AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL DIFFICULTIES WORKING IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 001154 SIPDIS NEA/MAG (MHAYES, VSTEWART, MNARDI E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/10/2018 TAGS: PHUM PREL TS SUBJECT: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL DIFFICULTIES WORKING IN TUNISIA Classified By: Ambassador Robert F. Godec for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: In the course of delivering petitions requesting the closure of Guantanamo Bay, the President of Amnesty International Tunisia (AIT) reported continuing difficulties operating in Tunisia because of GOT intimidation. Tactics include intervention by the Ministry of Social Affairs to dissuade hotels from renting meeting space to AIT, heavy security presence around AIT meetings, and phone calls by security forces to parents accusing their children of being unpatriotic if they show an interest in AIT events. End summary. ¶2. (U) Ambassador met recently with Habib Marsit, the President of Amnesty International Tunisia (AIT). Marsit requested the meeting to deliver 1,242 postcards from AI members in Pakistan (259 cards),Libya (275 cards),Yemen (280 cards),and Tunisia (459 cards) requesting the closure of the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay. ¶3. (SBU) The Ambassador used the meeting to ask Marsit about Amnesty International's activities in Tunisia. Marsit said AIT is still allowed to function; however, the GOT is making it more difficult to organize public events or expand membership. This year, hotels refused to let space to AIT for its annual meeting, citing the intervention of the Ministry of Social Affairs. In the end, another NGO provided their meeting space. The GOT does not pressure AIT employees personally or their families, but it uses heavy police presence at any AIT event to intimidate people, especially young people who might want to join or help AIT. Marsit said the Sfax, Sousse, and Monastir branches have an even more difficult time. There security officials contact the parents of young people who have shown an interest in AIT and tell them their children are not patriotic. ¶4. (SBU) Even though AIT does not report on conditions in Tunisia the GOT is wary of the organization. Marsit compared the current situation with the 1990s. In the 1990s, AIT ran a library, organized public awareness events, and coordinated with the Tunisian League for Human Rights (LTDH) and other human rights organizations on issues like the death penalty and violence against women. Now, the library has been shut down and the AIT website is blocked. At least once a year AIT officials, "get their ears pulled," and are told they might be shut down. AIT is still allowed to receive financing from outside the country and foreign-based AI researchers visit and meet with GOT ministers. ¶5. (C) Comment: This is another example of the GOT's continuing caution concerning independent organizations operating in the country. AIT's problems fall in the same category as the problems experienced by legally recognized opposition parties such as PDP, and registered NGOs such as the Tunisian Human Rights League. The GOT employs soft and hard harassment tactics including raising questions of legal status and tax payments; taking over an organization's leadership; suing, physical intimidation, and occasionally arrest and imprisonment to control the political and social environment in the country. GODEC