Global Voices Online » Lina Ben Mhenni

Tunisia elections: Fairness and Impartiality !!?

Lina Ben Mhenni — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:32:59 +0000

As predicted, president Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali won the Tunisian elections for a fifth term. What wasn't expected was that he would win with 89.62 per cent of the over all votes. The prediction was that he would garner more votes.

Ben Ali's ruling party, the Democratic Constitutional Rally, also fared as well. It won 161 of the 214 parliament seats. The remaining 53 seats were won by six different parties: Movement for Democratic Socialists, 16 seats; Party of People's Unity, led by Mohamed Bouchiha, 12 seats; Ahmed Inoubli's Union of Democratic Unionists, 9 seats; Social Liberal Party, 8 seats; Party of Greens for Progress, 6 seats and Ahmed Brahim’s Ettajdid Party, 2 seats.

The ruling party announced the fairness and the impartiality of the 2009 elections. But opposition leaders and bloggers have another opinion: they think that repressive acts and stifling controls on the election process have characterized the 2009 presidential and legislative elections in Tunisia on October 25, 2009.

Arabasta ironically remarks :

مبروك عليكم ما عملتو
نتوجه بالشكر أولا إلى الشعب التونسي اللي قام بواجبو الإنتخابي في كنف الديموقراطية و الشفافية و الروح الرياضية البارح و إنتخب رئيس جديد للبلاد و مجلس نواب أخر لمدة خمسة سنين. الإختيار هذا كان محكم و مدروس و حتى واحد ما حاول يأثر على العباد و حتى من التلفزة و الصحافة كانو في المستوى و عطاو وقت متساوي لكل المترشحين و الأنصار متاعهم بقطع النظر عن
قربهم أو بعدهم عن السلطة

نتوجه بالشكر زادة لسيادة رئيس الجمهورية (لمدة 5 سنوات أخرى) و نعتذر عن عدم الدعوة و التصويت ليه و نستنكر و نشجب
التصرفات المشينة هذي أما نذكر أنو عمري ما شككت في نزاهة الإنتخابات و حريتها، فمن المعروف أنو في حالة تزوير الإنتخابات النتائج تكون من نوع 99،98% لكن الملاحظ النزيه يعرف أنو نتيجة 2009 ما تبعدش برشة على النسبة اللي ربح بيها شيراك في 2002 في فرنسا و لذا فالإنتخابات هذي إرتقت بينا إلى مصاف الدول العظمى و المتقدمة

Congratulations for what you did!
My thanks go first to Tunisian citizens who accomplished their electoral duties within the framework of democracy and transparency yesterday. They elected a new president for the country and a new parliament for another five years. This choice was wise and well thought of. No one has tried to influence the people and even the television channels and written media were neutral and guaranteed equal space for all the candidates and their supporters regardless of their relationship with the government.
My thanks go also to the president (for five more years) and I apologize for not supporting and not voting for him. I condemn this shameful behavior even though I recall the fact t that I have never questioned the neutrality and impartiality of the elections. As it is known that in case of fraud in the elections the results would be 98.99%. But an impartial observer knows that the 2009 results are not so different from those of 2002 in France when Chirac won the elections. This is why we can say that the elections elevated us to the rank of the developed and great nations.

Nakhlet Wed El Bey (The palm tree of the Bey's river) wrote in Tunisian dialect :

أنا لا أشكك في نزاهة التمثيلية الإنتخابية
…
آش كان عليه لو كان حلّينا اللعب شويّة
و نزعنا الأكمام من أفوه المعارضة الحقيقية
لإنتصر الرئيس بسبعة و سبعين في المية
و انتزعنا من قلوب الرعايا النفاق و السكيزوفرينية

I am not questioning the impartiality and fairness of the charade that was the Tunisian elections.
But what if we were more flexible
And took the muzzles off the real opposition mouth
Thus the president would win with 77.7%
And we would remove the hypocrisy and schizophrenia from the citizens hearts

Some Thoughts from Tunisia, on his part, described what happened to him when he went to vote in the last hours of the day :

كيما قلت سبقني مرافقي للقاعة متاع الانتخاب وكيف دخلت انا نلقا الدنيا داخلة بعضها والجماعة يتغامزو عليه ويتلفوا في الجرّة (ما فاقوش اللي احنا مع بعضنا). اكهو فهمت آش صار: ضهر السيّد مازال في دارو وهوما ريڨلولو اموروا وانتخبوا في بلاصتوا وصححوا في الدفتر في بلاصتوا… آيا قالولو ما صار شيء برّا للخلوة اختار وموش لازم تصحح (الورقة كلها مصححة وماعادش فمة بلايص)… هاذا كلّو صاير وانا واقف نتفرّج!! السيّد مشى للخلوة وانا نسمع فيهم يْوَشْوْشُو ويحكيو بالسرقة بالحرف الواحد:
“هذا العمدة انتخب في بلاصتوا…!!!!”

As I said, my companion went ahead of me to the polling booth. When I entered the room, I saw those present confused and some people winking at each other and pretending as if nothing had happened (They did not realise that we were together). I soon understood everything: when the man was still in his house, they voted and signed instead of him.
Then they said to him: “Nothing has happened You can choose your candidates but you do not have to sign. (The whole paper was signed and there is no room for another signature).
All this happened while I was standing there. My companion went to vote and I heard them whispering:
The “Omda” (a community chief) voted instead of him.

Tunisia: Electoral Campaign Not on Track

Lina Ben Mhenni — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:25:01 +0000

Tunisia is gearing up for its presidential elections on October 25. The election campaign started on October 11, but not all political parties and politicians are able to join the fray. One of those parties is Attajdid (The Renewal), whose posters were absent from the elections banners. The party has also been prevented from starting its election campaign. And if this is not enough, the authorities have censored the party’s mouthpiece “Attariq Al Jadeed” (The New Way) without a convincing reason as explained by blogger Sofiene Chourabi :

حجزت مصالح وزارة الداخلية العدد 149 من جريدة الطريق الجديد بجمع كلّ الأعداد الموجودة بالمطبعة مساء السبت 10 أكتوبر وإشعار صاحب المطبعة بحجز العدد بدعوى تضمنه للبيانين الانتخابيين لحركة التجديد في حين أنه مؤرخ يوم 10 أكتوبر أي قبل انطلاق الحملة الانتخابية وهي تعلات واهية باعتبار أن العدد كان بصدد الطبع مساء السبت 10 أكتوبر ليوزع على الأسواق ابتداء من يوم الأحد 11 أكتوبر الذي تنطلق فيه الحملة الانتخابية.

On the evening of Saturday October 10th, the Interior Ministry seized issue number 149 of “Attariq Al Jadeed” newspaper. This was done by collecting all the printed issues in the printing press and by informing its owner that the confiscation is due to the fact that the issue contains the two electoral manifestos of “Attajdeed “ party with the October 10th date whereas the electoral campaign starts in October 11th. These arguments are nonsense as the issue was being printed on Saturday October 10th in order to be distributed on Sunday October 11th , the day when the electoral campaign starts.

