AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

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AAAS Human Rights Action Network

FACTS OF THE CASE:

On 30 December 2000, Dr. Moncef Marzouki faces charges in a Tunis criminal court of spreading false information and maintaining an outlawed organization, the National Council on Liberties (Conseil national pour les libertés en Tunisie, CNLT). The trial began on 16 December 2000, but was postponed for two weeks to give defense lawyers time to prepare their case. Dr. Marzouki's passport was seized and he remains unable to leave Tunisia.

The charges came after Dr. Marzouki circulated a private paper that was critical of Tunisia's human rights practices during a regional meeting of human rights defenders in Morocco last October. Despite Tunisia's claim of a strong commitment to supporting human rights, the government suppresses dissent and sharply restricts freedom of expression and association. Human rights organizations must register with the government and are closely monitored. They are subject to media blackouts unless their declarations are favorable to the government. Individuals who speak out against the government and its repressive practices often face personal risk, including harassment, the denial of the right to travel, loss of work, or arrest. Common charges are "defaming the public order" or "spreading false information intended to disturb the public order."

Dr. Marzouki is one of Tunisia's leading human rights defenders. He is the former president of the Tunisian League for Human Rights (1989-1994) and current spokesperson for the CNLT. Throughout the 1990s, Dr. Marzouki was subject to various forms of harassment, including denial of the right to travel. In 1994, after declaring himself the opposition candidate to President Ben Ali, he was arrested for four months. Dr. Marzouki has been followed by the police, his home phone and fax have been repeatedly cut, and his incoming mail arrives opened or not at all. His family has also been subject to frequent harassment, including his brother, who has been jailed three times. Fearing the threats made against the family, Dr. Marzouki's wife and two daughters moved to Europe.

In July 2000, the Tunisian Ministry of Health fired Dr. Moncef Marzouki from his position as professor of Public Health at the University of Sousse. Human Rights Watch Middle East & North Africa division believes that the disproportionate action of permanent dismissal demonstrates the extent to which the government uses Tunisian universities to enforce its repressive policies. Dr. Marzouki was fired in retaliation for speaking out against the Tunisian government's human rights practices on a June 2000 trip to the United States. During that trip, Dr. Marzouki spoke to the press and several human rights organizations, including the AAAS Science and Human Rights Program, about the continued repression in Tunisia. He was fired one day after Tunisian President Ben Ali denounced individuals who spoke out against the government abroad as "traitors" and "mercenaries."

Dr. Marzouki is pessimistic about the outcome of the trial. He believes that he may be sentenced to three to five years in prison. However, he remains defiant, vowing to continue his dissident activity. He stated at the first hearing, "It is the government that is spreading false information and lying all the time, not me. This dictatorial regime is making every opposition opinion a crime. I will continue speaking out against it until the end of my life."

(Sources of information for this case include: Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Campaign for Human Rights in Tunisia, and the National Council for Civil Liberties, Tunisia)

RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

• Article 19(1): Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

• Article 12: (1): The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. (2): The steps to be taken by the States Parties to the present Covenant to achieve the full realization of this right shall include those necessary for: (c) The prevention, treatment and control of epidemic, endemic, occupational and other diseases; (d) The creation of conditions which would assure to all medical service and medical attention in the event of sickness.
• Article 6: The State Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right to work, which includes the right of everyone to the opportunity to gain his living by work which he freely chooses or accepts, and will take appropriate steps to safeguard this right.

The Human Rights Defenders Declaration

• Article 11: Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to the lawful exercise of his or her occupation or profession.
• Article 12(2): The State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the [Universal Declaration of Human Rights].

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Please send telegrams, faxes, airmail letters or emails:

• Urge the government of Tunisia to ensure that the trial of Dr. Moncef Marzouki meets internationally recognized standards of due process;
• Express concern that the charges against Dr. Moncef Marzouki's stem solely from the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression;
• Request that Dr. Moncef Marzouki's passport be returned and that he be allowed to travel without restriction;
• Affirm the right of Dr. Moncef Marzouki and other Tunisians to hold and express opinions about the government, which are rights protected by international treaties to which Tunisia is a State Party and affirmed by international human rights norms;
• Express continued concern for the safety and well being of Dr. Moncef Marzouki.

APPEAL AND INQUIRY MESSAGES SHOULD BE SENT TO:

His Excellency Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
President of Tunisia
Présidence de la République
Palais de Carthage
Carthage, 2016
Tunisia


The Honorable Ahmed Iyadh Ouederni
Minister of Education
Ministere de l'Education
Blvd. Bab Benat,
Tunis, 1030
Tunisia
Tel: (216-1) 263-336


The Honorable Hédi M'Henni
Minister of Health
Ministère de la Santé Publique
Bab Saadoun
Tunis,1006
Tunisia
Tel: (216-1) 560-545

COPIES SENT TO:

His Excellency Ismail Khelil
Ambassador of Tunisia
Embassy of Tunisia
1515 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20005
Tel: 1 (202) 862 1850
Fax: 1 (202) 862 1858


The Honorable Afif Hindaoui
Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister in charge of
Human Rights, Communication and
Relations with the Chamber of Deputies
Palais de Carthage
Carthage, 2016
Tunisia

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