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End Harassment of Prominent Syrian Human Rights Lawyer Human Rights First Condemns Crackdown on Dissidents in Egypt (3/27/03) Human Rights First Extends Solidarity to Tunisian Legal and Human Rights Community (1/16/03) |
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 The human rights community in Tunisia has been under sustained pressure from police and other state agents for years, who have thwarted the legitimate activities of judges and lawyers carrying out the duties of their profession and have violently attacked and intimidated these individuals and members of their families. Mohammed Abbou has been sentenced to a harsh prison term for exercising his right to freedom of expression and needs your support. Please take a minute to send a letter to the Tunisian authorities letting them know that protesting torture is not a crime. Background Mohamed Abbou is a prominent human rights activist in Tunisia. He was formerly the director of the Association of Young Lawyers and is a member of the independent National Committee for Liberties in Tunisia (CNLT), an organization that the Tunisian government has refused to grant legal registration to. CNLT activists are frequently harassed and threatened by the police and government officials. Nevertheless, they continue to speak out in defense of human rights in Tunisia. The human rights community in Tunisia has been under sustained pressure from police and other state agents for years, who have thwarted the legitimate activities of judges and lawyers carrying out the duties of their profession and have violently attacked and intimidated these individuals and members of their families. Since coming to power in a bloodless coup in 1987, President Zine El Abdine Ben Ali has failed to deliver on initial pledges to promote democracy and the rule of law. His rule has become increasingly authoritarian. No serious political opposition is permitted to form. The ruling party controls the parliament and the President himself routinely wins re-election by in excess of 90% of the vote in rigged elections. The judiciary is manipulated by the executive branch and independent judges have been removed from the bench. The press and broadcast media are tightly controlled, and the authorities make vigorous efforts to restrict internet communications and limit access to websites with independent news about Tunisia. Human rights activists have been a particular target of repression with individual activist targeted for prosecution on fabricated charges and subject to threats and physical assault by state agents. Human rights organizations have also been restricted. Independent groups that are strongly critical of the government’s human rights practices like the CNLT and the Tunisian Center for Judicial Independence (CTIJ) have been refused legal recognition and their activities are habitually obstructed and restricted by the authorities. Legally recognized groups, like the Tunisian League for Human Rights (LTDH) are also subject to severe official pressure and interference in their activities. Mr. Abbou’s detention was carried out in a manner that violated procedural safeguards and Tunisia’s obligations in international law. He was abducted from the street in Tunis on March 1, 2005. The next day he appeared before a judge on a warrant that was backdated to September 2004. As if to show contempt for procedure the warrant was actually dated September 31, 2004, a date that does not exist on the calendar! Nonetheless, his detention was upheld by the judge. His lawyers were not permitted to see him prior to his appearance before the judge, and police apparently assaulted lawyers who came to the court house to seek to defend their colleague. In the following weeks, hundreds of Tunisian lawyers joined protests against the imprisonment of their colleague. Lawyers led by the head of the bar association, were forcibly ejected from the judges’ chambers when they sought to present their concerns on March 16. In the week prior to the trial a second charge was added to the indictment, relating to a complaint that Mr. Abbou had assaulted another lawyer during an argument in 2002. Mr. Abbou was not given adequate time to prepare a defense to this new charge, and the evidence against him was not examined by his lawyers. He and his defense team were not given an adequate opportunity to rebut the charges against him. The imposition of this second charge on the basis of an unsubstantiated allegation is a clear violation of Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which upholds the right to a fair trial. The original prosecution on the basis of his statements about torture in Tunisia is a violation of his right to freedom of expression, guaranteed by Article 19 of the ICCPR, and by the U.N. Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which reminds States of their obligations to ensure that human rights defenders have the basic rights and freedoms they require to exercise the right to promote and protect human rights. The CNLT has pointed out in its statements about the case that Mr. Abbou’s detention occurred the day after he had posted a message on the internet criticizing the government for extending an invitation to Israeli Prime Minster Ariel Sharon to attend the World Summit on the Information Society to be held in Tunis November 16 – 18, 2005. Tunisian human rights activists find it ironical that a world summit promoting communication and free exchange of information will be held in a country where freedom of expression is so severely repressed. Mr. Abbou’s sentencing to prison after an unfair trial is further evidence of the government’s intolerance of non-violent criticism of its human rights record. Letter Minister M. Bechir Tekkari Dear Minister M. Bechir Tekkari: I would like to express my serious concern about lawyer and human rights activist Mohamed Abbou, who on April 28, 2005, was sentenced to three and a half years imprisonment after an unfair trial for publishing statements “likely to disturb public order” and for “defaming the judicial process.” As you are aware, the charges against Mr. Abbou referred to an article he wrote in September 2004 comparing the torture and ill-treatment endured by political prisoners in Tunisia with that suffered by U.S. detainees at Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq. I regard Mr. Abbou’s arrest and imprisonment to be a violation of his right to free speech. According to the 1998 UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, all persons have the right "freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms." The important work of Tunisian human rights defenders should be recognized by the government and they should be supported rather than persecuted for their activities. Additionally, the continued harassment of human rights defenders is contrary to international human rights standards and the provisions of the Tunisian Constitution concerning freedom of expression, freedom of association and assembly, freedom from torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention. While Mr. Abbou remains in detention, we strongly urge you to ensure that his conditions of detention meet basic international standards. International human rights law requires that all persons held in detention are treated with humanity and dignity and that they are not subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The Tunisian government should ensure the application of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and the UN Body of Principles for the Protection of all Persons Under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, which further elaborate the basic standards to be achieved in ensuring respect for the rights of detainees. I will continue to monitor this case closely. Thank you for your attention to this most serious matter. Sincerely, CC: Ambassador Nejib Hachana |
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