TUNISIA DEFENDS RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, BUT CAUTIOUSLY

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 001132

SIPDIS

NEA/MAG (NARDI/HAYES); DRL (JOHNSTONE/KLARMAN)
LONDON AND PARIS FOR NEA WATCHER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/02/2018
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KIRF KPAO TS
SUBJECT: TUNISIA DEFENDS RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, BUT CAUTIOUSLY

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

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


1. (C/NF) During the mid-October visit of Warren Cofsky,
from DRL's Office of International Religious Freedom, Embassy
officials met with a series of government officials and
religious leaders involved in religious freedom issues.
Though those affiliated with the government stuck closely to
GOT talking points, the Catholic Bishop did raise some
concerns about how GOT reluctance to change the status quo
could negatively affect the Church in the future. End
Summary.

--------------
All Together Now
--------------


2. (C) From October 14 to October 17, Warren Cofsky, from
DRL's Office of International Religious Freedom, met with a
variety of government officials and civil society
representatives. Though the meetings were different, the
message was the same: Tunisia respects all religions and
President Ben Ali supports dialogue and cooperation. For
example, parliamentarian and leader of the Jewish community
in Tunis Roger Bismuth opined that President Ben Ali was
dedicated to religious dialogue, evidenced by the number of
conferences Tunisia hosts on this subject. He added that
mutual understanding is the best inoculation against
extremism, thus religious dialogue could also be seen as a
tool against terrorism. Concluding, Bismuth mentioned that
he hoped to convince the Minister of Education and the
Minister of Higher Education to add chapters on Jewish
history to the standard Tunisian curriculum, but acknowledged
that this is still a work in progress. (Note: Bismuth did
not mention that despite his close ties to the government and
the GOT's support of the Jewish community, the Association of
the Jewish Community in Tunisia has been waiting for years
for legal recognition.)


3. (C) Cofsky and EmbOffs also met with the President of
Zeitouna University, a government university that specializes
in teaching religious subjects, and the Ben Ali Chair for
Dialogue Between Civilizations Professor Mohamed Hassine
Fantar. Like Bismuth, praise of Ben Ali's support for
religious dialogue was a main topic of conversation. The
President of the University noted that student of 53
different nationalities study there, primarily in the field
of religious studies. He did admit, however, that students
must be nominated by their home country and then be approved
by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Higher
Education before being allowed to enroll. Professor Fantar
also stressed the importance of conferences and called
Tunisia the most open country in the Arab world. Likewise,
the President of the Jewish Community in Djerba praised
everything the GOT has done to support the Jewish community
(such as providing security for synagogues and allowing
Jewish students to spend half-days in religious schools),and
said that the community supported President Ben Ali.

--------------
Catholic Bishop Has Concerns
--------------


4. (C/NF) Catholic Bishop Maroun Lahham shared several
concerns with Cofsky during their meeting. He began by
explaining that legally, the Catholic Church is the only
recognized church in Tunisia. The Greek and Russian Orthodox
churches are considered religious consulates of sorts,
existing under the umbrella of their home country's
diplomatic mission to Tunisia. Two other churches have large
congregations, namely the Anglican and Lutheran churches, but
according to Bishop Lahham, they have difficulty employing
people because of their lack of legal status. This has
become an issue, as the Anglican Church recently designated a
bishop for Tunisia who will be consecrated in late November.
Rather than operate under the auspices of the British Embassy
in Tunisia, the church would like to be independent and has
approached the GOT for official recognition, but this has yet
to be granted. Some 14 additional churches were given land
grants at the time of Tunisia's independence, but the Bishop
opined that many of these may no longer be active.


5. (C/NF) Though he called Christians "statistically
negligible" in Tunisia, Bishop Lahham speculated that the GOT
is nevertheless reluctant to modify the Catholic Church's
status agreement with the GOT, for fear that might encourage
Islamic groups to seek the same rights. The Catholic Church
is only allowed to sell property; it can not purchase new
buildings or land, although it is allowed to build on land it
already owns. Lanham said this is problematic as, under the
agreement between the Catholic Church and the GOT, several
Orders within the Church were given the deeds to specific
properties and tracts of land. Some of the Orders originally
present in Tunisia have since left, but the Church isn't
allowed to have the title changed. It would like to keep the
buildings, but cannot legally transfer them to the Bishop's
control. While the Church continues to maintain the
properties, doing so is technically illegal, he explained.
Bishop Lahham said he worried about what would happen if a
zealous government official took a close look at the
contracts. He said he had sent a letter to the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs (MFA) on this subject, but had not received a
response in over six months. The Catholic Church has plans
to build a pedagogical center on one of its remaining large
empty tracts of land because, "empty land might tempt
others," referring to previously public land (NFI) that was
supposed to be protected, but was somehow transferred to the
President's in-laws.


6. (C/NF) Bishop Lahham explained that while the Tunisian
constitution allows conversion, socially and culturally the
issue is much more complex. Families are generally against
conversion to Christianity, and the government is also
sensitive to anything it perceives as proselytizing. The
Bishop said that he took great pains to never be seen as
urging conversion. When he is approached by prospective
converts, he questions them rigorously to determine their
sincerity. If their bona fides are established, they would
begin a four-five year process of learning about Catholicism
before they could be baptized. He pegged the total number of
conversions at around 30-35 over the last 20 years.

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


7. (C/NF) The measures concerning religious tolerance put
in place under President Bourghiba have been in large part
maintained by President Ben Ali. The GOT has not proved
willing, however, to take new steps, such as recognizing new
religious organizations, new churches, or altering the
agreements allowing acknowledged religious groups to operate
in Tunisia. While Tunisia does deserve credit for promoting
and participating in interfaith dialogues, this kind of
activity has taken place mainly among elites. With respect
to the Catholic Church's status, it would also be helpful if
the GOT would recognize that the status quo can be changed
without jeopardizing security and stability. End Comment.


8. (U) This message was not cleared by Warren Cofsky before
he departed post.
GODEC