From: amnesty@amnesty.oil.ca
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1999 08:56:08 -0500
Message-Id: <199911091356.IAA27269@amnesty.oil.ca>
To: amnesty-L@oil.ca
Subject: TUNISIA: Hundreds of prisoners released: A positive step but up to 1,000 still detained after unfair trials
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* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *
News Service 210/99
AI INDEX: MDE 30/38/99
9 November 1999

Tunisia

Hundreds of prisoners released: A positive step but up to 1,000 still
detained after unfair trials

The release of 600 political prisoners, according to official figures,
is a positive step but up to 1,000 political prisoners sentenced after
unfair trial are still detained, Amnesty International said today.

Hundreds of political prisoners, including some prisoners of conscience,
were released around 7 November on the occasion of the 12th anniversary
of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali's accession to power. Most of the
released prisoners are alleged members of the unauthorized Islamist
group al-Nahda, and a few are alleged members of the unauthorized Parti
communiste des ouvriers tunisiens (PCOT, Tunisian Workers' Communist
Party). Most of them were serving long prison terms imposed after trials
that did not comply with minimum standards for fairness.

"Once again, these releases show that international public opinion
matters and that the lobbying efforts of the human rights community do
have an impact," the organization said.

In recent years, human rights organizations at the national, regional
and international level have campaigned to bring to light the scale and
gravity of human rights violations in Tunisia and to disclose the gap
between the official rhetoric and the reality of the human rights
situation. United Nations human rights treaty bodies and mechanisms have
repeatedly condemned Tunisia for its non-compliance with minimum
international human rights standards.

Amnesty International however remains concerned by the fact that these
releases are conditional: those released could be re-arrested at any
time upon the decision of the Ministry of the Interior. Moreover, all
Islamist released prisoners are reportedly subjected to "administrative
control", a measure which often requires them to register daily in a
police station.

These releases could hopefully symbolize the beginning of a new era, if
they are followed by significant measures to change human rights
practices. Today, Amnesty International calls on the Tunisian
authorities to:

- release or retry according to international standards for fair trial
all political prisoners convicted and sentenced after unfair trials;

- ensure that human rights defenders, who have been increasingly
targeted and prevented from carrying out their work, are protected and
allowed to carry their human rights activities, without interference,
intimidation or persecution;

- repeal or amend laws which authorize the imprisonment of prisoners and
conscience to bring them into compliance with the human rights
international standards ratified by Tunisia.

Among those released were several prisoners of conscience, on behalf of
whom Amnesty International had campaigned:

* Mohamed Habib Hemissi, the relative of prominent exiled leaders of
al-Nahda, was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment in 1997 on charges of
membership of al-Nahda and after he refused to collaborate with the
police. He was released during the night of 7 November. He thanked
Amnesty International members for all their efforts and especially those
who had written to him: "they gave me more than anybody else in my life
and their letters have been a great support too for my fellow inmates."

* Najib Baccouchi, Chedli Hammami, Taha Sassi, Noureddine Benticha and
Ali Jallouli, five students who had been arrested at spring 1998 after
students demonstrations and sentenced to up to four years' imprisonment
on charges of membership of the PCOT in a grossly unfair trial in July
1999, were released on 6 November.

*Mahjouba Boukhris, the mother of three and the wife of an imprisoned
alleged member of al-Nahda, who had been sentenced to seven years'
imprisonment in 1996 for her alleged links with al-Nahda, is also among
the released.

Background
In June and July 1999, five prisoners of conscience, including four
women, had been released before completion of their sentence, after an
international lobbying campaign on their behalf.

Since 1990, the Tunisian authorities have increasingly repressed known
or suspected members and sympathizers of political opposition groups,
government critics, and their relatives. Thousands, mainly members of
the unauthorized Islamist group al-Nahda, have been detained, tortured
(dozens died as a result of torture) and sentenced to prison terms. Some
of them were sentenced more than once on the same charges.

The circle of repression has continued to widen and in recent years
human rights defenders who have spoken out against the deterioration of
the human rights situation in the country have themselves been
increasingly targeted.

ENDS.../
Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street,
WC1X 8DJ, London, United Kingdom
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