Brussels, 30/01/2002 (Agence Europe) - On the occasion of the EU-Tunisia Association Council (see other article), five human rights organisations launched an appeal to the European Union to firmly raise the human rights clause contained in the EU/Tunisia Agreement. Amnesty International, the Euro-Mediterranean Human rights Network, the International Federation for Human Rights, Reporters Without Borders and the World Organisation Against Torture, accuse the European Union of not having ever forcefully raised this problem with Tunisia, and having, on the contrary, "done everything to avoid such confrontation". For years now, they state, there has been "increased repression of human rights defenders in Tunisia (…), including torture", continuing restrictions on Tunisian media and on civil society, unfair trials against opposition figures and the "increasing use of military tribunals". Tunisia, say the NGOs, "is now taking advantage of the international effort to fight "terrorism" to justify its widespread repression of dissident voices". According to them, the EU should therefore insist that Tunisia: - frees all persons detained for "the non-violent exercise of the right of speech, association and assembly"; - ends all forms of harassment against human rights defenders; - institutes effective safeguards to prevent the use of torture in police custody; - institutes a credible system for investigating allegations of abuse; - guarantees the independence of the judiciary; - restores fundamental rights and freedoms.
In their appeal, the five NGOs cite concrete cases of people of "have been and still are at risk of being arbitrarily arrested, detained, tortured and sentenced after unfair trials".