TUNISIA: PROMOTING THE PRESIDENT'S FREEDOM AGENDA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 TUNIS 001064

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA A/S WELCH FROM AMBASSADOR GODEC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/06/2017
TAGS: PHUM PREL KDEM KPAO TS
SUBJECT: TUNISIA: PROMOTING THE PRESIDENT'S FREEDOM AGENDA
-- WHAT WE'VE DONE; WHAT WE WILL DO

REF: A. STATE 108924

B. STATE 88465

C. TUNIS 1058

D. TUNIS 1044

E. TUNIS 1025

F. TUNIS 1040

G. TUNIS 1004

H. TUNIS 986

I. TUNIS 985

J. TUNIS 939

K. TUNIS 938

L. TUNIS 936

M. TUNIS 904

N. TUNIS 840

O. TUNIS 410

P. TUNIS 409

Q. TUNIS 389

R. TUNIS 288

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

--------------
Summary
--------------


1. (SBU) Advancing the President's Freedom Agenda is Post's
number one Mission Strategic Plan goal. As part of our push
on freedom in Tunisia, the Ambassador and other Embassy
officers meet frequently with democracy and human rights
advocates, opposition political party members, and civil
society representatives. We include them in our programs,
and support some of their projects through the Middle East
Partnership Initiative. We attend trials of Tunisians being
prosecuted for backing freedom, and offer them and their
families moral and practical aid. We speak about the
importance of freedom and democracy with GOT leaders,
journalists, the young and Tunisians across the country.
Using many tools, from speeches to educational exchanges to
musical performances, we reach far and wide to press the
Freedom Agenda. All members of the Mission are engaged.


2. (SBU) Below, as requested in Refs A and B, we provide a
snapshot of our Freedom Agenda activities in July. They
included outreach to promote freedom of expression and
association, women's rights, youth activism, and economic
freedom. The Ambassador and Emboffs met with dozens of
opposition and civil society leaders, hosted visiting
speakers, and carried out educational programs. The
Ambassador met with GOT officials on the Agenda, and
distributed the President's Prague speech widely. Freedom
was the central theme of the Ambassador's July 4th speech,
which was distributed to the media. The Ambassador also held
a media roundtable focused on Freedom Agenda issues. Our
work in July advanced our strategic plan on freedom in
Tunisia, set out Refs P and Q, as well as in the MSP. In
this message, we outline, too, our future plans, including
our proposal for a democracy best-practices conference. End
Summary.

--------------
Mission Job One: the Freedom Agenda
--------------


3. (C) "Democratic Reform and Respect for Universal Human
Rights" is Embassy Tunis' number one MSP goal. Tunisia, we
believe, is ready for progress on freedom. If achieved, it
will bring economic and security, as well as political,
benefits. Our strategic plan to advance freedom in Tunisia
was outlined in Refs P and Q, as well as the MSP.


4. (C) Beginning with their first meeting, the Ambassador has
regularly discussed Freedom Agenda issues with Foreign
Minister Abdallah. In two meetings in July, the Ambassador
briefed Abdallah and his Chief of Staff, Hatem Atallah, on
the President's speech in Prague and previewed for them that
the Embassy would make a concerted push in July. Our
outreach efforts were noticed (septel reports on the range of
reactions that our work generated). For example, in a July
24 meeting with the Ambassador, Foreign Minister Abdallah
noted Post's "repeated meetings" with members of "extremist"
opposition activists (Ref I). The Foreign Minister, however,
also acknowledged for the first time that Tunisia needs
further progress on human rights and democracy. In addition,
GOT-loyal journalists have denounced in several late July
editorials civil society activists who meet with foreign
diplomats as "traitors".

--------------

TUNIS 00001064 002 OF 005


Meetings with Opposition Leaders
--------------


5. (C) Ambassador and other EmbOffs held a series of
meetings with opposition leaders. In each of these meetings,
the Ambassador emphasized US commitment to the Freedom
Agenda, with a specific emphasis on freedom of expression and
freedom of association.

