US embassy cable - 05TUNIS840

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TUNIS 000840 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/MAG(LAWRENCE), DRL/PHD 
PARIS FOR ZEYA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/20/2015 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, TS, Human Rights, Reform 
SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH HOLDS FIRST PRESS CONFERENCE IN 
TUNISIA 
 
REF: A. HTTP://WWW.HRW.ORG/REPORTS/2005/TUNISIA0405 
 
     B. 2004 TUNIS 2451 
     C. 2004 TUNIS 2103 
     D. TUNIS 826 
     E. 2003 TUNIS 2361 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William J. Hudson; reasons: 1.4(b/d) 
 
1. (C) Summary: Two visiting Human Rights Watch (HRW) 
staffers successfully held a press conference April 20 to 
release a new HRW report on solitary confinement of Tunisian 
political prisoners.  The 39-page report is based on 
interviews of political prisoners conditionally released in 
the November 2004 amnesty.  During the press event, in 
addition to describing the continuing poor treatment of 
prisoners in the country, the HRW staffers mentioned a number 
of positive developments: the GOT had agreed to let them hold 
the press conference; a "senior official" (ATCE DG Ossama 
Romdhani, HRW revealed to us privately) promised them April 
19 that the GOT would no longer subject political prisoners 
to solitary confinement (while still refusing to admit 
specifically that Tunisia holds any political prisoners); 
and, another "senior official" (we believe in Ministry of 
Justice) said HRW would be allowed to tour a Tunisian prison 
when they next visited the country.  The HRW staffers said 
the GOT claimed that ICRC prison visits are "on the verge" of 
taking place; however, there are other indications that 
optimism on this issue would be premature.  The HRW visit and 
public release of the report is a surprising and welcome 
development.  On the other hand, we have learned that the GOT 
asked UNDP's Tunis office to cancel its plans to publicly 
release the Arab Human Development Report at a press 
conference originally scheduled for April 11, although the 
UNDP has had no trouble distributing the report.  End Summary. 
 
HRW holds press conference to release critical report 
of solitary confinement procedures in prisons 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
2. (U) Two visiting Human Rights Watch (HRW) staffers 
assigned to cover the MENA region (Executive Director Sarah 
Leah Whitson and Research Director Eric Goldstein) 
successfully held a press conference April 20 to release a 
new HRW report critical of the solitary confinement of 
Tunisian political prisoners, entitled "Crushing the person, 
crushing a movement."  It follows up on a groundbreaking 
report on the same subject released last year (which was not 
released in Tunisia).  The press conference was held at the 
Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH) headquarters and was 
attended by local and foreign journalists, although 
three-quarters of the approximately 100 attendees at the 
press conference were human rights activists, opposition 
party leaders, and/or former political prisoners. 
 
3. (U) The new 39-page report (available online Ref A) is 
based on interviews of political prisoners conditionally 
released in the November 2004 amnesty (Ref B).  In addition 
to the two HRW staffers, prominent Tunisian civil society 
leaders also made presentations at the press conference, 
including LTDH President Mokhtar Trifi, AISPP President 
Mohamed Nouri, and Kalima editor Sihem Bensedrine.  A small 
number of the former prisoners included in the report were 
present at the press conference and one, Zied Douletli, 
delivered a personal account of his fourteen years spent in 
prison.  Families of current prisoners also spoke.  Goldstein 
reported that the GOT told him that many prisoners had 
"volunteered" for solitary confinement; however, he said his 
interviews had revealed many of these so-called requests to 
be not for solitary confinement but to be moved to other 
less-crowded or non-smoking cells. 
 
4. (U) Discussion of current human rights cases focused on 
three individuals: Abdullah Zouari, currently "banished" by 
GOT administrative control measures to the southern Tunisian 
town of Zarzis (Ref C); journalist Hamadi Jebali currently 
incarcerated in the Sfax prison and conducting a hunger 
strike (Ref B); and, lawyer Mohamed Abbou, arrested for 
writing articles published online critical of the regime (Ref 
D). 
 
