Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08TUNIS1238
2008-12-22 11:43:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Tunis
Cable title:  

STORM CLOUDS GATHER: GAFSA TRIAL EMBODIES

Tags:  PHUM PGOV PINS KDEM KPAO TS 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0006
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTU #1238/01 3571143
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 221143Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY TUNIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5840
INFO RUCNMGH/MAGHREB COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 001238 

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/21/2018
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PINS KDEM KPAO TS
SUBJECT: STORM CLOUDS GATHER: GAFSA TRIAL EMBODIES
TUNISIA'S MAJOR CHALLENGES

REF: A. TUNIS 841

B. TUNIS 761

C. TUNIS 615

D. TUNIS 596

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

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

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 001238

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/21/2018
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PINS KDEM KPAO TS
SUBJECT: STORM CLOUDS GATHER: GAFSA TRIAL EMBODIES
TUNISIA'S MAJOR CHALLENGES

REF: A. TUNIS 841

B. TUNIS 761

C. TUNIS 615

D. TUNIS 596

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

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


1. (C) Thirty-eight protestors, arrested in coQunction
with the January to June unemployment protests in the
southwestern mining towns of Redeyef and Gafsa, were given
sentences ranging from six to ten years on December 11.
According to one defense attorney, the verdict was not
unanimous. The trial was marked by several irregularities,
and tQre was a Qgnificant police presence. In many ways,
the Gafsa trials embody Tunisia's major challenges:
unemployment and corruption on the one hand; and the lack of
freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, and judicial
independence on the other. After initially ignoring the
situation, the GOT has announced measures to address the
underlying problems in the region. These steps, however, are
not likely to be sufficient to address the population's
grievances. Minor demonstrations protesting the Gafsa
verdicts continue to take place. End Summary.

--------------
Gafsa vs. the GOT: Round One
--------------


2. (C) Beginning in early 2008, protestors first built a
tent city and later filled the streets of the southwestern
mining town of Redeyef. The protestors alleged that the
hiring practices of the area's largest employer, the Gafsa
Phosphates Company (CPG),favored relatives of CPG executives
and local officials and that jobs were being sold to out of
town workers. The initial demonstrations sparked large
protests over the region's high unemployment rate (which some
Tunisians estimate approaches fifty percent),the rising
costs of staple foods, and government corruption (Ref D).
Protests continued on and off for six months. Some protests
were reportedly violent, and security forces shot two
protestors, who later died as a result of complications from
their injuries.


3. (C) In March, President Ben Ali fired the Governor and his

deputies in the three mining villages (Redeyef, M'dhilla, and
Metlaoui) where the protests were taking place. Ben Ali also
replaced the RCD Secretary General of the Coordination
Committee in Gafsa. In June, the CEO of the Gafsa Phosphate
Company was fired. Finally, on July 22, the Gafsa Municipal
Council was dissolved by Presidential Decree. Also in July,
President Ben Ali visited the region, but did not address the
question of unrest. Instead, he announced some social
initiatives, such as a music festival, the refurbishment of
two mosques, two new school buses, and support for the local
soccer team. Later that month, Ben Ali publicly acknowledged
the protests in Gafsa for the first time, and said the state
would develop new agricultural and infrastructure projects
for the region, build new roads, create more natural gas and
water lines, and create a tourist circuit around Gafsa's
Berber sites. The GOT also announced a series of government
incentives to encourage companies to invest in the region.


4. (C) The GOT's primary reaction to the protests, however,
relied on a heavy police presence. When the police proved
ineffective against the crowds, the National Guard was called
in to restore order (Ref C). Over a hundred protestors were
arrested. Publicly, the government ignored the protests
until June, when Justice Minister Tekkari gave a press
conference to defend the use of force against demonstrators.
Government-controlled and affiliated media outlets, which
constitute the vast majority of Tunisian press, either did
not report on the incidents or limited their coverage to the
arrest and prosecution of protestors.

--------------
Gafsa vs. the GOT: Round Two
--------------


5. (C) On December 11, the Court of First Instance in Gafsa
convicted 30 people with forming a criminal group with the
intent of destroying public property, leading an armed
rebellion and assault on officials during the exercise of
their duties, and spreading false news likely to disturb
public order. Adnan Hajji, a leader in the local trade union
chapter and spokesperson for the unregistered Movement of

Social Protest in Gafsa, was sentenced to ten years along
with six others. Journalist Fahem Boukadous and French-based
human rights activist Mouheiddine Cherbib were tried
in-absentia and sentenced to six years in prison. Eight
people were given a suspended sentence, and the remainder
received terms of six years.


6. (C) The Embassy and the European Union Commission sent
observers to the December 11 hearing in Gafsa, as did two
opposition parties, the national labor union, and a French
union. The already heavy police presence inside and outside
the courthouse in the morning doubled by mid-afternoon. Only
one family member per defendant was allowed into the
courtroom, and there seemed to be an equal number of
plainclothes policemen standing as a group by the door,
blocking the exit. When the prisoners were brought in, they
looked thin but showed no visible injuries. According to the
investigating magistrate's documents, however, at the time of
his investigation five of the defendants showed signs of
torture.