On the other hand, the pictures of the candidate of the ruling party - Tunisian president Zine El Abidine ben Ali - were everywhere, and sometimes illegally. He also made several appearances on TV to promote his campaign, and that is not allowed as stated in the electoral code. Kisses from Tunisia wrote about this and showed pictures from the electoral code and pictures of the ruling party candidate campaigning for his party on a private TV channel.

Tunisia: Ammar 404 is Back and Censoring Blogs Again

Lina Ben Mhenni — Fri, 15 May 2009 22:41:15 +0000

After a short hiatus, the dreaded Ammar 404 has once again attacked the Tunisian blogosphere. Ammar is the nickname given by Tunisian bloggers to the censorship machine plaguing their access to the Internet and his victim this time is Zig Zag blog by 3amrouch. It seem that the blog has been censored for republishing screen shots of a Canadian newspaper which unveils a real estate transaction in which the Tunisian President's son-in-law Mohamed Sakhr El Matri bought a villa in Canada for a huge amount of money - information which the Tunisian Government wants to hide from its people. Many bloggers wrote about this censorship and condemned it.

Samsoum wrote:

Le blog de 3amrouch a été censure car il a repris une information publique sur un journal canadien qui est accessible a tout le monde. Par solidarité je publie aussi le lien vers ce journal qui cite dans sa page 10 la transaction immobilière qu'on veut cacher a tout prix. Et qu'on censure ce blog aussi!!!

3amrouch’s blog has been censored for reprinting public information from a Canadian newspaper that is accessible to everyone. In solidarity, I am also publishing the link to this newspaper which shows on page 10 the real estate transaction they want to hide at all costs. Let them censor this blog too!!!

Thoughts of an ex-Muslim wrote:

مادام لم يدع لكره أو عنف أو ارهاب ،
لا للحجب دون قرار قضائي واضح و علني و مسبب، لا للحجب بسبب نقد مظاهر الفساد ، الغبي الذي اتخذ القرار تقفيفا لسيدي بوحجر انما خدم عمروش و أضر سيده الصغير

As long as he did not call for hatred, violence, or terrorism, no to censorship without a clear, open and reasonable judicial decision. No to censorship for criticizing aspects of corruption. The stupid person who took the censorship decision to please Sidi Bouhjar (the name given to Sakhr El Materi), served 3amrouch at the detriment of his little master.

Ordinary stories blogged saying:

المدونة متاع عمروش تم حجبها لأنها تناولت موضوع ما عجبش المسؤولين على أمننا وسلامتنا
قد ما قلنا ونددنا بهذه الممارسات، عمار ما فهمش، ما هوش فاهم وماهوش ناوي يفهم
هذاك علاش، تضامنا مع المدونة المحجوبة باش نعاود ننشر الموضوع إلي أغلب الظن أنه كان السبب وراء عملية الحجب

3amrouch's blog has been censored because it tackled a subject that did not please those responsible of our security and safety. Despite the fact that we condemned these practices, Ammar did not understand. He is not understanding and he is not going to understand. This is why I am republishing the same subject which is probably the reason for the censorship.

Tunisia: Call to Embrace Work Ethics on Labour Day

Lina Ben Mhenni — Sun, 03 May 2009 21:21:13 +0000

May 1st marked International Labour Day around the world and Tunisian bloggers grasped the occasion to comment on the situation of workers and their laziness.

Writing in French, Yellow reflects on the day saying:

Il faut y penser non… une journée mondiale pour les chômeurs, pour le chômage… pour les manifestants, pour les syndicaux… et pour les papas aussi (fête internationale je veux dire) et pourquoi pas une journée internationale pour chaque pays (à part celle de qui fête l'indépendance ou celle qui a marqué l'histoire d'un peuple comme le 7 novembre chez nous..huh^^)

We have to think about it, no?…an international day for the unemployed, for unemployment .. For the protesters, for trade unionists and for fathers too (an international day I mean) and why not an international day for each country ? ( apart from [a country's] national independence day or one which marks the history of its people like November the 7th here …uhhh !!

In a post written in the Tunisian dialect, Clandestine offers the following advice to workers:

نحب بالمناسبة هاذي نشدّ على ايدين العمال و المزارعين (منعرفش علاش العبارة هاذي تحسسني اني شيوعي) و جموع الموظفين في الارض و المدرّسين و الاطباء و الفراملة و الاعوان الوقتيين (المصنفين و غير المصنفين) و الاعوان المتعاقدين و الاعوان الغير متعاقدين وعملة الحضائر (اللي مازالو يستنّاو في الترسيم ) و صنّاع الحجامة و صناع ورشات الميكانيك و صناع المقاهي والمطاعم (خاصة ذوي الخلق الحسن مع الحريف) و بعض صنّاع القرار اللي مازال عندهم شويّة ضمير.
و نحب كذلك ننصح الجميع (و انا معاكم) باش ينقّصو من التكركير و الفصعة وماكلة الكسكروتات و شرب القهوة و التاي بالكاكاوية في البيروات و يركّزو شوية على الخدم متاعهم … هي صحيح تشخر اما ميسالش, منزيدوهاش بوف

On this occasion, I want to take the hands of the workers and farmers (I don’t even know why this expression gives the impression that I am a communist), and the hands of all the employees around the world, the teachers, the physicians, the nurses, and the temporary employees - those with contracts as well as those who do not have contracts yet, the construction workers, the hairdressers, the mechanics, the waiters
(especially those who are kind to customers), and some of the decision-makers who still have some conscience …
I also advise them (me included) to stop being lazy, skipping work, eating sandwiches, drinking coffee and tea with peanuts in their offices and focus instead on their work.

Arabasta writes a short post saying:

تحية لكل من قدّم حياته يوما من اجل العمّال و سحقا لكل من نسِيَ هذه التضحيات يوما ما…
عذرا لقصر هذه التدوينة إذ لا تسعني الكلمات اليوم كي أعبر عما يختلج بصدري عندما أرى أوضاع العمّال و الشغالين في كل أنحاء العالم…

My greetings to everyone who has one day sacrificed his life for workers, and those who ever forget those sacrifices should be damned. I am sorry for the shortness of this post - words cannot describe my feelings in the face of what workers around the world suffer from nowadays.

Happy Labor Day to all workers around the globe!

Tunisia: Outcry over Italian Court's Verdict on Tunisian Pilots

Lina Ben Mhenni — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:43:09 +0000

Two Tunisian pilots of Tuninter Flight 1153, which crash landed in the sea off Sicily in 2005 killing 16 people, were sentenced to 10 years in prison by an Italian court. The decision is being contested by Tunisian bloggers, who say the pilots' heroic efforts in saving the 23 other passengers on board should have been celebrated.

Some thoughts from Tunisia [Ar] smells discrimination in the verdict and writes:

لو كانوا ايطاليين او فرنسيين او انقليزيين وامريكيين او غيرهم يعني غربيين وليسوا عرب لتمّ الاحتفاء بالطيّارين الذين تمكّنوا من انقاذ 23 شخصا من مجموع 39 كانو على متن طائرة تحطّمت في عرض البحر بعد نفاذ وقودها دون ان يتمّ التفطّن لذلك في الوقت المناسب جرّاء عطب فنّي!!! ولتم نعتهم بالابطال…!!

