AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

PUBLIC STATEMENT

29 October 2010

AI Index: MDE 30/020/2010

Ongoing hunger strikes spotlights rights abuses in Tunisia

Amnesty International today condemned the Tunisian authorities for harassing victims of human rights violations, amid reports that at least five such individuals have staged hunger strikes to demand their rights.

Worn down by years of harassment and with no remedy in sight, hunger strikes seem to have become the final recourse for journalists, political activists, government critics and human rights defenders, in order to draw attention to their legitimate demands to have their fundamental human rights respected. Both inside and outside Tunisian prisonsthe hunger strikers’ demands range from the release of prisoners of conscience to obtaining passports and medical care for former political prisoners.

Journalist and prisoner of conscience Fahem Boukadoushas been on hunger strike in Gafsa Prison since 8 October 2010 to protest against his continued arbitrary detention, harassment by the prison authorities and worsening prison conditions. He has also stopped taking medication, putting his life at risk, and says he will persist in continuing his hunger strike until his demand to be set free is met.

He and another prisoner of conscience Hassan Ben Abdallah are serving a four-year prison sentence handed down after an unfair trial. They were tried on account of their alleged participation in 2008 protests against poor socio-economic and living conditions in the phosphate-rich mining region of Gafsa in south-west Tunisia.

Fahem Boukadous was sentenced for reporting on a TV channel on the protests. He suffers from acute asthma and needs constant medical care.

His wife, Affef Bennacer, is also subjected to constant surveillance in an attempt to intimidate her into stopping her tireless campaigning to secure her husband’s release. She told Amnesty International that on 27 October she was insulted, beaten and had her clothes torn by five plain clothed individuals believed to be security officers in the middle of Gafsa city. She explained that the assault happened when she refused to take off a small picture of Fahem Boukadous pinned to a top she was wearing. She added that two female friends who were with her were also beaten as they tried to protect her.

Since the beginning of October, others have also gone on hunger strike to draw attention to their dire situation.

Human rights activist and member of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, Ghezala Mohammedi ended her two-week hunger strike on 27 October. She had been on hunger strike to protest against what she considered to be a politically-motivated dismissal from her post in a development association, known to be close to the ruling party, Constitutional Democratic Rally, in the town of Ksar, south of Gafsa. Ghezala Mohammedi said her dismissal from her post in 2008 was linked to her activities in support of the Gafsa protests and that her post was later filled with someone said to be close to the authorities in Gafsa.

Former political prisoner Abdellatif Bouhajila has also staged a hunger strike since 11 October at his home in a Tunis suburb to demand his right to have a passport in order to enable him to travel abroad to obtain urgent medical care.

Abdellatif Bouhajila told Amnesty International “in the hunger strike I staged in 2008, I called on the authorities to grant me the free medical treatment and a passport I am entitled to. Two years have now elapsed since the visit of two officials from the Ministry of Public Health, who promised me assistance, but I have not seen any development in my case and no promises were kept and my health is deteriorating. Now my only demand is to have a passport to be able to travel abroad to obtain medical care”.

Since his conditional release in November 2007 following a presidential pardon, he has been unable to obtain a passport despite repeated requests. Abdellatif Bouhajila had undergone kidney surgery when in prison in 2002 and continues to suffer from heart and kidney problems and his health is said to be poor due to ill-treatment in prison and his multiple hunger strikes. Amnesty International’s calls to the Tunisian authorities on behalf of Abdellatif Bouhajila went unheeded.

Other former prisoners, Mohammed Rihimi and Mohamed Akrout, are also said to be onhunger strikes to protest police harassment and daily surveillance, which they allege has prevented them from getting a paid job.

Amnesty International has documented abusive policies and practices by the Tunisian authorities towards former political prisoners in a report Freed but not free, Tunisia’s former political prisoners, published in February 2010.

Many former political prisoners continue to serve an additional sentence of “administrative control”, requiring them to report at specific police stations several times per week. They are also subjected to close police surveillance and face difficulties obtaining jobs and medical care, as well as restrictions on their freedom of movement in and outside the country. The Tunisian authorities refuse to issue them and, in some cases, their immediate family members with passports in violation of Tunisia’s Constitution and international human rights obligations, including Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Tunisia is a party.

Amnesty International believes that the continuing hunger strikes are a stark reminder of the harassment faced by those who are critical of the Tunisian authorities and the routine stigmatization of former political prisoners in Tunisia.

Public Document

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