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(Washington, DC, May 14, 1999) --Human Rights Watch today welcomed the release from detention of Tunisian human rights activist Omar Mestiri but expressed serious concern that he was interrogated about the activities of the Conseil National pour les Libertes en Tunisie (CNLT), an independent human rights group he co-founded, and threatened with future prosecution under Tunisia's laws of association and of the press for his activities.
In a letter sent yesterday to Minister of Interior Ali Chaouch, following the arrest of Mestiri on May 12, Human Rights Watch urged that he be immediately and unconditionally released. "Mestiri's arrest is a clear violation of an individual's basic rights to freedom of expression and association," said Hanny Megally, Director of the organization's Middle East and North Africa Division. "This type of harassment must cease." The Conseil, an independent human rights group, has continued to publicly criticize the government's record even after the Ministry of Interior refused to grant it legal recognition in March. Human Rights Watch's letter also criticized the two-day detention of nine labor activists earlier in the week.May 13, 1999 Mr. Ali Chaouch Minister of Interior Ministry of Interior Avenue Habib Bourguiba Tunis, Tunisia via fax to 216.1.340.888 Dear Mr. Minister: Human Rights Watch is writing to urge the immediate and unconditional release from detention of veteran human rights activist Omar Mestiri. We believe his arrest is directly related to his activities as a founding member of the Conseil National pour les Libertés en Tunisie (CNLT). We also urge your government to cease its harassment of the CNLT, as well as of dissidents within the Union Générale des Travailleurs Tunisiens (UGTT), the most recent instance of which was the arrest this week of nine UGTT members. Mr. Mestiri was arrested at his home in suburban Tunis yesterday by police who presented a warrant summoning him to the Ministry of Interior. Since then, his family is without information about his legal status or whereabouts. Mr. Mestiri is a member of the Liaison Committee of the CNLT, an independent human rights monitoring organization founded in December 1998 by a number of Tunisians well-known for their defense of human rights. The Conseil's application for legal status was rejected by the Ministry of Interior in March 1999, a decision that violates the right to peaceful assembly and association, which is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Conseil has continued to highlight human rights violations, issuing statements critiquing Tunisia's current election laws (April 22), condemning the upcoming trial of Radhia Nasraoui and her co-defendants (May 10), and denouncing the round-up of the UGTT activists (May 11). According to our information, two other members of the Conseil's liaison committee fear that an apparently intensified police presence near their homes is an indication that they too may soon be arrested. They are journalist Taoufik Ben Brik and painter Sadri Khiari. At least three of the seven members of the Liaison Committee have been deprived of their passports; they are Moncef Marzouki, Nejib Hosni, and Taoufik Ben Brik. Mestiri was himself abritrarily deprived of his passport from 1995 until 1997. The nine union activists, who according to our information were arrested on May 10 without warrants, were released two days later. All are critics of the current leadership of the UGTT and shortly before their arrest, some of them had filed a motion asking the court to void the decisions taken at the UGTT's congress last month. We are concerned that they may have been arrested in order to stymie their nonviolent challenges to the current union leadership, which is considered close to the government. Those arrested and held for two days are: Ali Ben Romdhane, Habib Ben Achour, Abdelmadjid Sahraoui, Abdennour Maddehi, Hamed Ben Njima, Abdel-djalil Bedoui, Noureddine Ounissa, Hachemi Lakhal, and Chaker Ben Hassine. We remain concerned about the repressive measures taken against the CNLT and dissidents within the UGTT. Once again, we urge the unconditional release of Omar Mestiri and the lifting of all restrictions imposed on the functioning of the CNLT and on the human rights of its members. We also call on your government to allow all union members to exercise their right to peaceful freedom of expression, assembly and association. Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to your early response. Sincerely yours, /S/ Hanny Megally cc: Rafik Haj Kassem, Conseiller presidentiel des droits de lHomme Ambassador Noureddine Mejdoub |
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| For further Information, contact: In New York, Hanny Megally (English, Arabic) 212-216-1230 In Washington, Eric Goldstein (English, French) 202-612-4326 |
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