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Letter of Appeal from the AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility

Mr. Yoshio Utsumi
Secretary-General
International Telecommunications Union
Place des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 20
Switzerland
Fax: 41 22 733 7256
Email: itumail@itu.int


Dear Mr. Secretary-General:

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the largest organization of natural and social scientists in the United States, and the world's largest federation of scientific organizations, with 145,000 individual members and 300 affiliated groups. Our AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility was formed in 1976 to protect the human rights of scientists and to deal with issues relating to scientific freedom worldwide.

On behalf of the Committee, I am writing to express concern that the ITU may select Tunisia as the venue for the 2003 World Summit on the Information Society (WISS). We have serious concerns that the Tunisian government systematically violates basic human rights such as freedom of expression and association. Furthermore, human rights defenders face constant harassment and intimidation. There is virtually no free press, as the government regularly censors and bans newspapers.

The long-term repression of one prominent human rights defender in Tunisia, Dr. Moncef Marzouki, is illustrative of Tunisian government systematic violation of the freedom of expression. On 30 December, Dr. Marzouki was sentenced to one year in prison on charges of spreading false information for discussing Tunisia's human rights record and maintaining an outlawed organization, the National Council on Liberties (Conseil national pour les libertés en Tunisie, CNLT). The CNLT is an organization that tirelessly works to promote civil and human rights in Tunisia.

Dr. Marzouki, like other human right defenders in Tunisia, has faced over a decade a harassment and intimidation at the hands of the Tunisian government. In July 2000, the Ministry of Health fired Dr. Marzouki from his position as professor of Public Health at the University of Sousse in retaliation for speaking out against the Tunisian government's human rights practices. He was fired one day after President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali denounced individuals who spoke out against the government abroad as "traitors" and "mercenaries." 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 his family, Dr. Marzouki's wife and two daughters moved to Europe.

In a June 2000 trip to the United States, Dr. Marzouki acknowledged that when he returned home to Tunisia he would certainly face harassment from the government. When asked if the Science and Human Rights Program were to issue an alert on his case would he be at risk, he replied, "I know from personal experience, danger comes when no one talks about you."

I would add to Dr. Marzouki's statement that the even more danger comes when a repressive government like Tunisia is conferred legitimacy and international recognition by hosting such a prestigious international event such as the World Summit on the Information Society.

According to your website, the proposed themes of the WISS include the promotion of "universal and equitable access to the information society" and exploring "relevant content reflecting cultural diversity and the right to communicate." It seems wrong to have a summit addressing these themes in Tunisia where the "right to communicate" is systematically denied to its own citizens. The Tunisian government has permanently blocked several NGO websites including Amnesty International, Committee to Protect Journalists, International Federation of Human Rights, Reporters without Borders, and several press sites including Le Monde, Libération, and Le Noevel Observateur. Tunisian citizens have been harassed by the police after accessing these and other Internet sites as the government closely monitors the sites its citizens visit.

The Committee applauds the goals of this summit and believes that addressing the digital divide between developed and less developed nations is a critical issue. We also welcome your intention to convene the summit in a developing country. However, the ITU ought to hold this meeting in a developing country that supports the goals of open communication, free expression, and access to information; Tunisia, sadly, is not that country.

We urge you to consider the message that will be sent if the ITU holds the World Information Society Summit meeting in Tunisia, and we urge you to consider holding the conference somewhere else.


Sincerely,

Irving Lerch
Chair
Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility

CC: Mr. M. Harbi, Special Advisor to the Secretary-General

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