Resisting the regime must have required quite a bit of courage…
Yes, but I had always been against Ben Ali. I became even more opposed to his regime after the Wikileaks revelations. These cables were about the president’s family, its corruption, its amassed wealth. Besides, freedom of speech is fundamental in life, one cannot live without it, pretty much like water actually.
Exactly five months after Tunisia’s autocratic president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was toppled from power, there are new concerns in one of North Africa’s youngest democracies that government censorship could be returning.
This time, it’s about porn.
The Tunisian government agency regulating the country’s internet said on Tuesday that it was set to begin blocking access to websites containing pornography, according to Agence France-Presse.
Last month, a Tunisian court ruled that websites featuring nudity pose “a danger to young people and were contrary to Muslim values,” reported AFP. An appeals court in Tunisia recently upheld the earlier ruling, forcing Tunisian Internet Agency (ATI) to begin implementing a national firewall for all pornography.
ATI, Tunisia’s main internet service provider, controls virtually all web access in the country.
During Ben-Ali’s two decades of rule, Tunisian media was tightly controlled by the regime. After the former president’s ouster on January 14, many of those restrictions on the press - including government censorship - were lifted.
And, as GlobalPost reported two weeks ago, internet pornography seems to have become extremely popular in that short time.
Five of the top 50 websites visited in post-revolution Tunisia were porn-related, according to statistics gathered by Tunisia’s Business News.
The latest court order for ATI is the second incident of internet censorship since Ben Ali resigned.
Last month Slim Amamou, a member of Tunisia’s interim government and a prominent blogger, resigned due to a perceived increase in government censorship over the internet.
Amamou’s resignation was reportedly triggered by a military order to block four websites.
“Nothing has changed,” Amamou tweeted, according to the Guardian. “We’re still in the Ben Ali era as long as there aren’t new elections.”
Meanwhile, the country’s first elections since the start of the ‘Jasmine Revolution’ have been postponed from July until at least October.
Tunisians head to the polls later this fall to elect a national committee to rewrite the country’s constitution.
The world faces a watershed moment in human rights with tyrants and despots coming under increasing pressure from the internet, social networking sites and the activities of WikiLeaks, Amnesty International says in its annual roundup.
The rights group singles out WikiLeaks and the newspapers that pored over its previously confidential government files, among them the Guardian, as a catalyst in a series of uprisings against repressive regimes, notably the overthrow of Tunisia’s long-serving president, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.
“The year 2010 may well be remembered as a watershed year when activists and journalists used new technology to speak truth to power and, in so doing, pushed for greater respect for human rights,” Amnesty’s secretary general, Salil Shetty, says in an introduction to the document. “It is also the year when repressive governments faced the real possibility that their days were numbered.”
But, Shetty adds, the situation in the Middle East and North Africa, and elsewhere, remains unpredictable: “There is a serious fightback from the forces of repression. The international community must seize the opportunity for change and ensure that 2011 is not a false dawn for human rights.”
The 432-page report reviews 156 countries and territories, of which at least 89 were found to restrict free speech, 98 carried out torture or other ill-treatment and 48 had documented prisoners of conscience.
The report covers only to the end of 2010, and thus only the very beginnings of the so-called Arab spring – Ben Ali was not deposed until mid-January. However, subsequent uprisings in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen and Bahrain, many spread via mobile phones and social networking, reinforce Amnesty’s message about the importance of technology and communication.
A key element had been the work of WikiLeaks in first publishing information about the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and then a massive trove of US diplomatic papers, disclosures carried out with newspapers worldwide.
“It took old-fashioned newspaper reporters and political analysts to trawl through the raw data, analyse it, and identify evidence of crimes and violations contained in those documents,” Shetty said.
“Leveraging this information, political activists used other new communications tools now easily available on mobile phones and on social networking sites to bring people to the streets to demand accountability.”
One example highlighted by Shetty was Tunisia, where WikiLeaks revelations about Ben Ali’s corrupt regime combined with rapidly-spreading news of the self-immolation of a disillusioned young man, Mohamed Bouazizi, to spark major protests.
