of civil society activists.
While the ATFD is generally a non-political organization that
focuses on advancing a feminist agenda, its members were
clearly politically informed and knowledgeable about the
challenges and limitations on Tunisian civil society.

Attendees read opposition newspapers like "al-Mowqif" and
"Attariq Aljadid," signed a petition supporting union members
and read a statement circulated on a failed attempt by an
unrecognized political party to register a new newspaper.
The activist groups and officials in attendance were
recognized and applauded by the audience, despite the
underground nature and limited reputation of some. That so
many were able to meet, express their solidarity and identify
common challenges and goals, was a positive indication of the
health of Tunisian civil society, which has been increasingly
under attack in recent months.


6. (C) COMMENT, CONT.: It is noteworthy that despite the
large gathering of civil society activists, the GOT elected
to observe the event rather than disrupt it. This tactic is
similar to those used before President Ben Ali appointed
Mohamed Ali Ganzoui as Secretary of State for National
Security, such as during the 18 October hunger strike in

2005. Given Ganzoui's recent removal (Ref A),this may be a
sign of a less confrontational GOT strategy to control civil
society activities. END COMMENT.
HUDSON