7. (C) The judges did not respond to any of the requests
made by the defense attorneys. Among other things, the
defense requested medical exams for their clients to provide
evidence for the claim that their clients were tortured while
in police custody. The lawyers also asked for more time to
examine the files of their clients, which they received only
one week before the trial, and which collectively add up to
over 2,000 pages. They also complained that they had limited
access to the prisoners, and alleged that the arrest dates in
the files had been fabricated to allow for several days of
"secret" detention and interrogation by the Ministry of
Interior. When the judge attempted to have the defendants
answer routine questions identifying themselves for the court
(name, age, etc.),the defendants refused. In solidarity,
the entire courtroom stood up and began singing the Tunisian
National Anthem while gesturing with their hands the
traditional peace sign. In response, the judges suspended
the proceedings and ordered the courtroom cleared. Police
attempted to forcibly clear the courtroom, which lead to some
pushing, pulling, shoving, and yelling, but no excessive
force was used. The morning session of the trial lasted for
less than two hours.


8. (C) The court did not reconvene until nearly 11:30 PM.
According to EU PolOff, rows of plainclothes and uniformed
policemen formed a barrier between the defense attorneys and
the defendants' family members, between the lawyers and the
defendants, and between the defendants and the judges. Only
three of the five judges presiding over the trial returned to
the chamber, and the principal judge only sat for a moment
before leaving again without saying a word. The room was
subsequently cleared. Close to midnight, the court clerk
went into the lawyers' waiting room and announced the
verdicts, which is a marked departure from normal courtroom
procedures. One of the defense attorneys present at the
trial later remarked to the Ambassador that she is friends
with one of the judges who presided over the case. She
reported that two of the five judges refused to return to the
courtroom to protest the way the trial had been handled and
the harshness of the sentences. She also questioned the
legality of the sentences, since the verdict was never read
in a courtroom, nor were all the judges present when the
presiding judge presumably attempted to do so.

--------------
Allegations of Abuse
--------------


9. (C) According to the wife of Adnan Hajji, one of the
leaders of the demonstrations, her husband was twice detained
by security forces prior to his arrest on June 22. She said
police surrounded their house before forcibly entering to
remove her husband. After the first occasion on April 5, it
took her six days to discover where her husband was being
held. Hajji was also briefly detained on April 20. While in
police custody, Hajji's wife says he was beaten, resulting in
several broken bones. She also maintained that her husband
was immobilized for long periods of time, and police
extinguished lit cigarettes on his skin. After his arrest,
she said that she is only allowed to visit for fifteen
minutes once a week and that all visits are monitored.
According to Hajji's wife, her husband is being kept with the
prison's general population; thus, he is sharing a large cell
with 85 other people.

--------------
Gafsa vs. the GOT: Round Three
--------------



10. (C) Following the December 11 sentencing of Hajji and
other Gafsa protestors, there were more demonstrations in the
region protesting the decision. On December 16, the regional
union headquarters staged a rally to condemn the sentences
and called on all union leaders to support the people in the
mining region. On December 17, students at a high school in
Jebeniana (near Sfax) organized a demonstration to protest
the sentences and express support for those demonstrators
still in police custody. Security forces reportedly used
rubber bullets, tear gas, and dogs to contain the crowd.
Also on December 17, three students were arrested following a
protest in Om al-Raies. The students were reportedly
released after they signed a statement promising that they
would not participate in future protests.

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


11. (C) The Gafsa protests/trials embody the major
challenges faced by Tunisia: high unemployment represents the
underlying problem, with the proximate cause of the crisis
being perceived corruption on the part of the Gafsa
Phosphates Company. Throw into the mix the absence of
freedom of assembly and freedom of expression, and you get a
population with serious grievances without legal means to air
them. That this would culminate in convictions at the
December 11 trial comes as little surprise from a judiciary
that lacks independence.


12. (C) The GOT's response was to ignore the problem as long
as possible and then use security forces to address the
symptoms but not the cause of the unrest. The economic
initiatives announced thus far are unlikely to significantly
impact the grievances of the population, at least not in the
short term. The conditions that lead to unrest in Gafsa
exist elsewhere in Tunisia, including inland provinces such
as El Kef. Using security forces to contain the situation
allowed the GOT to keep a lid on the situation in Gafsa, but
in doing so they may have alienated the population.
Moreover, the people of Gafsa seem to have the sympathy of
the population at large, as people on the street have
remarked that the government should not politicize a movement
that is only attempting to stand up for the people's right to
earn a living. While the Tunisian public may not see the
Gafsa protests as political, evidently the GOT does. End
Comment.
Godec