لكن اسمائهم ليست آلان ولا دافيد ولا جون بول بل شفيق الغربي و علي الكبّير لذا فعليهم دفع الثّمن في نظر القضاء الايطالي !! والتّهمة في نظر هذا القضاء المتعسّف هي انّهم لجؤا بسبب خوفهم الشديد بالانشغال بالدعاء والاستغاثة بالله بالدعاء في وقت كان يتعين عليهم فيه القيام بإجرآت الطوارئ لتجنب تحطم طائرتهم حسب ما جاء في تسجيلات غرفة القيادة. وهو عين الافتراء حسب ما تبيّنه تّسجيلات الصندوق الاسود التّي تبيّن ان الطياريين بذلوا ما في وسعهم لانقاذ ما يمكن انقاذه (طلب هليكوبترين، اجراء الهبوط الاضطراري قرب باخرتين لاعطاء فرص نجاة اكبر…) !!

If they were Italian, French, English or Americans, i.e. Westerners and not Arabs, they would have been glorified! They are pilots who managed to rescue 23 people from all 39 on board a plane that crashed in the sea after it ran out of fuel, which they could not discover in a timely manner due to a technical problem!! They would have otherwise been described as heroes …!!

But their names are not Alain, David, nor John Paul. They are named Shafik Al Gharbi and Ali Kbeyer. Therefore, for the Italian justice, they should pay the price!! They have been charged because they opted to pray for God to help them at a time when they had to perform emergency procedures to avoid their plane crash, according to recordings from the cockpit. But these are lies as shown by the black box recordings. Indeed it shows that the two pilots did their best to save what can be saved (they requested two helicopters and conducted an emergency landing near two vessels to give their passengers a greater chance of survival …) .

Articuler [Fr], on his part, echoes a similar sentiment:

Le tribunal italien de Palerme a prononcé lundi 23 mars 2009 son verdict dans l’affaire du crash de l’ATR de la compagnie aérienne tunisienne Tuninter.
Le verdict de la justice italienne a été très sévère et représente une véritable première ! Jamais, par le passé, les responsables administratifs d’une compagnie aérienne n’ont été condamnés à des peines de prison ferme. En prononçant des condamnations allant jusqu’à dix ans de prison, la justice italienne inflige aux responsables tunisiens des peines comme s’ils étaient de véritables chauffards éméchés sur la route. Et encore, on s’interroge si les ivrognes italiens du volant écopent de peines aussi lourdes !

On Monday, March 23, the Italian court in Palermo issued a verdict in the case of the crash of an ATR airplane belonging to the Tunisian airline, Tuninter.

The verdict of the Italian court has been very severe and represents a real first! Never before have airline executives been sentenced to prison. In imposing sentences of up to 10 years in prison, the Italian courts have punished the Tunisian executives as though they were drunk drivers on the road. And yet, one wonders if the drunk-driving Italian suffers as heavy a penalty!

Tunisia: Dismissed Student Activists on Hunger Strike for the Right to Education

Lina Ben Mhenni — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:51:00 +0000

A total of 158 Tunisians and their friends from around the world went on hunger strike for a day today (March 26) in solidarity with five students who have been on hunger strike since February 11 in Tunisia.

The initiative has been orchestrated on a Facebook group [Fr] as a symbolic form of support to the students, who are members of Tunisian Students' Union (UGET), and who have been suspended from university for their activism on campus.

According to the Facebook group:

Des etudiants en grève de la faim depuis le 11 février pour le droit aux études. Soutenons les et faisons une grève de la faim d un jour !

L'Union Générale des Etudiants de Tunisie (UGET) est confrontée depuis plusieurs années à une politique de persécution systématique de la part du pouvoir tunisien… Les jeunes syndicalistes de l'UGET sont régulièrement harcelés, tabassés, terrorisés et torturés au cours de gardes à vue en dehors de toute légalité. La police a recours à toutes sortes de violences pour obliger les responsables syndicaux à démissionner de leurs fonctions, à trahir leurs camarades et à abandonner toute action militante.
Des policiers armés gardent les entrées et arpentent les couloirs des universités depuis de nombreuses années (plus précisément depuis que Ben Ali a été désigné premier ministre du temps de Bourguiba). Voila maintenant plus de 23 ans que ces policiers, corps étranger à tout savoir et à tout enseignement, persécutent les étudiants tunisiens pour les empêcher de coller des affiches, tenir des rassemblements ou des meetings exprimant leurs revendications.
Pourtant une telle violence n'a nullement de justification. Les jeunes syndicalistes de l'UGET ne s'engagent que dans des actions pacifiques non violentes. Ils organisent souvent ces actions pour réclamer l'amélioration de leurs conditions d'études et de vie, le développement de la qualité de leur enseignement ou l'ouverture de nouvelles perspectives post-universitaires d?embauche et de recrutement. L'UGET s'engage aussi régulièrement, à côté du reste des forces démocratiques, dans la défense des libertés politiques. Il se réclame de ceux qui soutiennent les luttes sociales justes des tunisiens. Ses militants n?épargnent jamais leurs efforts quand il s'agit de solidarité avec les causes des peuples arabes et notamment celle du peuple Palestinien. Ce sont ceux là, les torts des militants de l'UGET, aux yeux d'un pouvoir dirigé par l'arbitraire et le non respect des libertés syndicales.
Le 11 février 2009, quatre militants et responsables syndicaux de l'UGET ont entamé, dans le seul et minuscule local de l'organisation 19 Rue Naplouse à Tunis, une grève de la faim illimitée. Ils exigent le droit de poursuivre leurs études supérieures et réintégrer leur faculté après avoir été injustement exclus, suite à des conseils de discipline à cause de leur engagement et de leur activité syndicale.

A day of Hunger strike in solidarity with the Tunisian Students on hunger strike since February 10th 2009.

The Tunisian Students' Union (UGET) has, for several years, suffered systematic persecution at the hands of the Tunisian authorities…Young UGET unionists are regularly harassed, beaten, terrorized and tortured, without any respect for the law, while in police custody. The police resort to all kinds of violence to force union leaders to resign, betray their comrades, and abandon their activism. Armed police have guarded the entrances and pace the corridors of universities for many years (more precisely since Ben Ali was appointed prime minister under Bourguiba). These police officers, all-knowing foreign bodies, have been persecuting Tunisian students for more than 23 years to prevent them from hanging posters, from holding meetings and rallies to assert their demands. Such violence is unjustified … the UGET students engage only in nonviolent protest, that they organize in order to demand an improvement in their living standards and the standards of education, and for the opening of new, postgraduate job opportunities…they also organize in solidarity with Arab causes, especially for Palestinians…
February 11, 2009, five UGET union leaders, at their tiny local branch in 19 Rue Naplouse in Tunis, announced a hunger strike of unlimited duration. They are demanding the right to pursue their university studies and to be reinstated at their schools after being unjustly expelled, following disciplinary action taken as a result of their union activities.

The five students are Ali Bouzouzeya,Taoufik Louati, Aymen Jaabiri, Mohamed Boualleg, and Mohamed Soudani and they are on hunger strike to demand their return to their classes.

