20. September 2005
Dear
friend,
As the date
of the WSIS approaches, the situation of the prisoners of opinion is
getting
worse. This, in spite of the fact that the problem of the
prisoners is
among the priorities that Tunisian and international NGOs are urging
Tunisian
authorities to solve, as a goodwill sign on behalf of the preceding the
upcoming world Summit of information society next November.
<>Within
this
framework, the case of the lawyer Mohamed ABBOU is the most revealing,
in the
sense that it summarizes the main human right's violations that Tunisia
faces
today:
<>
1. It
is, first of all, an obvious attack on the freedom of expression. Mohamed Abbou was condemned in June 2005 to
three years and a half of imprisonment for having exercised his freedom
of
expression; The main charge consisted in an assessment published on the
internet criticizing Tunisian prisons and comparing them to the Iraqi
prison of
Abu Ghraieb;
<>
2.
His trial was, according to all observers
present, a
parody of a lawsuit without questioning nor pleadings and during which
the
rights of the defence were violated systematically. It
illustrates the
lack of an independent justice Here’s what one of the
observers
mandated by Front Line and Amnesty International, lawyer Brigitte
AZEMA-PEYRET,
reports: "This trial, once more, was the clear demonstration that
we
are no longer in the legal field, but purely and simply in that of the
arbitrary policy. The Court did not even try to give a legal
appearance to
its sentence. The Defendant could never be heard, neither could his
lawyers, no
witnesses either. The Court by no means wished to be informed, on
the facts but
hastened to carry out orders with the contempt of any rule of procedure
".
<>
3.
It also acted, for the regime, to silence human
right’s
defenders by punishing, for the example, one of its emblematic figures
which
had always pleaded voluntarily in lawsuits related to the opinion's
offences
and human rights, and had distinguished himself by his associative
activity within
the board of the Association of Young Lawyer of Tunisia, as well as
within the
CNLT, the CIJ and the AISPP.
<>
4.
Counsellor Abbou is also an activist of the
fight
against corruption and was one of the rare lawyers who agreed to plead
in
corruption trials where the close relations of the family of president
Ben Ali
were implied.
<>
5.
He faces today in the prison of Kef an inhuman
and
degrading conditions of imprisonment, prohibited by the international
instruments related to the treatment of prisoners.
<>
For all
these reasons, we consider that it is very important to focus on this
case, as
a case crystallizing the bad performances of the regime in human rights
and we
call for his release.
<>
We propose
to organize an international day for the release of Mohamed Abbou. We suggest this day to be September 21st,
during the Geneva Prep com3 ; there
will be a parallel event on Tunisia to be held this day in Geneva and
it would be
judicious to take advantage of the United Nations space to focus
spotlights on
this case. The actions suggested during this day can be various
according to
partners mood implied in this event (Letter addressed to Tunisian
embassies
abroad, urgent actions, petitions, Web action, SMS action, meeting,
sit-in, articles...
etc). In addition to the date which is common, we propose a common
poster and
web banner which will be posted that day on all Websites of the
partners, with
the slogan used by lawyers during their sit-in in last March "Free
Abbou
".
<>
We hope
that this project finds a favourable reception and we are urgently
awaiting
your reaction to act together.
<>
Sihem
Bensedrine
spokesperson