TUNISIA:NEW REPORTS OF HARRASSMENT OF JOURNALISTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 001076 SIPDIS NEA/MAG (NARDI/STEWART); DRL (JOHNSTONE/KLARMAN) LONDON AND PARIS FOR NEA WATCHER E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/03/2018 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KDEM KPAO TS SUBJECT: TUNISIA:NEW REPORTS OF HARRASSMENT OF JOURNALISTS AND ACTIVISTS REF: A. TUNIS 864 ¶B. TUNIS 761 ¶C. TUNIS 599 Classified By: Ambassador Robert F. Godec for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Despite GOT claims that it permits freedom of expression, the Embassy has received three new reports of harassment and mistreatment of journalists and activists. The reports are from: -- journalist Slim Boukhdhir, who reports he was forcibly driven to an isolated area and threatened by the GOT security personnel; -- opposition party member Zakia Dhifaoui, who was sentenced to four months in prison after participation in an illegal demonstration; and, -- activist Tarek Soussi, who was arrested for spreading "false information" after he gave an interview to al-Jazeera. End Summary. -------------- New Indications of GOT Harrassment -------------- ¶2. (C) Though the Tunisian government denies it restricts press freedom, the Embassy has received new reports regarding the harassment and mistreatment of journalists and activists. In the first case, journalist Slim Boukhdhir called PolOff at 1 AM on September 21, to report that he had just been abducted and threatened by four men in an unmarked sedan. He presumed the men, who refused to identify themselves, were working for or on behalf of security forces. Boukhdhir said he was picked up outside an internet cafe in Sfax late Saturday evening and forced into a car. The men first drove to a police station in Sfax, went inside for a few minutes, then returned to the car and drove out of town. ¶3. (C) Once the car reached a deserted area, the men hurled a litany of crimes at Boukhdhir. They said someone had accused him of adultery, a crime in Tunisia. (Note: If tried and convicted, Boukhdhir could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.) Boukhdhir denied the allegations, explaining that the government often accuses activists of unrelated crimes to escape responsibility for harassing journalists (Ref A). (Note: This information was not included in subsequent news reports or press releases.) Thus far, this accusation has not surfaced publicly. ¶4. (C) The men subsequently accused Boukhdhir of taking money from foreign sources, which he also denied. (Comment: Boukhdhir,s family was the recipient of a Human Rights Defenders Fund Grant. It is possible Boukhdhir is unaware of the grant,s origins, since it passed through intermediaries. See Ref C.) After threatening to stab him with a knife, the men questioned Boukhdhir about an article he had written for an Egyptian publication. The article was supportive of US democracy promotion efforts in the Middle East, and of Secretary Rice,s recent visit to Tunisia. The men told Boukhdhir to stop working in "this realm" and insinuated that he could be killed if he did not. When he asked them to be more specific, the men merely responded that he knew what they were talking about, by which Boukhdhir took to mean freedom of speech. His captors finally let Boukhdhir go around midnight, and he was forced to walk 2-3 km to the nearest building. From there he took a cab to see his lawyer, Raouf Ayadi, who was visiting Sfax at the time. ¶5. (C) In the second case, on September 15, a court in Gafsa sentenced journalist and teacher Zakia Dhifaoui to four months and fifteen days in prison for participation in an illegal demonstration. Dhifaoui, who is a member of the opposition Democratic Forum for Freedom and Labor (FDTL),may also lose her job as a teacher. During her trial, she told the judge that she was threatened with rape by prison officials. According to human rights groups, the sentence is retaliation for Dhifaoui's attempts to publicize the protests in the southwestern mining region (Ref B). Human rights groups also contend that the government purposely withholds permits for demonstrations to discourage protests, while simultaneously allowing protestors to subsequently be prosecuted. ¶6. (C) Finally, human rights activist Tarek Soussi is facing a possible three-year prison sentence, stemming from an interview he gave to Al-Jazeera which aired on August 26. Soussi, who is a member of the International Association of Political Prisoners (AISPP),criticized the manner in which seven young people in Bizerte were arrested, and the subsequent delay in informing their families of their whereabouts. Soussi was arrested on August 27, on charges of "spreading false information liable to disrupt public order." His family complained that the police did not show a warrant during Soussi's initial arrest, and posed as employees of a utility company to gain access to his home. Though Soussi normally uses crutches, due to an old poorly healed injury, he was not allowed to use them when brought before an investigating judge, and was instead carried into the courtroom. After 29 days in detention, he was released pending his trial. No date has been set. -------------- Underappreciated and Misunderstood? -------------- ¶7. (C) Responding to international reports of the three cases, on September 23, Bourhane Bsaysis, a political analyst with close ties to the GOT, gave an interview to al-Jazeera in which he denied the government harasses the media. He called the reports involving journalists "made-up imaginary events," and added that press freedom, "is an internal matter that is none of the business of foreigners to interfere." Bsaysis justified the arrests of journalist Zakia Dhifaoui and human rights activist Tarek Soussi by explaining that it was the judiciary who found their actions to be illegal, and dismissed the reports of journalist Slim Boukhdhir's harassment as fabricated. Bsaysis repeatedly brought up the themes of patriotism and sovereignty during his interview, which echoes several editorials in government-run or affiliated newspapers accusing human rights and opposition journalists of being "disloyal" or "traitors." -------------- Comment -------------- ¶8. (C) Though the GOT promises that it is making progress "step by step" on freedom of expression, the evidence suggests otherwise. The GOT is clearly continuing to harass and mistreat reporters who address such topics as social unrest or corruption. Public criticism of President Ben Ali and his family is also not permitted. Reporters or activists who publicly raise these matters face swift retaliation. The GOT isolates and harasses such journalists, sometimes jailing them. It also criticizes foreign NGOs and governments (including their embassies),who seek to engage with them. While the GOT appears to be permitting some limited additional public commentary in the media (e.g., an editorial in one newspaper recently calling for faster progress on democracy and human rights),the overall picture remains bleak. At best, we can say progress is painfully slow and some journalists and activists continue to pay a high price for independence. End Comment. GODEC