MOVEMENT OF 18 OCTOBER COMPLAINS OF GOT ABUSE,

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 000224

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NEA/MAG FOR LAWRENCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/31/2016
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KPAO KMPI TS
SUBJECT: MOVEMENT OF 18 OCTOBER COMPLAINS OF GOT ABUSE,
DEFENDS ISLAMIST COMPONENT

REF: A. 05 TUNIS 2548


B. 05 TUNIS 2420

Classified By: Ambassador William Hudson for Reasons 1.5 b & d


1. (C) Summary: The Committee of 18 October, an alliance of
disparate opposition political groups and activists which
grew out of the Movement of 18 October hunger strike (ref a),
reported that plainclothes police "violently" blocked a
committee meeting in Tunis on January 24. The following day,
the committee was allowed to hold a press conference to
discuss this development and the goals of the organization.
Responding to GOT allegations that the movement was
sympathetic to Islamists, opposition party Democratic Forum
for Labor and Freedoms (FDTL) Secretary General and Committee
of 18 October spokesperson Mustapha Ben Jaafar said that the
movement of 18 October had room for "all Tunisians that
shared the demands of freedom of expression, freedom of
association, and a general amnesty for political prisoners."
According to Ben Jaafar, this included Islamists with
peaceful and productive political goals, but not extremists
with "other ideas." Nejib Chebbi, leader of opposition party
PDP and an architect of the Movement of 18 October has
recently been subjected to a media campaign alledging that he
has allied with Islamists, and that he met with leaders of
the Muslim Brotherhood during the hajj. Chebbi has denied
meeting the Muslim Brotherhood. The Movement of 18 October
may have limited potential as a cohesive political party, but
its goals remain valid and closely aligned to our own. End
Summary.


2. (C) HROff attended a press conference by the Committee of
18 October, held at FDTL headquarters in Tunis. Despite a
heavy plainclothes police presence around the building, all
participants were freely allowed to attend the meeting.
According to Ben Jaafar, the previous evening, police had
allegedly violently prevented members of the Committee of 18
October from entering the same location for a non-public
meeting. At the press conference Ben Jaafar, who presided
over the event, explained that several members of the
Committee, including Hamma Hammami, spokesperson for the
Communist Worker's Party of Tunisia (POCT) and Lotfi Hajji,
president of the unauthorized Tunisian Journalists'
Syndicate, were pushed and shoved by plainclothes police.
Ben Jaafar accused the GOT of "responding to all political
challenges with security solutions," and, with fellow
committee member Khemais Chammari, emphasized that the
Committee of 18 October sought only a peaceful forum to
address solutions to their demands.


3. (C) Responding to a question on the role of Islamists in
the movement, Ben Jaafar said that the Movement of 18 October
included "all Tunisians who are concerned about the future of
their country, and who support the demands of the Movement of
18 October: freedom of expression, freedom of association,
and the release of all political prisoners." Ben Jaafar
explained that this included Islamists, as it included all
political parties sharing these goals. He differentiated,
however, between Islamist groups that had legitimate,
political goals for the future of the country, and
"extremists" that had "other ideas," and once again
highlighted the peaceful nature of the group. Ben Jaafar,
and other movement leaders acknowledged the significant
ideological differences among the political parties and
individuals in the Committee of 18 October. He explained
that the group was united now, under the three demands, and
that in the future, should these demands be met, the group
would be able to democratically determine the most
appropriate path for Tunisia.


4. (C) The fact that the Committee of 18 October includes
known Islamists such as Mohamed Nouri of the International
Association for the Support of Political Prisoners, lawyer
Samir Dilou, and former En-Nahdha member Zied Daoulatli
(recently released from prison) has in part led to a division
in opposition parties in Tunisia. On January 4, the former
Tunisian Communist Party Ettajdid, along with two small
unauthorized leftist parties (the Patriotic and Democratic
Labor Party and the Democratic Communists) and some
independent intellectuals formed what they termed the
"Democratic and Progressive Coalition". The coalition was
formed around the rejection of any role for Islamists in
Tunisian politics. The Committee of 18 October's inclusion
of Islamists has provoked the GOT to launch a media slander

campaign to portray Nejib Chebbi, President of the opposition
Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) and a primary leader of
the 18 October Movement, as an Islamic fundamentalist.
(PDP's politics have been in the past secular and leftist.)
The campaign has included allegations that Chebbi met with
members of Muslim Brotherhood and En-Nahdha while
participating in the hajj in early January, as well as the
publication in a mainstream magazine of clearly-doctored
photos of Chebbi wearing a turban and with a Islamic-style
long beard. At the January 24 press conference, Chebbi
flatly denied any allegation of ties to the Muslim
Brotherhood, and said he was planning on taking legal action
against Al-Mustaqbal and al Liwa the Lebanese papers that
printed the allegation, Middle East Online, an Internet
journal and the Tunisian daily As-Sabah, which also carried
the allegation and refused to print a letter from Chebbi
denying the story. (NB: Local activists alleged that the
Lebanese papers and website were influenced by the Tunisian
Embassy in Beirut to carry the allegations.)


5. (C) At the press conference, Chebbi did not comment on the
allegations that he met with exiled En-Nahdha leader Rachid
Ghannouchi while at the hajj. (NB: En-Nahdha is the banned
Tunisian Islamic party.) Rachid Hachana, PDP member and
editor of the party's newspaper Al-Mawkif, confirmed that
this meeting did take place, and commented that meetings
between PDP and En-Nahdha members outside of Tunisia were not
rare occurrences, and that it was the right of any Tunisian
to meet with any other Tunisian. (A senior advisor to PM
Ghannouchi told us privately February 1 that although the
meeting with the an-Nahda leader was frowned by the GOT, the
real concern was the broad inclusion of disparate opposition
groups, including Islamists, in the October 18 Movement, of
which Chebbi is the most visible member.)


6. (C) Comment: While the structure of the Committee of 18
October solidifies, its support outside of a limited circle
of opposition politicos and intellectuals is minimal.
Attendance at the press conference was much smaller than
during the original hunger strike, and the international
spotlight the group enjoyed around November's UN World Summit
on Information Society has faded. While the movement may not
be able to mobilize widespread support given the constrictive
political climate in Tunisia, their demands are valid, and
track with USG goals for political reform in Tunisia.
HROff's attendance at the press conference was positively
noted, both in person, and in online opposition journals
which have wide readership among the small Tunisian activist
community. We will continue to engage Tunisians, via
high-level dialogue such as the Ambassador's meeting with the
FM on the 18 October hunger strike (ref b),public statements
and our presence as observers at symbolic gatherings such as
the Oct 18 meetings to encourage the creation of political
space and freedom of expression in Tunisia.
HUDSON