GOT RELEASES 55 AN-NAHDHA PRISONERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 002773

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NEA/MAG FOR HARRIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/30/2016
TAGS: PHUM PREL TS
SUBJECT: GOT RELEASES 55 AN-NAHDHA PRISONERS

REF: A. TUNIS 2298


B. TUNIS 1658

Classified By: Ambassador Robert F. Godec for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: On November 4, President Ben Ali pardoned an
unspecified number of prisoners on the occasion of the
November 7 holiday marking his accession to power in 1987.
Among those released were 55 prisoners that had been
imprisoned on charges related to their membership in the
banned Tunisian Islamist party An-Nahdha. To the
disappointment of the activist community, Mohamed Abbou,
Tunisia's most famous political prisoner, was not released,
despite a one-day hunger strike his wife and family members
of other political prisoners undertook on October 26.
However, at the same time that the number of An-Nahdha
prisoners dwindles, a new caseload of young Tunisian
Islamists jailed under the 2003 anti-terrorism law has
increased. End Summary.

--------------
Islamists Released
--------------


2. (C) On November 4, the official GOT press agency reported
that President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali had pardoned a
"certain number" of detainees, and granted "conditional
liberty" (i.e. parole) to others. Prisoner releases around
national holidays -- November 7 marked the 19 anniversary of
Ben Ali's accession to power -- are common, although the GOT
rarely releases information about specific prisoners that are
released. According to multiple sources, including
international press reports and the website of banned
Tunisian Islamist party An-Nahdha, 55 of those released on
November 4 had been in prison on charges related to their
membership in the banned Tunisian Islamist political party
An-Nahdha. Five of those released, including two former
An-Nahdha presidents, Habib Ellouze and Mohamed Akrout, had
been sentenced to life in prison, although Akrout's sentenced
was later reduced to thirty years. Akrout and Ellouze had
been sentenced in 1992 for alleged participation in a plot to
overthrow the Ben Ali regime. Akrout and Ellouze, like many
of the sextegenarian and septegenarian An-Nahdha prisoners,
have reportedly suffered from poor health during their time
in prison, exacerbated by periodic hunger strikes undertaken
to protest their imprisonment. Ellouze is reportedly nearly
blind, while Akrout suffers from a heart condition.

--------------
Out With the Old, In With the New
--------------


3. (C//NF) The announcement was met with appreciation by
members the Tunisian human rights community, although many
activists highlighted the continued detention of some 150
An-Nahdha prisoners as well as younger Tunisians arrested on
terrorism-related charges. At the same time as the An-Nahdha
prison caseload lessens, the number of these young Tunisian
Islamists in prison has increased greatly, according to
lawyers and the ICRC. The Tunis-based International
Association for the Support of Political Prisoners (AISPP)
counts more than 400 prisoners or detainees in this caseload.
Among these young Tunisians, the more moderate political
ideas of older An-Nahdha leaders have been rejected and
exchanged for support for jihad and a desire, in the words of
an ICRC official who had interviewed many such detainees, "to
bring the caliphate back."

--------------
Despite Wife's Hunger Strike,
Abbou Not Among Those Released
--------------

4.(C) Notable by his absence from the list of those released
on November 4 was Mohamed Abbou, the lawyer/activist and
Tunisian human rights movement symbol who was sentenced in
March 2005 to a three and half year sentence for a trumped-up
assault charge and "spreading false news and inciting public
disorder" following the on-line publication of articles
comparing Tunisia's prisons to Abu Ghraib and Tunisian
president Ben Ali to Ariel Sharon (Ref B). Abbou's wife
Samia Abbou conducted a 24-hour symbolic sit-in/hunger strike
on October 26, the final day of the Muslim holy month of
Ramadan, with wives and family members of other political
prisoners. Following the hunger strike, according to Samia
Abbou, police pressure and surveillance of her and her family
intensified. Samia Abbou has often complained about police
harassment of her and her family, which has allegedly
occurred at varying degrees since her husband's detention and
her subsequent public efforts to have him released. Other
participants in the hunger strike, including Sihem Najjar,
wife of An-Nahdha prisoner Hatem Zarrouk, were allegedly
assaulted by police. However, Zarrouk was among those
released on November 4.

-------------- --------------
Islamist Leaders: Released From One Prison Into Another
-------------- --------------


5. (C) In conversations with Emboffs, and in communiques,
Islamist leaders such as Hamadi Jebali (Ref A),Zied
Doulatli, and Ali Laaridh, themselves beneficiaries of
Presidential pardons in the past two years, have complained
about GOT restrictions and measures meant to limit and
monitor their political activity. In the words of Jebali,
they moved "from a small prison to a large one." Many of
these prisoners are subjected to "administrative control",
that constitutes a type of internal exile. In a recent
communique, Jebali complained that police pressure had forced
the cancellation of his daughter's wedding. He also
protested constant and intrusive police surveillance.

--------------
Comment
--------------


6. (C) The GOT is slowly getting rid of its An-Nahdha
"prisoner problem," a problem that has resulted in constant
pressure from domestic and international NGOs and foreign
governments with human rights agendas. While many of the
released prisoners were serving the last years of their
sentences, and were due to be released soon anyway, the
release of prisoners who had been handed life sentences
surprised observers. Perhaps with the continued release of
An-Nahdha prisoners, and the increased detention of young
alleged jihadists, the GOT is conceding that, while An-Nahdha
may pose a political threat, there are in fact "worse"
Islamists, in security terms, roaming the Tunisian streets.
However, since political threats are often given equal, if
not greater, attention by the regime as security, the
recently released An-Nahdha prisoners can expect to be
watched closely, and to be prevented from any significant
mobilizing activity.
GODEC