The report also highlights the importance of new technology elsewhere, for example China, where “My father is Li Gang” – the cry of a senior policeman’s son after he killed a young woman while drunk driving – became a euphemism on China’s tightly controlled internet space for rife nepotism. Similarly, “empty chair” took the place of Liu Xiaobo’s name on Chinese web forums after such a chair took the place of the jailed rights activist at the Nobel peace prize ceremony.
Shetty said: “Not since the end of the Cold War have so many repressive governments faced such a challenge to their stranglehold on power. The demand for political and economic rights spreading across the Middle East and North Africa is dramatic proof that all rights are equally important and a universal demand.
“In the 50 years since Amnesty International was born to protect the rights of people detained for their peaceful opinions, there has been a human rights revolution. The call for justice, freedom and dignity has evolved into a global demand that grows stronger every day. The genie is out of the bottle and the forces of repression cannot put it back.”
Tunisian Prime Minister Béji Caïd Essebsi announced on Monday the dissolution of the country’s secret police arm. This step toward democracy is the most important taken by any Arab country for decades.
Tunisia’s interim government also abolished the ‘Ministry of Information,’ which had been in charge of censorship, allowing a free press to flourish. Of course censorship, especially habits of self–censorship, does not actually disappear with the stroke of a pen. Employees of state t.v. have struck recently to protest what they consider government censorship of their news reports.
An Arab country with neither secret police nor censorship is unprecedented in recent decades. Tunisia is inspiring similar demands in Egypt and Jordan. When skeptics wonder if the Revolutions of 2011 would really change anything essential in the region, they would be wise to keep an eye on these two developments in Tunisia, which, if consolidated, would represent an epochal transformation of culture and politics.
In the United States, the fourth amendment had been intended to prevent unreasonable and arbitrary domestic surveillance of Americans. It says,
‘The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.’
Not only were people not to be spied upon by the government without a warrant, but warrants were not to be issued without probable cause.
Arguably, Tunisians are now freer than Americans. The US government thinks our private emails are actually public. The FBI and NSA routinely read our email and they and other branches of the US government issue security letters in the place of warrants allowing them to tap phones and monitor whom we call, and even to call up our library records and conduct searches of our homes without telling us about it. Millions of telephone records were turned over to George W. Bush by our weaselly telecom companies. Courts allow government agents to sneak onto our property and put GPS tracking devices under our automobiles without so much as a warrant or even probable cause. Mr. Obama thinks this way of proceeding is a dandy idea.
The Fourth Amendment is on the verge of vanishing, and this attack on the Constitution is being abetted by pusillanimous and corrupt judges and fascistic elements in our national security apparatus. Freedom of peaceable assembly is also being whittled away in the United States of America via devices such as ‘free speech zones;’ the founding generation intended that the whole of the United States be a free speech zone. Many of the protests in the Middle East being cheered on by Americans would be illegal in this country.
Few among the public even seem to care about these assaults on our liberties here. At least the youth of the Middle East can generate a little passion over censorship and unreasonable surveillance. Makes an old Madisonian tear up a little.
Lire AussiS’il fallait résumer d’une phrase la position de la France vis-à-vis de l’ancien régime de Ben Ali, ce serait celle-ci : «La Tunisie n’est pas une dictature.» Révélée par WikiLeaks dans une série de câbles que publie Mediapart ce vendredi, cette analyse faite en août 2007 par l’ambassadeur de France à Tunis, Serge Degallaix, dit tout de l’aveuglement du premier partenaire économique et politique d’un régime face auquel la France de Nicolas Sarkozy a abdiqué toute ambition en matière de principes démocratiques et de respect des droits de l’homme.
Mediapart a déjà raconté comment l’ambassade de France n’a cessé de soutenir le régime de Ben Ali. Avec les éléments dévoilés par WikiLeaks, c’est le détail et la manière dont la France communiquait sur la Tunisie qui sont désormais révélés. Que nous disent ces câbles, issus de l’ambassade américaine à Paris et à Tunis ? L’analyse qui en ressort est confondante. En août 2007, lors d’un entretien avec son homologue américain Robert F. Godec, le Français Serge Degallaix (en poste de l’été 2005 à l’été 2009) livre une série de commentaires particulièrement optimistes (câble 118839, traduit intégralement sous l’onglet Prolonger). Selon l’ambassadeur de France à Tunis, donc, la Tunisie n’est «pas une dictature», et d’ailleurs, « les leaders tunisiens sont sincèrement à l’écoute du peuple». Serge Degallaix explique en outre que Ben Ali et le gouvernement souhaitent tout aussi sincèrement «ouvrir» le régime, mais explique leurs hésitations par la crainte d’ouvrir ainsi la porte aux islamistes.
