AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

View Alerts By > Case | Date | Country | Victim

AAAS Human Rights Action Network

View the digitally signed version of this alert.

FACTS OF THE CASE:

On 16 February 2002, the Science and Human Rights Program will honor Dr. Moncef Marzouki, a physician, professor of public health, and one of Tunisia's leading human rights defenders at the Ninth Annual Science and Human Rights Reception. The reception, which will be held at the AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston, recognizes a scientist, who, through action and example, has promoted human rights, usually at great personal risk. Previous honorees have included Dr. Flora Brovina of Kosova (2001), Alexandr Nikitin of Russia (1999), and Dr. Nguyen Dan Que of Vietnam (1996). A complete list of past honorees can be found online at http://shr.aaas.org/honors.htm.

From 1989-94 Dr. Marzouki served as president of the Tunisian League for Human Rights and more recently, as spokesperson for the National Council on Liberties in Tunisia. He has endured years of systematic intimidation and harassment for his outspoken criticism of the Tunisian government's human rights record. Dr. Marzouki has been followed by the police, his home phone and fax have been repeatedly cut, and his mail has arrived opened or not at all. In 1994, after declaring himself the opposition candidate to Tunisian president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, Dr. Marzouki was imprisoned for four months. In 1994, the Tunisian government shut down the Center for Community Medicine, a clinic he founded, which provided medical care to residents in the slums of Sousse, a city 100 kilometers south of Tunis.

Dr. Marzouki's most recent round of troubles began in 2000. In July of that year, Dr. Marzouki received a letter from the Ministry of Health, dismissing him permanently from his position as professor of public health at the University of Sousse, because of statements he made during a visit to the United States. Fearing threats against them as well, Dr. Marzouki's wife and children left Tunisia and moved to France. In October 2000 he was charged with the crime of "spreading false information intended to disturb the public order." The charges were related to a critical paper that he wrote about the Tunisia government's human rights practices, which he circulated privately at a meeting of human rights defenders in Morocco earlier that year. In December he was convicted and sentenced to one year in prison, after a trial, which, according to Amnesty International, did not meet international standards for fairness.

In September 2001, responding to an international campaign on Dr. Marzouki's behalf, the Tunisian government formally suspended the sentence. Unable to earn a living and subject to increased repression at home, Moncef Marzouki finally made the difficult decision to leave Tunisia, and accepted a position in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Paris at Bobigny. He arrived in Paris in December 2001.

The Ninth Annual Science and Human Rights Reception will be on Saturday, 16 February 2002, from 5-6:30 p.m. in the Independence East Ballroom of the Boston Sheraton Hotel (39 Dalton Street, Boston, MA).

The reception is open to the public. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP with Victoria Baxter, (202)326-6796 (tel); (202) 289-4950 (fax); or email at vbaxter@aaas.org

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

No further action is needed at this time. Many thanks to those who sent appeals on behalf of Dr. Marzouki.

Please send copies of your appeals, and any responses you may receive, or direct any questions you may have to Victoria Baxter, AAAS Science and Human Rights Program, 1200 New York Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20005; tel. 202-326-6797; email vbaxter@aaas.org; or fax 202-289-4950.

The keys to effective appeals are to be courteous and respectful, accurate and precise, impartial in approach, and as specific as possible regarding the alleged violation and the international human rights standards and instruments that apply to the situation. Reference to your scientific organization and professional affiliation is always helpful.

To ensure that appeals are current and credible, please do not continue to write appeals on this case after 90 days from the date of the posting unless an update has been issued.

To verify the contents of this alert and/or the electronic signature, please download the signed file for this alert along with the Program's PGP Public Key.

Main | CSFR Letters | Science and Human Rights Program