-- On July 3, the Ambassador met with Mustapha Ben Jaafar,
Secretary General of the independent Democratic Forum for

SIPDIS
Labor and Liberty (FDTL). Ben Jaafar also touched on the
threat of Islamic extremism and the need for US support for
civil society (Ref M).

-- Following an incident during a June 29 joint FDTL and
Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) event where the president
of the Tunisian Journalists Syndicate was reportedly put in a
headlock by plainclothes police, thrown to the ground and
kicked (Ref I),PolOff made a point of attending a subsequent
PDP/FDTL event on July 7. The event proceeded unhindered.
Nejib Chebbi, a member of the PDP's political bureau, told
PolOff he did not know why the FDTL encountered difficulty on
June 29 but not on July 7, speculating that incidents seem to
diminish when there is a diplomatic presence. He noted that
the United States was the only diplomatic mission to send a
representative.

-- On July 26, the Ambassador met with Mohamed Harmel, the
outgoing Secretary General of the Renewal Movement
(Et-Tajdid) party. Harmel spoke at length about the need for
greater freedom of expression in Tunisia, including media
access and public debate. In addition to this meeting,
PolOff attended the opening session of the July 27 Et-Tajdid
party congress (Ref F).

-- The Ambassador also spoke with GOT-loyal opposition party
leaders. On July 10, the Ambassador met with Mohamed
Bouchiha (Secretary General of the Popular Unity Party),
Mongi Khamassi (Secretary General of the Green Party for
Progress or PVP),and Mondher Thabet (Secretary General of
the Liberal Social Party). (Note: These parties maintain
their status as separate political parties, but they have
come together under an umbrella group known as the Democratic
Alliance. End Note.) In addition to freedom of the press,
they discussed Tunisian politics and regional issues (Ref K).

--------------
Reaching out to Civil Society
--------------


6. (C) The Embassy has been active in reaching out to
Tunisian civil society, as well. In these meetings, too,
EmbOffs reiterated US support for the Freedom Agenda:

-- Mohamed Abbou, an attorney and activist who was jailed in
2005 in connection with articles he posted on the Internet
critical of the Ben Ali regime, was released on July 24, the
beneficiary of a presidential pardon. Abbou's wife, Samia
Abbou, had attended the Embassy's Fourth of July reception,
during which she and the Ambassador had a lengthy
conversation and the Ambassador offered further Embassy
assistance. In a July 25 telcon, Pol/EconCouns congratulated
Abbou on his release; EmbOffs visited Mohamed and Samia Abbou
on July 31. EmbOffs shared a copy of the transcript of the
July 30 State Department press briefing in which the
Department welcomed Abbou's release and called for the GOT
"to continue to take steps that are consistent with its own
declared intentions to pursue democratic reform" (Refs D and
H).

-- The Ambassador met with leaders of the independent
Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (ATFD) on July 11.
His interlocutors outlined challenges for independent civil
society and urged the USG to take greater steps to promote
freedom of expression and association (Ref L).

-- During July, the Ambassador met with representatives of
both the independent and the pro-GOT factions of the Tunisian
Human Rights League (LTDH). (Note: Created in 1977, the
LTDH is the oldest human rights association in the Arab
world. Its activities have effectively been frozen for the
past several years as a result of a number of legal cases
brought by the pro-GOT faction. End Note.) In both
meetings, the Ambassador voiced USG support for independent
Tunisian civil society, including the LTDH (Ref G).
Separately, on July 24, the Ambassador told the Foreign
Minister the LTDH must be allowed to conduct its regular

TUNIS 00001064 003 OF 005


activities. The FM responded that President Ben Ali "wants
an end" to the LTDH crisis.

-- The Ambassador on July 26 met with five civil society
activists associated with the Movement of 18 October, an
alliance of disparate human rights activists that includes
moderate Islamists who advocate for freedom of expression,
freedom of association, and release of political prisoners.
The group expressed concern over the lack of freedom of
expression and freedom of association in Tunisia, especially
in the lead-up to the 2009 parliamentary and Presidential
elections. When the Ambassador solicited the group's
thoughts on how USG could best support civil society, several
participants opined that the democracy movement in Tunisia
should be first and foremost a Tunisian-driven enterprise,
though some advocated for increased USG pressure on the GOT
(Ref C).