Concernant la première visite de Nicolas Sarkozy, les 10 et 11 juillet 2007, Serge Degallaix la qualifie d’«excellente», mais insiste sur le fait que des ajustements dans la politique française vis-à-vis de la Tunisie sont à attendre. Ce n’est pas cependant sur le chapitre des droits de l’homme. Car si Sarkozy a bel et bien abordé le sujet dans son entretien avec Ben Ali, «de la manière qu’il convient» dixit Degallaix, c’est le président tunisien qui a abordé le sort de Mohammed Abbou, le prisonnier politique alors le plus médiatisé. Condamné à trois ans et demi de prison «pour publication d’écrits de nature à troubler l’ordre public… et diffusion de fausses nouvelles», l’avocat et défenseur des droits de l’homme sera finalement libéré le mardi 24 juillet 2007, après deux ans et demi de détention arbitraire.
Expliquer, en août 2007, lors d’un échange de vues privé avec le nouvel ambassadeur américain, que la Tunisie de Ben Ali n’est pas une dictature, n’est-ce outrepasser ses prérogatives et se faire l’avocat du régime ? «Ecoutez, les ambassades retranscrivent ce qu’elles veulent, et je n’ai jamais dit que la Tunisie était une démocratie, se défend Serge Degallaix, joint au téléphone par Mediapart. Nous avions un échange de vues, nous faisions une comparaison entre les pays, et je disais simplement qu’en Tunisie, il y avait une certaine liberté dans l’espace privé, tant que vous ne faisiez pas de politique. Cette liberté n’existe pas en Iran, par exemple.»
Lors de cette même conversation, l’ambassadeur fait part de sa quasi-certitude que, si des élections libres avaient lieu en 2009, le président Ben Ali serait réélu… «Mais c’était une opinion communément admise à l’époque, je n’étais pas le seul à le penser ! proteste l’ambassadeur. Pas à 90%, certes, mais à 60%… Plus généralement, le but de notre démarche, c’est de pouvoir dialoguer avec le régime. Vous savez, avec le degré d’autisme de ces personnes, qui n’étaient pas prêtes à bouger, si vous êtes trop brusque, vous n’êtes pas écouté. Avec le temps, cela ne s’est d’ailleurs pas arrangé. De notre côté, nous avons obtenu des choses: des libérations et des aménagements de peine. Il est vrai que cela n’a pas changé fondamentalement la nature du régime ou la vie de la population tunisienne.»
Tunisie, Egypte : Assange explique le rôle de WikiLeaks
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There are now signs of a new Arab street with post-nationalist, post-Islamist visions and novel forms of mobilization.
The whole article is well worth the read.
By: Mila Sanina
A protester displays a defaced portrait of ousted president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
A set of 10 diplomatic cables released by whistleblower website WikiLeaks offers some insight into the recent upheaval in Tunisia and starts to answer the question of why so many Tunisians took to the streets to topple their leader.
The cables, written by the U.S. Embassy in Tunis between January 2006 and June 2009, cover topics ranging from corruption in the country to a dinner for the U.S. ambassador hosted by the son-in-law of Tunisia’s then-President, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.
Some of the memos, which first appeared in November, were widely available in Tunisia after the WikiLeaks document dump, according to regional experts. They were translated and disseminated through private websites and social networking sites.
One overarching theme of the cables: corruption. Many refer to Ben Ali’s family as “The Family,” which stood above the law and ruled the country without any control or restraint from the outside. Nepotism extended to the family of Ben Ali’s wife, Leila, whose numerous siblings occupied critical government position or were the owners of media, airlines, assembly plants and distribution rights, according to one cable sent to Washington from Tunis in 2008.
A U.S. Embassy cable from 2008 stated that Ben Ali’s “quasi-mafia” family lived in opulence, indulging in excessive consumption and authoritarian tactics to rule the country.