Meanwhile, police are preventing people who want to support the students from entering the UGET premises where the students are on strike as seen in the video above.

Now after 43 days of hunger strike, their health is deteriorating and their lives are in danger. They have been rushed to the hospital several times and doctors ordered them to stop their hunger strike. However, they insist on continuing until they are allowed back to their universities. Despite this, the Tunisian authorities are yet to change their stance.

What will happen next? Will the Government wait for their death to intervene? Only time will answer this question.

Tunisia: Bloggers Divided on Qaradawi's Visit

Lina Ben Mhenni — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:58:01 +0000

Discussions continue in the Tunisian blogosphere and Facebook following the visit of Egyptian Islamic scholar Yousif Qaradawi, who is based in Qatar, to the secular country two weeks ago.

While some were enthusiastic, applauding the visit and creating a Facebook group to express their joy and happiness, others have formed a group protesting against and opposing this visit.

Qaradawi's official visit to Tunisia on March 4 and 5 was to celebrate Kairouan as a capital for Islamic culture. This visit is considered his first official visit to Tunisia since he accused the Tunisian government of hostility towards Islam and Muslims. He also accused Tunisian poet Sghaier Awled Ahmed, of being an infidel in his book: Secular extremism in Islam: The Cases of Tunisia and Turkey, which was published in 2001.

The supporters of the visit saw in this official visit a change in the government's policy towards Islam and Islamism and a sign of the failure of the secular project in Tunisia. Rashed Ghannuchi president of the now banned Islamic movement Annahdha shared the movement's joy over the visit and he also called upon the Tunisian authorities to cancel the decree prohibiting the hijab (Islamic headscarf worn by women), in a Press release he issued from London.

The visit's opponents explained on their part that Qaradawi had already attacked Tunisians and Tunisia in his book cited above. They saw this visit as another of the games played by the Tunisian government to win support during the elections, especially since Qaradawi started his visit by going to the premises of radio Zaitouna, established by the Tunisian president's son-in-law Sakhr Materi, who is establishing an Islamic bank in Tunisia. They saw this initiative as a support to these projects, especially that Qaradawi is very popular among Tunisians. Furthermore , they saw in this visit a threatening to the secular environment reigning in Tunisia since the rule of the first president.

Tunisian Debate expressed his opinion through caricatures as usual:

He added:

La dernière visite de l'Imam Qardhawi aurait pu passer inaperçue si elle n'avait revêtu un caractère officiel. En effet, Le tapis mauve que lui a déroulé le ministre de la culture et les Unes que lui ont consacré les médias ont suscité un vif débat dans la blogosphère. Les Laïques y on vu une menace contre les acquis progressistes amenés par Bourguiba tandis que les conservateurs se sont réjouis du retour à la normale de la Tunisie qui se réveille enfin de sa laïque léthargie made in occident. Un dialogue de sourd entre les uns et les autres a noyé toute possibilité d'entente sur la sempiternelle question de la laïcité et de l'Islam.

The last visit of Imam Qardhawi could have gone unnoticed if it had not taken on a official tone. Indeed, the red carpet the minister of culture and the media laid out for him has generated a lively debate in the blogosphere. Secular bloggers saw in it a threat to the progressive gains brought by Bourguiba [former President of Tunisia] while the Conservatives celebrated a return to normal in Tunisia, finally waking up from its “made-in-the-West” secular lethargy. A dialogue of the deaf between them has drowned any hope of agreement on the eternal question of reconciliation between secularism and Islam.

He also talked about authorties' agenda behind this official invitation:

Le régime en mélangeant les genres entretient des clivages et empêche la société de débattre clairement de ses divergences. Sa stratégie consiste à acheter la paix sociale en usant de toutes les voix discordantes que peut produire le corps social. Il les récupèrera à son compte et les mettra en scène dans un simulacre de démocratie.

By crossing the line, the government preserves cleavages and prevents citizens from clearly discussing their differences. Its strategy is to buy social peace by wearing out all the dissident voices. It will coopt them and then put them on display in a sham democracy.

Tunisia: Hunger Strike Students Defend Right to Study

Lina Ben Mhenni — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:09:17 +0000

Five Tunisian students have been on hunger strike since February 11th to defend their right to study. Their health is seriously deteriorating but the government is ignoring their request. More on the story on Facebook — here and here.

Tunisia: Remembering Tunisia's First Internet Prisoner

Lina Ben Mhenni — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:09:24 +0000

Tunisian Zouhair Yahyaoui will always be remembered among Tunisian activists as someone who had sacrificed his life for the struggle for freedom of speech.

Yahyaoui, who had adopted the pen name Ettounsi or The Tunisian and was a graduate in economic sciences and Internet journalist, had invited readers of his satirical website TUNeZINE to vote on whether Tunisia was a “republic, a kingdom, a zoo or a prison” on June 2, 2000. Soon after wards, he was picked up from an internet cafe by plainclothes police officers, without an arrest warrant.

In November 2003, Yahyaoui was released from prison after spending 18 months and on March 13, 2005, he died of a heart attack at the age of 36. During his time in prison, Yahyaoui went on hunger strike several times in protest against his imprisonment conditions and supporters claim he was also subjected to torture.

To mark his forth death anniversary, The Network of Tunisian Bloggers for Free Blogging reminds us about Tunisia's first Internet prisoner:

تمرّ اليوم 4سنوات على رحيل زهير اليحياوي مؤسس موقع “تونزين”، وقد توفي الفقيد على إثر نوبة قلبية وهو لا يزال في ريعان شبابه.
دخل السجن في ربيع 2002 ودفع غاليا ثمن تشبثه بالدفاع عن الحرية مستعملا في ذلك التقنيات الحديثة التي وفرتها شبكة “الأنترنيت”، وهو ما جعله يصبح رمزا للنضال على الشبكة.
كان ولا يزال يمثل نموذجا للمناضل والمدافع الصلب عن قضايا الديمقراطية ـ و قد دخل عدة مرات في اضراب عن الطعام للمطالبة بتحسين وضعه داخل السجن دون أن تستجيب الادارة العامة للسجون لمطالبه وقد أثرت ظروف اعتقاله على صحته التي تدهورت

Four years ago Zouhair Yahyaoui, the creator of the web site Tunezine left us following a heart attack, while he still young.
He had been thrown in jail in the spring of 2002 and paid heavily for his commitment to defend freedom, using the modern techniques provided by the “Internet”, which made him become a symbol of the struggle on the web.
He has been and continues to be a model for activists and defenders of democracy. He had gone on hunger strikes several times to demand better conditions in prison but the Public Administration for Prisons did not respond to his requests. The conditions of his detention had affected his health, which deteriorated.

And the situation seems to have deteriorated even further in Tunisia since Yahyaoui's death. Fellow Tunisian blogger and Global Voices Advocacy editor Sami ben Gharbia updates us on the repression of the Internet in his country in this post.

Tunisia: Covert Censorship of a Newspaper!

