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)

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Summary
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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.

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New Indications of GOT Harrassment
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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.

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Underappreciated and Misunderstood?
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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."

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Comment
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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