-- On July 20, A/DCM met with Neila Hachicha, founder of the
now-defunct Mediterranean Liberal Party. A/DCM reviewed the
President's Prague speech, the message of which resonated
with Hachicha, who said she had "no regrets" over her
previous activism for the same causes. Referring to her
husband's recent imprisonment and doctored photos of her
daughter that had been distributed, she noted, however, that
she and her family had paid a heavy price. She said that she
had been mistaken in her belief that, because she was
"pro-democracy, not anti-Ben Ali," that she would spared from
GOT retribution. She also felt that she had been naive in
her expectation that the United States would be able to
protect her and her family. Even so, she said she hoped that
one day she would "have the courage" to return to political
activism. In the meantime, she said, she remained
unapologetically pro-American. She also offered to
brainstorm about concrete ways the Embassy could help advance
freedom of expression in Tunisia.

-- The Embassy hosted a Human Rights Roundtable on July 10,
at which visiting Diplomat in Residence at the University of
Michigan Robert Smolik gave a presentation on Good Governance
and Economic Growth. Participants included lawyers,
journalists, and representatives of political parties and
NGOs. The group's consensus was that freedom of expression
was, to them, the most critical aspect of good governance.
Copies of President Bush's June 5 Prague speech were
distributed in English and Arabic (Ref E).

--------------
Public and Youth Outreach
--------------


7. (SBU) The Embassy engaged in a number of public and media
outreach activities in support of the Freedom Agenda:

-- The speech the Ambassador delivered before a crowd of
close to 2000 at the Embassy's Fourth of July reception
focused on freedom. The text of the speech was posted on the
Embassy's website and transmitted as a press release.

-- The Ambassador held a roundtable on July 17 with local and
international journalists. The Freedom Agenda was a
recurring theme in his remarks.

-- As part of a series of on-the-record roundtable
discussions partly funded by the Middle East Partnership
Initiative (MEPI),the DEFI/SARL media group convened a
discussion on July 12 on the role of the media in combating
extremism. The four-part series of roundtable discussions,
the proceedings of which will be disseminated in French and
Arabic as supplements in local newspapers, represents a
noteworthy effort to foster dialogue on important issues at
the societal level. EmbOffs participated in the roundtable
as observers.


8. (SBU) Some of our outreach efforts involved musical
performances that also served as useful vehicles for
promoting the Freedom Agenda's underlying values.

-- The Embassy helped sponsor the musical group "Kantara" to
perform with the Sicilian Philharmonic Orchestra in two
well-known (and well-attended) music festivals in Tunisia--
Carthage and El Jem. A third concert was held at the
Ambassador's residence. Kantara, which means "bridge" in
Arabic includes guitarist/mandolin player/vocalist Brennan
Gilmore, who until this May was a Political Officer at the
Embassy, along with several other well-known Tunisian and
American musicians, who, together, have created an
extraordinary fusion of Arab and Appalachian music (Ref R).

TUNIS 00001064 004 OF 005


Kantara's songs carry a message of tolerance and peace,
messages that went over well with their audiences at all
three locations.

-- As part of a regional effort, the Embassy co-sponsored
with the Ministry of Culture, a concert with Ozomatli, a
nine-member, Latino/hip-hop/funk band from Los Angeles. The
multi-ethnic ensemble performed for an audience of over 1000,
mostly young Tunisians. Ozomatli's music, and message of
tolerance, resonated with the group. The group also
performed for approximately 100 disadvantaged youth studying
English through the DOS-funded Access Microscholarship
Program, even inviting one musician among them to play with
them. Ozomatli received extensive and favorable local media
coverage, which duly noted their diversity and appeal to
youth.


