Press NGO criticises freedoms in Tunisia

2008-10-03

The Committee to Protect Journalists issued a special report on press freedoms in Tunisia in which the group says the government continues to suppress opposition and objective reporting.

By Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia in Tunis – 03/10/08

[File] A recent CPJ report discusses the Tunisian government's treatment of the press.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has published a harsh new report on the condition of press freedoms in Tunisia. The study, released September 23rd on the group's website, found that press freedom in the country is in bad shape.

Joel Campagna, a senior program co-ordinator with the CPJ responsible for the Middle East and North Africa, met with media representatives and journalists in Tunisia in June and July. No government officials agreed to meet with him to contribute an official perspective to the research.

To defend his assertions, Campagna offered several examples in his article, including a discussion of methods employed by authorities to "besiege" journalists and newspapers that criticise government performance.

In the document, Campagna discusses the affair involving journalist Slim Boukhdir, who was sentenced to one year in prison in December 2007 but released last July. The report concluded that Boukhdir's trial was retaliation by the state for his harsh criticism of key national figures.

Tunisian officials contend that Boukhdir's arrest had nothing to do with his journalistic work.

The report, titled "The Smiling Oppressor", says the Tunisian regime permits no criticism against it. "The print press does not criticize the president and is largely paralyzed by self-censorship," it reads. "The few critical voices who do write on the Internet, for foreign publications, and for low-circulation opposition weeklies are regularly harassed and marginalized by the Tunisian authorities."

The CPJ concludes that while journalists have been pursued under the law for years, "authorities prefer to use more subtle tactics to keep those voices in check."

According to the report, the government refuses to issue licenses to objectionable print and broadcast media and controls the distribution of government subsidies and advertising, to favour publications that support the regime.

Finally, according to the report, "Outspoken newspapers are subject to confiscation by police. Critical online news sites, those belonging to international rights groups, and the popular video-sharing site YouTube are blocked by the government."

Speaking about the CPJ report, Neji Bghouri, Secretary-General of the National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT), told Magharebia he was surprised at "the absence of any mention of the [SNJT], especially given that Campagna met its members and discussed several media issues with them during his Tunisia tour".

At a seminar last month, Bghouri said: "We can't imagine any development of pluralism and democracy in our country as long as the authorities... seek to exercise oversight and control. This has hindered the possibility of moving to a free, independent and plural press like that known in democratic societies."

Aboubakr Esseghair of the private magazine L’Observateur had a different opinion. The press in Tunisia has shifted towards pluralism, he said.

"It is difficult to describe the media in Tunisia so vaguely," he continued. "This is for at least two reasons: first, there is a political will to develop the media scene in Tunisia, which is an important gain that must be safeguarded; second, we have important legislation in Tunisia that protects the freedom of the press."

In the CPJ report, Dar Assabah Director Raouf Cheikhrouhou was asked why his newspapers (including popular daily Assabah, with a circulation of 40,000) don't address government corruption or criticise state officials, he blamed Tunisian law.

"Here in Tunisia there is a press law and you cannot go outside the law," he said. "Under the law we cannot offend the president. Tunisia is not Europe. It is an Arab, Muslim country. … We are going step by step and I think the press is going the right way."