Lina Ben Mhenni — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 11:56:46 +0000

Last week the Tunisian government censored the newspaper, El Mawkef . Censored blog Tunisia Watch writes:

Le rédacteur en chef de l'hebdomadaire “Al Mawkef”, Rachid Khéchana, a accusé vendredi les autorités tunisiennes d'avoir procédé à une “saisie déguisée” du dernier numéro de son journal, organe du parti démocratique progressiste (PDP), une formation de l'opposition légale. Les autorités ont aussitôt démenti cette accusation qu'elles qualifient de “fausses allégations”.

Selon M. Khéchana, des pressions auraient été exercées sur la société privée de distribution pour qu'elle ne livre aux kiosques que deux exemplaires à chacun. Dans un communiqué transmis à l'Associated Press, il considère cette “mesure répressive” comme “une atteinte à la liberté de la presse et une sanction contre tout journal qui s'attache à sa ligne indépendante”.

Les autorités soutiennent cependant que ce journal “parait régulièrement et est distribué à travers le pays sans restrictions aucunes, à l'instar de tous les autres organes de presse”. “Tous les partis de l'opposition en Tunisie exercent leurs activités politiques et médiatiques en toute liberté”, affirme une source gouvernementale. (AP - 14.03.2009)

On Friday [March 13th], the editor of the weekly news paper Al Makef accused the Tunisian authorities of conducting a “seizure in disguise” of the latest issue of his newspaper, mouthpiece of the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), part of the legal opposition. The authorities immediately denied the accusation, which they call “false allegations”.

According to Mr. Khechena, pressures have been exerted on the private distribution company so that only two copies were delivered to each newsstand. In a statement sent to the Associated Press, he considers this “punitive measure” as “an attack on press freedom and a sanction against any newspaper that adheres to an independent stance.”

The authorities, however, argue that this newspaper appears regularly and is distributed throughout the country without any restrictions, like all other media. “All the opposition parties in Tunisia operate in political and media freedom,” said a government source. (AP -03.14.2009)

International Women's Day in Tunisian Blogs

Lina Ben Mhenni — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:13:16 +0000

Tunisia celebrates its National Day for Women on August 13. Calls are now being echoed in the blogosphere to join international women in their celebration and mark the day with the rest of the world on March 8.

The August 13 date marks the day the Code of Personal Status was enacted by former President Habib Bourguiba in 1956 - a milestone piece of legislation which abolished polygamy, instituted legal divorce and set the minimum age for marriage at 17 for women. To see this, we think that Tunisian women are privileged and benefit fully from her rights and freedom. However, everyday life is different. Some bloggers talked about this fact on the International Women’s Day.

Blogger Abu Nadhem proposed to combine the two days in one day and thus integrate the women’s movement in Tunisia with the international one. Indeed, he says in the blog Ya tounes :

واليوم على مشارف القرن 21 و تونس تعتبر سباقة عربيا في الاعتراف بحقوق المراة بوضع مجلة الاحوال الشخصية فإن الزعيم بورقيبة اختار مع ذلك يوم 13 اوت يوما وطنيا للمراة ولا نعلم مع ذلك سبب تجاهل 8 مارس ؟؟؟ فهل ان الاوان للاعتراف ب 8 مارس يوما وطنيا ودوليا للمراة ؟؟بجعل المراة التونسية جزءا من الحركة النسوية العالمية ؟؟؟؟؟؟

Today, in the 21st century, Tunisia is considered as the pioneering Arab country in the recognition of the women’s rights through its Code of Personal Status. The former president Bourguiba chose August 13 as the national day of women, however, we do not know the reason for ignoring the March 8th International Women’s Day??? When will we recognize March 8th as both a national and international day so that Tunisian women will be part of the global women's movement ??????

As this year's International Day of Women's coincided with Prophet Mohammed's birthday, a popular celebration in the Tunisian calendar, some bloggers linked two occasions in their posts. Neji khachnaoui, for instance, wrote the following:

مرحى لنا بالقيروان عاصمة اسلامية وليست عاصمة للثقافة الاسلامية
مرحى لنا بشيخ يفتي ان المرأة سنة 2009 تُطلق بلسان رجلها
مرحى لنا بمجلة الأحول الشخصية تتقهقر أرضا
مرحى لنا ببلاد نصفها رجال والنصف الآخر ذكور
مرحى لنا بنساء يحتفلن بيوم حريتهن بالعصيدة والزقوقو
مرحى لنا بهذه الشيزوفرينا المؤسسة لجمهورية الغد

Let’s congratulate ourselves now that Kairouan has been announced as an Islamic capital instead of a capital for Islamic culture.
Let’s be happy with a Sheikh [clergyman] has annpunced in 2009 that a man can divorce his wife just by telling her: “I divorce you.”
Let’s be happy with the Code of Personal Status further disintegrating, day after day.
Let’s be happy with a country whose population is half male, and the remaining half is also male.
Let’s be happy with women celebrating their freedom day by preparing Assida [Tunisians celebrate Prophet's birthday by cooking Assida zgougou, a local delicacy].
Let’s be happy with this schizophrenia that we will use to establish tomorrow’s republic.

As usual, blogger Tunisian debate http://debatunisie.canalblog.com/ choose caricatures to express his opinions and he linked this occasion to both Ammar 404, the symbol of censorship in Tunisia and the prophet’s birthday, and here are the pictures:

عمار ايجى ذوق العصيدة

Ammar come taste the Assida

What is striking is that the majority of bloggers who blogged about women’s day are men, with only two women blogging about this occasion. l’As Number One wrote in Tunisian dialect saying:

نبهت في التناقض الكبير بين افكار مواليد الاربعينات و الخمسينات و بين أفكار جيلي. اذا كانو الاولانين يعتبرو اللي عمل و دراسة المرأة حاجات اساسيّة يضمنو كرامةالمرا.
نحب نقول اللي الاكثريّة متاع شبابنا (ذكور و اناث)، ماهوش واعي بقيمة مجلة الاحوال الشخصية. و فمّا حتّى شكون يستنكرها ويطالب بالرجوع للوراء (الرجوع للأصل فضيلة)
الغريبة الكبيرة كيف تجيك ملاحظة كيف هاذي من عند فتاة و فتاة قارية الي أكبر طموحها تاخو راجل لاباس عليه باش اتشد الدار و هو يصرف عليها

I am alarmed by the great discrepancy between the mentality of people born in the forties and fifties and that of my generation.The first group see women’s education and work as essential components to guarantee women’s dignity. But I want to say that the majority of our youth (men and women alike) are not aware of the value of the Code of the Personal Status. Some of them denounce it and ask us to go backwards (going back to the roots is a virtue). What is flabbergasting is that such calls come from young educated women, whose greatest ambition is marrying a rich man and staying at home, while he spends on her.

Tunisia: Attacks on Freedom of Expression

Lina Ben Mhenni — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 15:55:21 +0000

The Tunisian government is confirming again its “strong support” for freedom of speech. According to local journalists on Tuesday, January 27th plainclothes policemen surrounded the offices of the newly launched satellite radio station Kalima and detained one of its journalists, Dhafer Ottey. On Wednesday, Kalima’s journalists and reporters stayed in the building and continued to broadcast. The policemen also verbally and physically assaulted individuals associated with Kalima. Human rights activist, Zouhair Makhlouf, was attacked (as shown in the video) as well Omar Mestiri, the editor-in-chief of Kalima's website, who was threatened by knife with death. The policemen kept on insulting Kalima’s journalists who were not inside the building and many of the people who came there to show their support for Kalima’s staff. On Friday January 30th, the policemen entered the premises and seized the equipment used for broadcasting. Here is the video showing the siege on Kalima.