9. (SBU) The Embassy has also taken full advantage of a range
of exchange programs and other events to reach out to
Tunisian youth who show promise as future democratic leaders:

-- Through the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI),
young Tunisian leaders are able to participate in three-month
Leadership for Democracy Fellowships (LDFs),where they
undergo a six-week course on leadership and democracy,
followed by an internship in the field of their choice. The
Embassy invited the two recently returned Tunisian 2007 LDF
graduates to participate in a roundtable with EmbOffs to
share their impressions about their experiences and lessons
learned. Meanwhile, two promising young Tunisians have been
selected for the 2008 LDF program, and EmbOffs included them
in some of our July outreach events. The Embassy is already
drawing on the alumni of such programs to serve as an
invaluable bridge to connect with other promising youth and
to help promote a culture of youth activism in Tunisia.

-- On July 12 the Ambassador hosted a reception for past and
present participants of the YES Exchange program (Tunisian
students who study in high schools in the United States for
one year, living with host families and engaging in community
service). EmbOffs have been encouraging participants'
continued interest in community service in Tunisia.


10. (SBU) Other outreach has used Tunisians' desire to
improve their English-language skills as an entree.

-- CAO spent a day at an English language camp run by a
Fulbright alumnus, discussing American values and giving most
students their first exposure to an American. Several other
EmbOffs, including Entry Level Officers, have volunteered for
similar speaking engagements as part of the Embassy's overall
outreach effort.

-- CAO distributed "Shared Future" bookbags to 150 scouts,
taking advantage of the opportunity to discuss with them the
values shared by the Tunisian and American people. The
bookbags, marked "a gift of the American people," include
school supplies and a book about the United States.

--------------
Looking Forward
--------------


11. (C) Many of the above activities were already ongoing; in
such cases we made an extra effort to more precisely target
our message and to broaden our audience. In that same
spirit, we offer the following list of planned future
activities as we take our commitment to promoting the Freedom
Agenda in Tunisia forward:

-- Embassy Tunis has proposed hosting a regional democracy
best practices conference for NEA posts to exchange
successful ideas, programs, and policies (Ref O). The idea
behind this initiative is to provide a venue where officers
who cover democracy and political portfolios in the NEA
region could exchange ideas and information about best
practices in supporting civil society-proposed reforms.

-- Embassy Tunis will continue holding monthly roundtables
with civil society activists; the next scheduled roundtable,
which will mark the one-year anniversary of the series, will
be devoted to participant feedback, with the goal of helping
ensure that the series is responsive to the needs of our
target audience. For example, we are going to experiment
with holding the roundtable outside of the Embassy, to see if
a venue change helps attract participants reluctant to come
-- or to be seen coming -- to the Embassy.


TUNIS 00001064 005 OF 005


-- In support of freedom of association, the Embassy will
continue to program speakers to address the alumni of the
Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship program, and engage in other
support and outreach activities with them. In addition, the
Embassy will continue to encourage Fulbright alumni in their
efforts to form an association. At their request, planning
is already underway for a half-day seminar on US foreign
policy, with the Ambassador leading the discussion.

-- This September, several Tunisian lawyers will participate
in a Single-Country Program under the auspices of the
International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP). The
program will focus on rule of law issues, with a particular
focus on balancing civil rights and security needs in the
context of combating terrorism. Several of the Embassy's
2008 IVLP candidates were nominated based on their noted
potential to advance Freedom Agenda ideals. The Embassy will
continue to look for promising young Tunisians to put forward
for this and other programs.

-- In follow-up to the Ambassador's meetings with opposition
leaders, Ambassador and EmbOffs will continue to reach out to
them, taking the pulse on their relative freedom of maneuver.
Likewise, we will continue to follow up on our meetings with
civil society. If, and as, these interlocutors come to us
with requests for assistance, such as intervention with the
GOT, we will take action, as appropriate.

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


12. (C) The Embassy will continue to develop further plans
and activities to follow through on the President's Freedom
Agenda in Tunisia. Our message to the GOT, political party
figures, and to representatives of civil society will be the
same: that the USG's commitment to the Freedom Agenda is
enduring. We will also continue in our efforts to work with
those inside the GOT who support reform. End Comment.
GODEC