Deliverables: Positive ... In Theory 
------------------------------------ 
5. (U) At the press conference, Goldstein reported that the 
HRW visit had made several significant achievements: 
 
>> Although other international NGOs had presented 
   reports at LTDH-hosted press conferences, this 
   was the first time HRW had been able to do so, 
   and they had experienced significant cooperation 
   -- and no harassment -- from the GOT, unlike in 
   previous years.  Goldstein noted that the GOT 
   had harassed Tunisians for cooperating with HRW 
   in the past (e.g., Zouari, see Ref F); and he 
   said they planned to follow up with the former 
   prisoners who contributed to the report to 
   confirm they would not face any repercussions. 
 
>> A senior GOT official pledged to end solitary 
   confinement for political prisoners, although 
   he said the GOT persists in denying that it has 
   political prisoners or prisoners of opinion. 
   Solitary confinement will continue as a form of 
   punishment of common law prisoners who break rules 
   or who otherwise need special confinement.  Prisoners 
   will no longer be allowed to request solitary 
   confinement, in order to avoid confusion over 
   whether or not the prisoner was being held in 
   solitary confinement against his will. 
 
>> Another senior GOT official promised to let HRW 
   staff tour a Tunisian prison the next time they 
   visit the country, although Goldstein admitted 
   that the official had caveated that HRW and the 
   GOT still needed to work out the modalities first. 
   That official also told the HRW staffers that the 
   GOT was "on the verge" of reaching an agreement 
   with the ICRC to allow prison visits. 
 
6. (C) In an April 19 courtesy call with the Ambassador and 
embassy staff, Whitson revealed that Tunisian External 
Communication Agency (ATCE) Director General Ossama Romdhani 
had been their primary interlocutor, along with human rights 
officials in the MFA and Ministry of Justice and Human 
Rights.  She said they noted to Romdhani that it had been 
nearly one year since the GOT first announced that the ICRC 
could visit Tunisian prisons; yet, no visits had taken place 
thus far.  She asked Romdhani when they could expect the ICRC 
to conduct its first prison visit, but Romdhani was 
noncommittal. 
 
7. (C) The HRW staffers had been scheduled to meet P/E 
Counselor on the evening of April 19 to discuss their 
meetings in greater detail; however, Romdhani requested that 
they meet him for a ten minute meeting to discuss urgent 
developments.  The staffers expected Romdhani at least to ask 
them to cancel the press conference and at most to ask them 
to leave the country.  However, he told them the GOT would 
not object to their press conference, and he told them that 
they could announce that the GOT had agreed to cease the 
practice of solitary confinement for political prisoners. 
 
Comment 
------- 
8. (C) The press conference, complete with personal 
testimonies and the public release of the report,  is a 
surprising and welcome development.  The HRW representatives 
clearly were pleased at their reception and claimed their 
conversations with Romdhani were extremely frank.  As usual, 
it is not readily apparent what motiviated the GOT to 
facilitate the event and make the kind of forward-leaning 
gestures the HRW claims.  We tend to believe, as stated 
previously, that Tunisian authorities have made the 
calculation that the political prisoner issue is one they can 
address with relative confidence.  Most prisoners are nearing 
the end of their sentences or already have been released. 
 
9. (C) Muting optimism is also the fact that the head of the 
UNDP office here told the Ambassador that a similar public 
event to release the third Arab Human Development Report had 
been planned for April 11 but had been cancelled -- at the 
GOT's unexplained request -- at the last minute, although he 
noted the UNDP had had no trouble distributing the report. 
We also caution that the long-awaited agreement with the ICRC 
to allow prison visits is still not signed despite claims 
from both the GOT and the ICRC that all points have been 
agreed on.  Even taking all the above into account, this 
development is worthy of note in our conversations with GOT 
officials. 
HUDSON