More than 140 civil society organisations, including 13 IFEX members, have urged UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to launch an investigation into attacks on freedom of expression and other human rights during the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) which ended more than a week ago in Tunisia.
The groups, in a letter to Annan, said that in the run-up to, and during, the summit, attacks included the harassment of delegates, assaults on Tunisian and international journalists and human rights defenders, denial of entry to the country, the blocking of websites, the censorship of documents and speeches, and the prevention and disruption of meetings.
(More at : http://campaigns.ifex.org/tmg)
They said civil society participation in the WSIS had been severely disrupted by Tunisian officials, raising questions about the adequacy of UN mechanisms in ensuring civil society participation at UN-led summits.
The groups said, "The holding of the summit in Tunisia, under the auspices of the Tunisian government has not only put the spotlight on the host country’s poor human rights record, it has also brought into question the adequacy of United Nation’s mechanisms for civil society participation."
"We believe it is essential that lessons are learnt from what has taken place [in Tunisia] and we therefore call upon you to launch a full investigation into the attacks on human rights and freedom of expression that we have witnessed in Tunisia," the letter stated. Annan was urged to closely monitor the follow-up period in Tunisia. The groups also urged him to initiate a thorough review of the process for deciding which countries host UN summits and their responsibilities as hosts.
Earlier, at the conclusion of the second phase of the WSIS, the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX)-Tunisia Monitoring Group (TMG) had called for a full investigation by the United Nations into attacks on human rights and freedom of expression that took place in Tunisia on the eve of and during the summit.
Steve Buckley, president of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters and chair of the TMG had said: "Never again should a United Nations World Summit be held in a country that does not respect its international commitments to human rights and freedom of expression. This week in Tunis, both inside and outside the official Summit, we have witnessed serious attacks on the right to freedom of expression including harassment of delegates, attacks on Tunisian and international journalists and human rights defenders, denial of entry to the country, the blocking of websites, the censorship of documents and speeches, and the prevention and disruption of meetings."
On 30 September 2005, 37 governments had called on Tunisia to make the WSIS a "Summit in Tunisia, not a Summit on Tunisia". This week's events have put the spotlight not only on Tunisia but also on the central importance of human rights and freedom of expression in the information society throughout the world.
The Tunisia Monitoring Group (TMG) is a coalition of 14 organisations set up in 2004 to monitor freedom of expression in Tunisia in the run up to and following the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). The 14 organisations are all members of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), a global network of 64 national, regional and international organisations committed to defending the right to freedom of expression.
Members of the TMG are:
- ARTICLE 19, UK
- Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), Canada
- Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR), Egypt
- Index on Censorship, UK
- International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Belgium
- International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), The Netherlands
- International Publishers' Association (IPA), Switzerland
- Journaliste en danger (JED), Democratic Republic of Congo
- Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Namibia
- Norwegian PEN, Norway
- World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), Canada
- World Association of Newspapers (WAN), France
- World Press Freedom Committee (WPFC), USA
- Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN (WiPC), UK
