[huridocs-tech] WSIS: Women's GlobalNet #287: WSIS Tunis: Human Rights Violations

IWTC WOMEN'S GLOBALNET #287
Activities and Initiatives of Women Worldwide

November 17, 2005

By Mavic Cabrera-Balleza

WOMEN'S GROUPS AT WSIS EXPRESS CONCERN OVER HUMAN RIGHTS IN TUNIS

Tunis, November 16, 2005. Joining several civil society organizations that
have denounced the Tunisian government for hampering freedom of expression
and freedom of assembly, women's organizations attending the second phase
of the World Summit on the Information Society issued a protest statement
today.

The women's groups that include World Association of Community Radio
Broadcasters- Women's International Network (AMARC-WIN), the Association
for Progressive Communications - Women's Networking Support Programme (APC
- WNSP) and the International Women's Tribune Centre, asserted that
freedom of expression, access to information and freedom of assembly are
integral to the principles of gender equality and women's human rights.  
They also stressed that human rights and freedoms, of which women's human
rights and freedoms are a central part, must be located at the core of the
information society.

On November 15, AMARC-WIN and APC-WNSP cancelled their events which they
had prepared long before the Tunis Summit, to make government, private
sector and civil society delegates aware of the human rights violations
that have been escalating in this country. It was also an expression of
solidarity with all independent NGOs and journalists in Tunisia, and other
individuals who are being subjected to repression for criticizing the
government. AMARC-WIN was scheduled to co-organize the Community Media
Forum and APC-WNSP was set to hold the awarding ceremony for the 2005
Gender and ICT awards. The panel on Human Rights in the Information
Society and the launch of the book “Human Rights in the Global Information
Society,” organized by the Danish Human Rights Institute was also
cancelled. The organizing groups instead read statements articulating
their grave concern and demands to stop the human rights violations.
 
The women's groups and other civil society organizations also urged the
United Nations to name a Special Rapporteur to monitor freedom of
expression and other human rights in Tunisia.

Women's Statement on the Tunisian Human Rights Situation

We, women's organisations, individuals and networks gathered in Tunis for
Phase II of the World Summit on the Information Society, denounce blatant
violations of human rights, freedom of expression, access to information
and freedom of assembly by the Tunisian government.

On November 12th 2005, correspondent Christophe Boltanski of the French
daily Libération who previously reported the on-going hunger strike of
Tunisian political prisoners, was beaten and stabbed by four unidentified
assailants near his hotel in Tunis, in the presence of police officers who
did not take any action to stop the attack.

Preparations for a Citizen's Summit on the Information Society have been
continuously disrupted and prevented from happening. On November 14th
2005, Tunisian authorities blocked access to the preparatory meeting site,
Goethe Institute, and physically forced people away from the building.
During this process, several people were insulted and beaten.  On the same
day, a journalist from Belgium who was covering the event had his camera
confiscated. When the camera was returned later, the film was missing.

Websites, including the one of the Citizens Summit on the Information
Society (CSIS), have been blocked in all areas in Tunisia except in the
computers inside the official WSIS venue.

These incidents form part of the serious deterioration of freedom of
expression and assembly in Tunisia.

The Tunisia Monitoring Group, a coalition of 14 organisations monitoring
freedom of expression in Tunisia, reported that since January 2005,
harassments of journalists and dissidents, imprisonment of those who
articulate criticisms against the Tunisian government have persisted, and
in some cases, escalated. The independence of judiciary has also been
compromised. Essai Belhassen, Coordinator of the Association of Tunisian
Democratic Women (Association Tunisienne des Femmes Democrates, ATFD), has
been consistently obstructed from participating in WSIS-related meetings
and events. Further, information sites covering WSIS from civil society
perspectives, especially those maintained by Tunisians, have been censored
and blocked.

Freedoms of expression, access to information and freedom of assembly are
integral to the principles of gender equality and women's human rights.
Human rights and freedoms, of which women's human rights and freedoms are
a central part, must be located at the core of the information society.

As articulated in Paragraph 4 of the WSIS Declaration, to which the
Tunisian government is a signatory, and as outlined in Article 19 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to freedom
of opinion and expression; that this right includes freedom to hold
opinions without interference. We call on the Tunisian government and the
international community to protect and uphold these rights.

We urge a real commitment to the Geneva Declaration of Principles in
building an Information Society that is people-centred, inclusive,
participatory, democratic and development-oriented.

We are outraged and gravely concerned by the impunity demonstrated by the
Tunisian authorities in curtailing the freedoms of expression, access to
information and freedom of assembly.

We demand the Tunisian government to put an end to the human rights
violations. It is intolerable that we are experiencing serious violations
of basic human rights even as we gather here to shape a just and equitable
Information Society.

 
15 November 2005

Signed:

AMARC (World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters) / Women's 
International Network
Association of Progressive Communications, Women's Networking Support
Programme (APC/WNSP)
Comunicacion Comunitaria (Mexico)
European Federation of Older Persons (EURAG) - Europe
Feminist International Radio Endeavor (FIRE)
International Women's Tribune Centre (IWTC)
Knowledge & Rights with Young People through Safer Spaces (KRYSS)
PULSAR (Agencia Informativa Pulsar) 
Women's International News Gathering Service (WINGS)
Avri Doria (Working Group on Internet Governance, Member) Florence
Etta (Gender Caucus Member) Deedee Haleck - Deep Dish TV Heike Jensen
(Gender Caucus Member) Lisa McLaughlin, Union for Democratic
Communications Marise J. R. A. Fonseca, Network of Feminists Women
for Gender Equity in Development
Esther Joly


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