Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Tunisia
Tunisia is located on north of Africa, between de Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Arabic is the official language of Tunisia, but French is used widely, particularly by the educated people. The principal religion is Islam, but there are small Roman Catholic, Protestant and Jewish minorities.
There are some organizations such as the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH),and the World Organization against Torture (OMCT). These organizations have serious concern about systematic repression of freedom of expression related with human rights and online censorship. There are cases in which the internet users have been detained for their on line activities in Tunisia and across the region including, Iran, Syria, and Egypt. These attempts to control the flow of information online contradict governments' national and international legal commitments to freedom of opinion and expression. These facts are based on an examination of thousands of Web sites from Tunisia and the Middle Eastern countries and interviews with dozens of writes, blogggers, computer experts and human rights activists.
Antoine Medelin,secretary for the Mission in the United States believes that there is a clear atmosphere or repression and he said, "We are trying to engage with the Tunisia authorities, but there is some dissatisfaction with the way they are responding to our efforts. We remain concerned about the capacity of all of Tunisian civil society to participate in the summit; we fear that there are some groups that will not be able to participate." (Madelin.)The entire citizen in Tunisia including lawyers has been effect by the repression of freedom of expression. "One lawyer was convicted last week for three and a half years for publishing information on torture cases, and another was sentenced to four months imprisonment for defending the first," (Madelin) Mr. Madelin said. These issues of freedom of expression is definitely affecting the Tunisia population.
There are some organizations such as the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH),and the World Organization against Torture (OMCT). These organizations have serious concern about systematic repression of freedom of expression related with human rights and online censorship. There are cases in which the internet users have been detained for their on line activities in Tunisia and across the region including, Iran, Syria, and Egypt. These attempts to control the flow of information online contradict governments' national and international legal commitments to freedom of opinion and expression. These facts are based on an examination of thousands of Web sites from Tunisia and the Middle Eastern countries and interviews with dozens of writes, blogggers, computer experts and human rights activists.
Antoine Medelin,secretary for the Mission in the United States believes that there is a clear atmosphere or repression and he said, "We are trying to engage with the Tunisia authorities, but there is some dissatisfaction with the way they are responding to our efforts. We remain concerned about the capacity of all of Tunisian civil society to participate in the summit; we fear that there are some groups that will not be able to participate." (Madelin.)The entire citizen in Tunisia including lawyers has been effect by the repression of freedom of expression. "One lawyer was convicted last week for three and a half years for publishing information on torture cases, and another was sentenced to four months imprisonment for defending the first," (Madelin) Mr. Madelin said. These issues of freedom of expression is definitely affecting the Tunisia population.