Furthermore the Ministry of Interior seized on Friday, January 30th ,the 113th issue of the dissident newspaper “Attariq El Jadid” before its delivery to kiosks claiming that the newspaper published the legal document of the interrogation of a detainee in what is known as “Gafsa Events”. The publishing of which is illegal according to the Acts 63 and 73 of the Journalism code which prohibits the publishing of legal documents. According to the law, these documents can not be published until after they have been presented publicly in a court of law. In this particular case, the legal documents in question had been presented in court on January 11th, 2009, therefore making the publication legal according to journalists. The blog Farda-wla9at -O5taha talked about this censorship today by reporting the article of the French news paper ” Le MONDE ‘

Tunisie: un journal d'opposition saisi pour violation du Code de la presse.

L'hebdomadaire d'opposition tunisien “Ettarik Al-Jadid” (la nouvelle voie) a été saisi samedi par décision judiciaire pour violation du Code de la presse, a-t-on appris de source gouvernementale.

La saisie a été ordonnée “en vertu des articles 63 et 73 du Code la presse”, selon un communiqué publié par l'agence gouvernementale TAP.

Hatem Chaâbouni, directeur de l'organe bilingue du Mouvement Ettajdid (Renouveau, légal), a indiqué à l'AFP que le numéro saisi diffusait une transcription de l'interrogatoire de Bechir Laabidi, un des dirigeants du mouvement social de Gafsa (sud) dont le procès en appel est en cours.

“L'interrogatoire d'un prévenu peut être rendu public dès lors que les audiences publiques au procès ont commencé”, a assuré pour sa part Adel Chaouch, rédacteur en chef du journal.

Les articles du Code de la presse invoqués interdisent, sauf autorisation du juge, la publication de tout acte de procédure pénale et sanctionnent “celui qui, à la suite des troubles, a accepté de se substituer aux autorités régulièrement constituées”, la punition pouvant aller dans ce cas jusqu'à l'emprisonnement à vie.

Bechir Laabidi fait partie d'une trentaine de Tunisiens poursuivis pour leur participation à un mouvement de protestation sociale dans la région minière de Gafsa et dont le procès en appel ouvert le 13 janvier reprendra mardi prochain.

Il fait suite à des condamnations allant jusqu'à 10 ans de prison prononcées en première instance le 11 décembre à Gafsa (350 km au sud-ouest de Tunis).

La saisie de l'hebdomadaire intervient alors qu'une enquête a été ouverte par le parquet tunisien sur le lancement sans autorisation de Kalima, une station dirigée par la journaliste dissidente Sihem Bensedrine, selon une source gouvernementale.

“Radio Kalima” avait commencé à émettre lundi mais ses locaux ont été perquisitionnés vendredi et les équipements saisis, a indiqué à l'AFP un de ses collaborateurs.

Tunisia : The Censorship of a Dissident News paper for Press's Code Volation.

The Tunisian weekly news paper “Attariq Al-Jadid has been seized by court order for violation of the Code of the press, as it was learnt by governmental source.
The seizure was ordered ” by virtue of articles 63 and 73 of the Code the press “, according to a communiqué published by the governmental agency TAP.

Hatem Chaâbouni, director of the bilingual organ of the Movement Ettajdid (Renewal Party , legal ) pointed to the AFP that the seized issu spreada transcription of the interrogation of Bechir Laabidi, one of the leaders of the social movement of Gafsa ( South) the lawsuit of which in appeal is in progress.

The interrogation of an accused can be made public since the public audiences in the lawsuit began”, assured for his part Adel Chaouch, chief editor of the newspaper.

Articles of the Code of the press called forbid, except license of the judge, the publication of any act of penal procedure and sanction ” the one who, following troubles, agreed to substitute himself for the regularly established(constituted) authorities “, the punishment which can go in that case to the detention with life.

Bechir Laabidi is a part of a group of thirty Tunisians pursued for their participation in a movement of social protest in the mining area of Gafsa and among which the lawsuit in appeal opened January 13th will start again next Tuesday.

He is subject to condemnations going to 10 years of prison pronounced in first authority on December 11th in Gafsa (350 km in the southwest of Tunis).

The seizure of the weekly occurred while an investigation was opened by the Tunisian public prosecutor's department on the launch without authorization of Kalima, a radio station steered by the dissident journalist Sihem Bensedrine, according to a governmental source.

“Radio Kalima” had begun to broadcast on Monday but its premises were searched on Friday and the seized equipments, indicated to AFP one of his(her) co-workers.

Tunisia: Facebook Case Thrown Out of Court

Lina Ben Mhenni — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 22:50:57 +0000

A Tunisian court threw out a case against the censorship facing Facebook, brought about by blogger and journalist Ziad El Heni against the Tunisian Internet Agency (ATI).

Writing in Arabic, Journaliste Tunisien, who lodged the case, reports that:

أصدرت الدائرة الثالثة بمحكمة ناحية تونس برئاسة السيدة وريدة الغربي حكمها برفض الدعوى المرفوعة ضد الوكالة التونسية للانترنت بسبب حجبها موقع “فايس بوك” الاجتماعي العالمي.
الحكم الصادر في القضية عدد 68787 بتاريخ 25 نوفمبر 2008 الجاري، التي رفعتها ضدّ “عمّــار 404″ احتجاجا على عمليّات الحجب غير القانوني، لم يتضمّـن أيّ تعليل؟

The Third District Court in Tunisia, presided by Judge Ruwaida Al Gharbi, dismissed the case brought against the ATI for blocking the social networking site Facebook.

The ruling in case number 68787 on November 25, 2008, which I lodged in protest against the illegal censorship, did not include any explanations.

This verdict was made after the trial was postponed three times. The plaintiff was also asked to pay all the costs the civil proceedings entailed.

Despite this setback, Tunisian Facebookers and bloggers won their union against censorship and their national day for the freedom of blogging.

Tunisia: Yes, they can. No, we can't!

Lina Ben Mhenni — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:32:19 +0000

The week of the US election coincided with the 21st anniversary of ‘change' in Tunisia. But while Americans went to the polls to elect their 44th president, in its 50 years of independence, Tunisia has had just two presidents - Habib Bourguiba and the current president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who has been in power for 21 years - and looking forward for yet a fifth five-year term.

In his inaugural speech, Ben Ali said that he was establishing the foundations for a revival of democracy, freedom and respect for human rights:

“Fellow Citizens,
Our people have reached a degree of responsibility and maturity where every individual and group is in a position to constructively contribute to the running of its affairs, in conformity with the republican idea which gives institutions their full scope and guarantees the conditions for a responsible democracy, fully respecting the sovereignty of the people as written into the Constitution. This Constitution needs urgent revision. The times in which we live can no longer admit of life presidency or automatic succession, from which the people are excluded. Our people deserve an advanced and institutionalized political life, truly based on the plurality of parties and mass organizations.”

