THE TUNISIAN GOVERNMENT'S CRACKDOWN ON STUDENTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 000135 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/15/2020 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM TS SUBJECT: THE TUNISIAN GOVERNMENT'S CRACKDOWN ON STUDENTS REF: A. TUNIS 110 ¶B. TUNIS 87 ¶C. TUNIS 69 ¶D. 09 TUNIS 236 ¶E. 09 TUNIS 214 ¶F. 08 TUNIS 1255 ¶G. 08 TUNIS 1153 ¶H. 08 TUNIS 769 Classified By: Ambassador Gordon Gray for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) A series of recent arrests and prosecutions of university student activists, some of whom are members of the independent student union, puts a spotlight on the GOT's attitude toward Tunisian youth. GOT officials justify their tight control of student activities as a defense against Islamist influences on campus. While the GOT has frustrated the legal, independent, left-leaning student union's efforts to operate, it supports the student union run by activists of the ruling party - the Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD). Professors and civil rights activists, however, insist the recent student demonstrations were not politically motivated and that students are instead mainly protesting poor physical conditions on campus. Professors, students, and their parents complain primarily about the lack of resources, and inadequate training, libraries, laboratories, and computers, as well as restrictions on academic freedom. They also complain about the high student-to-teacher ratio, poorly trained teachers, the lack of student housing, and insufficient scholarships. GOT officials say the government is investing heavily in education, especially in the fields of science and technology. In 2009, 21 percent of the state budget was allocated to education. End summary. -------------- GOT Actions Against Students -------------- ¶2. (C) While the GOT acknowledges the high unemployment rate among university graduates and has underlined its commitment to improve the educational system, it also devotes major efforts to restricting independent political activity and suppressing activism: -- In September 2009, five students from the embattled national student union (UGET) had a hearing before a judge on charges of damaging property and "aggression against a government employee" as part of a continuing campaign against the union (refs D and E). -- On October 22, 2009, Mohamed Soudani, another student activist, was arrested after being interviewed by the France 24 satellite channel on the presidential elections. He was convicted and sentenced to six months in prison for drunkenness and disorderly and immoral conduct, but was released on January 2, 2010 after serving two months of the sentence. Soudani was one of six students who conducted a 58- day hunger strike at the beginning of 2009 petitioning the Ministry of Education to allow them to return to their classes (refs D and E). -- At the end of October, 2009, close to 20 students staged a sit-in on the Manouba University campus near Tunis to demand more student housing, in particular for female students. On November 3, the police entered the campus and forcefully broke up the sit-in, arresting ten UGET organizers. -- On December 21, 2009, the Manouba court sentenced 11 of the Manouba sit-in students, male and female, to sentences ranging from one to two years. The students were charged with destruction of property, theft, and causing disorder. During the trial, some of the students alleged that they had been tortured and some students shouted anti-government slogans, according to the human rights NGO Justice and Equity, which also reported that police removed these defendants from the courtroom and beat them up. The students later started a hunger strike that lasted several days to protest their treatment. -- On December 29, Al Jazeera reported that the Islamist Ennahda Movement, banned in Tunisia, called on the authorities to release the students. The Ennahda statement as reported, charged that the trial over union activities was a violation of the Tunisian constitution, which guarantees unions freedom to operate. -- On January 6, students on the Tunis university campus called for the release of the Manouba students and tried to organize a protest march outside the campus. The police broke up the march and arrested Malek Sghairi, one of the leaders. -- Also on January 6, students at a high school in Jebeniana, Sfax organized a demonstration in support of the Manouba students inside their school. The police broke up the demonstration using tear gas, and several students and teachers were wounded. On January 8, teachers from other high schools in Sfax conducted a two-hour strike in support of the Jebeniana students and teachers. On January 11, several teachers unions, textile unions, and employees from the national power company and the municipality of Jebeniana staged a two-hour strike in solidarity with the teachers and students of Jebeniana. ¶3. (C) Other recent incidents involving students include: -- On December 14, two student leaders, Ayoub Amara and Nejeh Saghrouni, were sentenced in Sfax to two months in prison in absentia. The students maintained they had been unaware of the trial. -- On January 7, the police arrested four more UGET leaders who had gathered in front of the Prime Minister's office in Tunis. -- On January 16, the leader of UGET, Ezeddine Zaatour, had his sentence of seven months in prison (ostensibly for public drunkenness, and accosting a police officer) confirmed by the Tunis appeals court. The GOT had been harassing Zaatour for the past two years as he tried to organize a general congress for the national student union (refs D and E). Boubaker Tahri, a former UGET leader, was sentenced to five years the same day. -- On February 4, UGET sources said that when the new Minister of Higher Education Bechir Tekkari, formerly Minister of Justice and Human Rights, visited the University of Tunis Faculty of Humanities, he was greeted by students calling for the release from prison of student leaders and respect for the student union, protesting his treatment of students during his tenure as Minister of Justice. -- On February 10, a court in Mahdia gave four student leaders, including Mohamed Soudani, who had just been released January 2, sentences of a year and eight months for assault against a government employee. The case dated back to October 2007 when the group had tried to organize a UGET student meeting on the campus of Mahdia. The students were the same students who had conducted a hunger strike in early ¶2009. -- On February 18, Kalima, an independent Tunisian news website, reported that a group of students met at the Faculty of Letters in Manouba to demand the release of their colleagues and to call on the government to stop repressing students. (Note: Kalima is not always totally reliable. End note.) -- Also on February 18, Kalima reported that students at the Faculty of Science in Gafsa, a region which had seen significant civil unrest in 2008, went on strike to protest police harassment. A student leader claimed to Kalima that up to 90 percent of students had participated in the strike. -------------- University Conditions -------------- ¶4. (C) There are approximately 13 state-funded and 32 private universities in Tunisia. About 370,000 students (36 percent of people aged 19-24) are in the higher education system. The Ben Ali government has established