Rights groups fault Tunis on press and Web censorship
GENEVA/TUNIS, Nov 16 (Reuters) U.N. envoys and Human Rights Watch have accused Tunisia, which hosts a U.N. conference on the Internet this week, of repressing press freedoms and writers and blocking Web sites critical of the government.
Three U.N. human rights envoys said in a statement that they had received "numerous reports" of abuses and that respect for human rights was deteriorating in Tunisia.
They expressed "profound concern, at the opening of the ...World Summit on the Information Society, at the deterioration in the freedom of expression, of association and of the independence of judges and lawyers in Tunisia".
Hina Jilani, U.N. rapporteur on defenders of human rights, Ambeyi Ligabo, rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, and Leandro Despouy, rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, called on Tunis to take all necessary steps to protect "these fundamental freedoms".
Without citing examples, they said they had information about the blocking of streets to prevent meetings; the closing down of lawyers' associations; and physical attacks by members of security forces on journalists, lawyers and defenders of human rights.
Meanwhile, the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch criticised Tunisia for its strict regulations on access to some Web material and for jailing citizens for expressing their opinions on the Internet.
"It continues to flout its national and international legal commitments to free expression, the right to access information and the right to privacy by censoring the Internet (and) imprisoning writers for expressing their views online," it said.
"Its record on freedom of expression online in practice has led many Tunisian human rights workers to express disbelief that (the summit) will be held in their country," the group said in its report on censorship of the Internet by Middle Eastern governments.
About 50 heads of state are due in Tunis for the summit, being hosted by the United Nations from Nov. 16 to 18.
SUMMIT QUESTIONED
Non-governmental organisations have long questioned whether Tunis should be holding the summit when its government has been routinely accused of press repression.
The government of Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali strongly rejects any suggestion that it violates human rights or limits legitimate access to traditional or electronic media.
"When I first heard that the summit was to be held here, I viewed it as a humiliation that the dictatorship should have this chance to present a modern mask to hide its face," said Mokhtar Yahyaoui of the Tunis Center for the Independence of the Judiciary, according to Human Rights Watch.
Researchers from Human Rights Watch and the transatlantic, university-based Open Net Initiative tested access to 1,947 sites from around the world in September and found that 182 of them were blocked to readers in Tunisia.
These included the Web sites of human rights groups, opposition parties, Islamist movements and organisations that provide news about Tunisia.
The group's report said two Tunisians -- Zoheir Yahiaoui and Mohamed Abou -- had been jailed for Internet writings and that Abdallah Zouari, a dissident living in internal exile, had been prevented from entering Internet cafes to send messages.