According to some Tunisians, history has proven that the above declaration is a far cry from the truth.
Commemorating Ben Ali's 21st anniversary, Tunisian bloggers were really creative and seized this opportunity to write many ironical posts exposing the political situation in Tunisia.

The blog The Tunisian Debate chose caricature to talk about this occasion. He wrote a first post [Fr] with the following picture and a one sentence commentary:

Qui mieux qu'Obama, symbole du changement, pourrait nous féliciter de 21 ans de changement !

Who better than Obama, the symbol of change, would congratulate us for 21 years of change!

The metaphorical way in which the same blogger tackled the issue makes me think of George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm - with Tunisia being the Arab world's 21st century Animal Farm.

He wrote:

En Tunisie, nous assistons depuis 20 ans à un phénomène étrange qui prend de l'ampleur chaque année: A partir d'halloween, des chiens sortant de nulle part se mettent en rang et aboient à tour de rôle. Ils polluent l'espace public et étouffent par leurs cris les chants des oiseaux. Ils y vont crescendo et d'aboiement en aboiement ils infestent la totalité de la ville. Le septième jour de novembre ils se rassemblent tous pour nous annoncer en chœur l'arrivée du…Mahdi!

In Tunisia over the last 20 years we have witnessed a phenomenon which grows every year. Starting from Halloween, dogs appear out of nowhere, stand in a line and take turns barking. They pollute the public space and their barking drowns out birdsong. Their barking gets louder and louder and their barking takes over the entire city. On November 7, they gather in a choir to announce the arrival of…the Messiah!

Sofiene Chourabi write a post entitled: In the Worship of Big Brother. He said:

في روايته الشهيرة “1984″ هاجم الأديب جورج أروال جميع المؤسسات والهيئات الرسمية والخاصة، وانتقد جل الذهنيات والعقليات السائدة التي تمس من الحريات الأساسية وتتدخل في الحياة الخاصة للأفراد.
العين الكبيرة لـ”الأخ الأكبر” في الرواية هي لحزب يحكم البلاد في دولة “أوسانيا” ويراقب كل حركة قد تصدر هنا وهناك، ويعاين كل نفس قد يبدو وكأنها زائدة على النصاب. دولة “أوسانيا” تغمرها صور عملاقة في كل مكان وتلفزيونه ينقل على مدار الساعة التفاصيل الدقيقة لحياة قادتها، ووسائل البروباغندا تسخّر لإبراز الأمجاد والبطولات.
نقرأ هذه الرواية مجددا على ضوء الإمكانيات الهائلة المرصودة هذه الأيام التي وقع ضخها للاحتفال بذكرى 7 نوفمبر طيلة أيام الأسبوع الجاري. صور ولافتات وشحت كامل مدن وقرى البلاد ومظاهر زينة مزيفة واحتفالات غنائية تنظم في معظم بلدات الجمهورية، تتنزل كلها في إطار مشهد سيء الإخراج يذكر بما عرفته الأنظمة الشمولية في أوروبا الشرقية في عصر خلنا انه انبلج بسقوط جدار برلين وزوال فكرة عبادة الشخصية.
لا أحد يقدر أن يفهم سر هذا التجند السنوي إلا من زاوية الرغبة في تكريس الهيمنة المطلقة على المجال العام واحتكاره لفائدة الحزب الحاكم، وترسيخ الرأي أنه “اللاعب الوحيد” على الساحة من دون منافس، فهل بهذا المنطق المغلوط ستدخل بلادنا عتبة الانتخابات التشريعية والرئاسية؟

George Orwell attacked, in his famous novel 1984, all the official and private institutions, and criticized the majority of mentalities which stood as a barrier in the face of basic freedoms and intervened in people’s private and personal lives. The big brother’s eye in the novel belongs to a party ruling the country of Oceania and controlling every movement occurring in any part of the country. Oceania is covered with huge posters of Big brother. Big Brother TV is broadcasting his news with their boring details all the day. Propaganda instruments are used to show his heroism. We re -read this novel again when we see all these preparations to celebrate the November 7th 21st anniversary for a whole week. Posters and slogans are decorating every city, town and village in the country and music concerts are held everywhere. All this is nothing but badly presented scenery making us remember the oppressing rule that the Eastern Europe countries witnessed. This was during a past era which disappeared from our minds with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the end the worship of the characters. No one can understand this annual mobilization but from only one perspective that of the longing to obtain the absolute domination on the general space and its use for the benefit of the ruling party. This is the means to consolidate the idea that there are no other competitors for the rule. Is our country welcoming the electoral campaign with this mistaken logic?

The blogger AS number One chose on her part to write in verse to express her sadness towards the political situation in Tunisia:

Et Vlan! Vlan! pour les infinis menteurs
Pour les infinies promesses enrobées de douceur
Pour tous les Ben Ben reproducteurs
Pour les hypocrites, applaudisseurs, éjaculateurs
Pour toutes ces banderoles qui embellissent nos terres
Pour ces fortunes dépensées à tort et à travers
Pour ce mauve, ces couleurs et ces posters
A l'occasion de mon 21 ème anniversaire
Je souhaite à chacun beaucoup de bonheur
De la pourriture, des corruptions, et beaucoup d'espoir
Des derbys, du “Bel makchouf”, et des crédits bancaires
Et Vlan Vlan pour tous ces maux qui hantent mon cœur
Chantons tous en chœur
“Une nouvelle aire est venu, vive le dictateur”

Vlan! Vlan for the countless liars
For the endless promises coated with sweetness
For all these reproducers Ben and Ben [not sure what Ben Ben means here]
For hypocrites, the applauders, the exclaimers,
For all these banners which embellish our lands
For these fortunes spent carelessly
For this mauve, these colors and posters
On the occasion of my twenty first birthday
I wish everyone a lot of happiness
Decay, corruptions, and a lot of hope
Derbies, ” bel makchouf “*, and bank credits
And Vlan Vlan for all these troubles which haunt my heart
Let us sing all the chorus
“A new area came, lives the dictator”

The writer of the blog For a better world has been more direct and wrote the following:

Il y a deux semaines j'ai posté un message sur Bouteflika, Bouteflika yezzi et maintenant, je poste un message sur le président Tunisien, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, ça suffit, moi j'ai 22 ans et j'ai envi de changement, je n'ai pas eu la liberté de m'exprimer dans mon pays, favoriser le pluralisme et les droits de l'homme, on est tous conscients que ceci n'est pas vrai…, j'ai été témoin de certains agissements de la police Tunisienne… Comment faire ? président à vie ?
J'aime mon pays et je ne le laisserai jamais tomber, 21 ans de présidence et un cinquième mandat à briguer en 2009… il est temps d'arrêter… de nous prendre pour des cons… Time for Change…

Two weeks ago I wrote a post about [the Algerian president] Boutaflika, entitled Boutaflika enough! Now I am posting something about the Tunisian president, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. Enough. I am 22 years old and I want change. I have not had the freedom to express my life in my own country, to facilitate pluralism and human rights. We are all well aware that this is not true. I have been witness to certain wrongdoings on the part of the Tunisian police… What to do? With a president for life? I love my country and I will never give it up, 21 years of rule and seeking a fifth term in 2009…It's high time he stopped, treating us like idiots …Time for change.