new universities, and other institutions of higher learning, in secondary towns to give students the opportunity to study, in some cases up to the Ph.D. level, without having to come to Tunis. The GOT has focused on developing the country's science and technology training capabilities to improve Tunisia's ability to compete in the global market place but has not continued to invest in other areas. In 2009, 15 percent of the budget was allocated to the Ministry of Education and a further 6 percent was allocated to the Ministry of Higher Education (ref F). However, this funding may be spread too thin to have an impact on the quality of the universities (ref E). ¶5. (C) Civil society contacts tell us the GOT had a secondary goal to decentralize the students and thus reduce opportunities for political activity. They point to the fact that the GOT expanded the number of campuses but did not provide funding to adequately maintain either the old or the new campuses. The result, at least in the Tunis area, is that classes are held wherever space is available, even on other campuses or in off-campus locations. One professor told us the universities are hampered by the fact that both the Ministry of Higher Education and the Ministry of Finance control budget decisions, which makes any change more difficult. He also said that the GOT had expanded the number of "institutes" within the university system and limited the number of "faculties," because "institutes" are directed by a person appointed by the Ministry, while "faculty" heads are elected by their peers. As reported ref B, the GOT suspended earlier this month the authorization for one of the most prestigious private universities in Tunis, in apparent retaliation against the school's founder and president, who published a book in September 2009 criticizing President Ben Ali's family. ¶6. (C) University students consistently complain about the poor quality of university training and the lack of infrastructure. Student protests in the fall of 2008, as in 2010, focused on the lack of student housing, but students also complain about the lack of libraries and even text books, empty laboratories and electrical outlets that do not work. Professors also complain about the volume of students and the lack of academic freedom and resources. According to government statistics, approximately 10,000 young people are leaving Tunisia each year legally to study abroad, mainly in France. ¶7. (C) For students attending state universities, tuition is free. However, when students qualify they are told which university they will attend and what subject they will study. This frustrates students convinced that unless they have a degree in a favored field like medicine or engineering, they will not find a job. In a population of 10.4 million, there are approximately 50,000 new university graduates per year (60,613 in 2008) and the unemployment rate among university graduates is estimated at 20 percent or higher. The IMF asserted in a December 2009 report that reducing the high unemployment among university graduates was an urgent priority for the GOT; government officials tell us the same thing. In 2009 the GOT announced it was launching programs that would pay half the salary for up to 10,000 university graduates hired into the private sector. In early February, the Ministry of Finance signed an agreement for a pilot project with the Ministry of Vocational Training to provide grants to private sector firms to hire up to 400 unemployed graduates for half time contracts of up to one year. -------------- -------------- The Government and Youth: A Tenuous Relationship -------------- -------------- ¶8. (C) The GOT's relationship with Tunisia's youth, students or otherwise, is defensive and tenuous. Demonstrators arrested in Gafsa for protesting hiring policies at a phosphate plant in 2008 were largely youths in their early 20s. Despite civil society and political party demonstrations demanding the release of those detained in clashes with the police in Gafsa, dozens were held until November, 2009. A UN Special Rapporteur, who visited Tunisia in January (ref C),told diplomats he believed the GOT misuse of the 2003 terrorism law included the targeting of youths showing an interest in Islam. An example of the GOT's attitude toward young Tunisians is the year-long national campaign conducted in 2008 for the Year of Youth. The campaign culminated with a "pact" signed by young Tunisians representing various political parties, domestic organizations, and NGOs which "re-dedicated" the youth of Tunisia to the support of their country and the regime (refs G and H). The document, however, did not make any corresponding commitments on the government's side to address challenges facing such youth in education and the anemic labor market. In 2009, Tunisian youth stood largely on the sidelines during the elections, despite the GOT's reduction of the voting age from 21 to 18 years. -------------- Students and Political Activism -------------- ¶9. (C) Although political opposition parties try to recruit students, the GOT's controls make it difficult for both sides. Political parties are not allowed to operate on campus. If a party (other than the ruling RCD) organizes an event off-campus aimed at students, security forces will usually prevent anyone from entering the venue. Civil society activists have told us that the GOT is determined to prevent university campuses from being used for political agitation, and therefore prevent any uncontrolled political activity. One party activist told us the police will call the parents of a student trying to enter the party headquarters and warn the parents not to allow their child to get involved in politics. ¶10. (C) A senior professor at the prestigious law faculty of the University of Tunis told us professors are not allowed to have an office on campus, and have difficulties meeting with their colleagues or with students outside the classroom. He said the students are not politically active. When a demonstration is organized, it generally lasts a few hours and usually constitutes a complaint about campus conditions, the lack of resources, and the difficulty of living with scholarships that he estimated totaled $30 to $40 a month. Those students who are interested in politics find an outlet on-line. Over 1.1 million Tunisians are active on Facebook alone. However, the professor said, the students do not understand the extent to which the GOT monitors the Internet and that he did not have a Facebook site for that reason. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶11. (C) The GOT has placed a priority on expanding and developing the university system, but still needs to do more to increase resources and the quality of education. Students and their parents, concern about the quality of education is a potential political vulnerability for the GOT. Additionally, the GOT says it is training youth in "the culture of democracy" as part of its defense of its &gradual path8 to full democracy (ref A). However, its heavy-handed way of restricting political activism among youth, even to the extent of harassing legally recognized activity in student unions, is troubling and points to the Ben Ali government's unease with Tunisia's students. Thus far, the GOT's approach to "gradual democracy" has clearly made inadequate allowances for freedom of assembly and freedom of expression. End comment. GRAY