Report on Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Association and Unfair Trials in Tunisia

Today a new report, Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Association and Unfair Trials in Tunisia: A report of the trials of Dr Moncef Marzouki, Attorney Nejib Hosni and the Tunisian League for Human Rights, was published by the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN), Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP), the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (a joint project of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT)), and Union Internationale des Avocats.

The report follows the trials of Dr Moncef Marzouki, spokesperson of the Conseil National des Libertés en Tunisie (CNLT), Attorney Nejib Hosni, and the Tunisian League for Human Rights launched in December 2000 and January 2001 by the Tunisian government in an unprecedented move against human rights defenders.

The report describes Tunisia’s international commitments and documents how internationally recognized human rights standards are gravely violated.

On the basis of these findings, the participating organizations call upon the international community to put pressure on the Tunisian government to:

1. Immediately stay all further proceedings against Nejib Hosni and release him from custody
2. Pronounce the conviction of Nejib Hosni and Dr Moncef Marzouki to be invalid and contrary to the law
3. Reinstate the committee of the Ligue Tunisienne des Droits de l’Homme legitimately elected in at the 5th Congress in October 2000
4. They also urge Tunisia to respect its commitment to internationally recognized human rights standards and to the Barcelona Declaration. In particular they urge the European Union to take urgent and appropriate measures within the framework of the Association Agreement with Tunisia with the aim of bringing human rights violations in Tunisia to a halt.

Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network
www.euromedrights.net ,
Tel: +45 51 20 55 21

Kurdish Human Rights Project
www.khrp.org ,
Tel: +44 207 287 27 72

Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
www.fidh.org