While some bloggers used metaphors, others preferred direct discourse. Some of them wrote in prose, others in verse. Some wrote, while the others drew caricatures or downloaded videos. But the message was the same: bloggers were united to say that it is high time to end with this masquerade. It is high time for change. In one voice they cried: Ben Ali Yezi Fock !!**

* bel makchouf is a Tunisian TV show in a private channel.
** Yezi Fock Ben Ali means enough of Ben Ali in the Tunisian dialect.

Tunisia: National Day for Freedom of Blogging on November 4

Lina Ben Mhenni — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:03:03 +0000

Tunisian bloggers are rallying for a National Day for Freedom of Blogging on November 4. The day will coincide with a court hearing for a lawsuit filed by the journalist and blogger Zied El Heni against the Tunisian Internet Agency (ATI).

It all started when Tunisian internet surfers welcomed with happiness the repeal of a ban placed on video sharing sites YouTube and Dailymotion. Many Tunisian bloggers celebrated this repeal of the ban by posting videos of songs downloaded from those two video websites on their blogs. But their happiness was cut short as the repeal did not last more than 24 hours. Very soon, the Tunisians discovered that there was in fact no repeal of the ban at all. Rather, a problem with the software and filters used by the ATI resulted in its failure to block these two video websites. The repeal of the ban, which had been welcomed with such enthusiasm, was actually just an accident and a mistake.

Meanwhile, journalist and blogger El Heni is suing the ATI for the censorship of Facebook, which had lasted for 16 days. The trial will take place on November 4 and as a sign of solidarity with his action, a group of bloggers decided that this date will henceforth be baptized as a national day for blogging freedom.

Blogger Abunadem, whose blog had been censored more than twice, spearheaded the campaign on Anticensuretounes, collective blog by Tunisian bloggers on anti-censorship. He explains:

بمناسبة القضية اللي رفعها الصحفي و المدون زياد الهاني ضد عمار 404 واللي تعينتلو الجلسة نهار 4 نوفمبر …( وهي القضية نفسها اللي رفعوها اوخيان اخرين ضد حوادث 404 باشي ) ممكن يكون يوم 4 نوفمبر يوم كل مدون لان القضية قضيتو بدرجة اولى …ممكن نعتبروه يوم وطني من اجل حرية التدوين ونساندوا خونا زياد حتى بالصمت العاجز ………من خلال تدوينات بيضاء او بانيار يعلن هذا الحدث .
والى الامام …لنتكاتف ضد عمار .

The journalist and blogger El Heni has sued the ATI and the trial has been set for November 4th 2008. It would be a great idea to announce this day “every blogger's day” because this cause is every blogger's cause. It should also be considered a Tunisian National Day for Blogging Freedom. We can support our brother Zied even by our desperate silence, expressed through a White Blog Day or by a common logo on our blogs signaling this event . Let's go ahead .Let's unite against censorship!!

Writing on the same blog, Bachbouch further explains:

Tunisian blogs became the main supplier of unbiased news for Tunisians living inside and abroad. Blogging became a responsibility and bloggers are now citizens who can create jeopardy to any government agency trying to cover and shadow information that doesn’t project a picture of a stable and democratic, government of a country experiencing a fast economic growth.
That in mind, we decided that, as we took this heavy responsibility on our shoulders, we are entitled to a law that protects us from any abuse and unlawful censorship. This law should also shield us from any unlawful investigation and arrest due to the content of our blogs as long as it doesn’t break any law acknowledged by our constitution. This same law will punish any person or entity that shall intentionally break it.
Zied El Heni’s symbolic law suite against “Tunisian Internet Agency” inspired us to launch our movement and decided to have November 4th, the date of the first hearing, as a National Day For Freedom of Blogging. This movement was immediately embraced by most if not all the Tunisian bloggers who will be the force that fuels and inspires this movement.
We will be reaching out parties of our government soon with all our demands hoping for a great cooperation.

The result is an overwhelming support from bloggers, such as Mayadine, who writes:

للأصدقاء اللي تفاعلو ايجابيا
مع اقتراح ابو ناظم في مدونة : ضد الحجب
في ان يكون يوم 4 نوفمبر من كل عام ، هو
اليوم الوطني لحرية التدوين
مّاله انا بدوري
نتوجّه للجميع بدعوة للانضمام الى هالاقتراح
ليكن يوم 4 نوفمبر يومنا الوطني من اجل ان
ندوّن
نخربش
نكتب
نفكر
نعبّر
نتحاو
نتناقش
نضيف
ننقد
نطلق اجنحة اقلامنا

To the friends who positively responded to Abu Nadhem's proposition in the Anti-censorship in Tunisia blog to set November 4th as the national day for freedom of blogging. I invite to join this campaign so that this day will be our day to blog, scribble, write, think, discuss, comment, criticize and let our pens speak freely.

To support the initiative, Facebook user Bassem Bouguerra created a Facebook group entitled: November 4th: A National Day for Blogging Freedom. Since its launch on October 1, more than 330 members have so far joined the call. This relatively great number can really be considered a great achievement, in a country where people have been raised in fear of speaking out freely. This show of support is also remarkable considering that many people avoid joining groups dealing with matters of freedom of expression and other controversial issues. They fear persecution and jail.

Members on the Facebook group are exchanging ideas about the best methods to overcome censorship and limits on freedom of expression.

Seifeddine Ben Fatthallah, for instance, writes:

“I hope that the trial against ATI will not be only Zied El Heni's trial against ATI but it will be rather the trial of all Tunisians against ATI. It will not be only for internet users. In fact, the problem is larger than it seems to be as it is going beyond all limits. I hope that the information about limits on freedom of expression will reach every Tunisian citizen.”

Hayett Abed explains that Tunisian law guarantees freedom of expression. He notes:

القانون التونسي يضمن حرية التعبير، و التعبير يمكن يكون في جميع وسائل الإعلام المتاحة ، و بما أنو ما فمّاش ما ينص على التدوين في القانون التونسي باعتبارو داخل في تكنولوجيا جديدة، فإن قبول السلطة بإدخال تكنولوجيا الأنترنات وحثها للمواطنين باش يستعملوها و تقديم كل المساعدات للعايلات المتوسطة باش يشريو الحاسوب العايلي و استعمال الأنترنات يعتبر ضمنيا بقبولها لكل ما توفره الأنترنات و امكانية استغلاله من طرف الشعب الكريم

Tunisian law guarantees freedom of expression and this freedom should be through all available means. Because Tunisian law lacks stipulations about blogging and because the Internet is part of new media and modern technologies, the government's approval to introduce such technologies to our countries is equivalent to its approval and acceptance to the use of the different services available on internet, including the different websites and blogs created by internet users.

And while it is really sad to see so many blogs and websites under the TAI's siege, and witness how Tunisia continues to violate freedom of expression while claiming at international gatherings that it is a leader of freedom and human rights, it is inspiring and encouraging to see so many Tunisians voices rising to say No to oppression and barriers on freedom of expression.