The same cable revealed that the first lady of Tunisia benefited personally from a 2007 real estate boom. She received a valuable piece of land and $1.5 million in assistance from the government for the construction of the Carthage International School, which she later sold to investors from Belgium for “a huge, but undisclosed sum,” according to the secret cable.
“There were a lot of specific details in the cables that the public had not been exposed to before the release. There is no question that WikiLeaks added substantial evidence to the story that people already knew,” said Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat professor for peace and development at the University of Maryland.
In one, an American diplomat describes his visit to a house of the president’s son-in-law, El Materi. “The house was recently renovated and includes an infinity pool and a terrace of perhaps 50 meters, there are ancient artifacts everywhere: Roman columns, frescoes and even a lion’s head from which water pours into the pool. El Materi insisted the pieces are real,” said the cable. El Materi also owned a pet tiger with the name “Pasha,” which stands for a powerful authority.
The tiger was slaughtered during the recent upheaval, and the house was looted.
One U.S. cable from 2008 details the pressure put on businessmen and politicians in Tunisia. A member of the parliament reportedly was repeatedly confronted by his party because he refused to donate to a soccer team linked to the first lady’s family.
The Ben Ali clan also is accused of manipulating Tunisia’s banking sector and orchestrating numerous financial schemes. The 2008 cable reveals that most of non-performing loans, which constitute 19 percent of all loans, “are held by wealthy Tunisian business people who use their close ties to the regime to avoid repayment.” Ordinary people do not trust Tunisian banks and avoid investing in the domestic economy for fear of losing their assets.
The latest diplomatic cables from 2008 show American officials concerned about the status quo in Tunisia, calling it “a troubled country” ruled by the “sclerotic” regime without a clear successor.
“The WikiLeaks revelations confirmed that people surrounding president Ben Ali were corrupt and spent a lot of money. They lived in mansions and had their food delivered to them directly from France. It was happening at a time when ordinary Tunisians were struggling to find jobs and feed their families. It’s a bit of Marie Antoinette-like disconnect between the people and the top,” said North Africa and Mideast expert Mary-Jane Deeb.
This disconnect is what angered the many Tunisians that took to the streets in the final days of Ben Ali’s presidency, she said. For days they demanded jobs and free speech and the removal of Ben Ali, who had been in office for 23 years.
After President Ben Ali fled Tunisia, his counterpart in the neighboring country of Libya, Col. Moammar Qaddafi, came up with his own theory on why Tunisians revolted.
In a Jan. 17 televised address, Qaddafi denounced the mass upheaval in Tunisia as a Western plot. He implicated WikiLeaks as a product of “lying ambassadors in order to create chaos.”
“Qaddafi is not happy at all about what happened in Tunisia,” said Deeb. “He is facing his own people in the same way. He can see the parallel between Ben Ali and himself. He has been in power for 41 years and he wants to blame outsiders, Americans and others for what happened in Tunisia.”
According to journalist Mona Eltahawy, in a column published by the Guardian, “Qaddafi railed against WikiLeaks because he, too, wants to blame something other than the power of the people. … His speech to Tunisians could be summarized thus: I am scared witless by what happened in your country.”
Analysts agree that Tunisians in general were aware of the rampant corruption and plutocracy of Ben Ali’s family, but the U.S. cables from Tunis added definition to the problems.
Activists in Tunisia translated and disseminated the documents in a website that focused particularly on the corruption allegations.
Word of the cables spread rapidly in the Internet-savvy country, said Radwan Masmoudi, president for the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy. Tunisians “have the highest percent of Facebook users in the world per population, something like 2 million among 10 million people have their own Facebook account.”
According to Telhami, the Al-Jazeera network, which enjoys popularity in the region, also played a significant role in translating the cables and educating the public about their content.
Deeb said that although the content was not particularly surprising, “to have it said in official statements was important because very often there are rumors, people tend to say things, exaggerate things so people in the Middle East are always skeptical about what they hear. But when it comes from the U.S. officials it is different, it strengthens the views people already had.”
Wikileaks showed “the extent to which the leaders, the authority in the Arab world have been disrespected and dismissed by their Western sponsors. It is insulting, there is shame and embarrassment,” Telhami said.
View more international coverage on our World page and follow us on Twitter. Editor’s Note: Views presented in the article by Marie-Jane Deeb do not represent the position of the Library of Congress.
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