“Tunisia confirms status as enemy of the internet”

says PES president after the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) held in Tunis on 16-18 November 2005 (18 November 2005)

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), held in Tunis on 16-18 November 2005, was an opportunity for the Tunisian authorities to improve their record on the basic democratic right of freedom of expression.

The PES condemns the Tunisian authorities for the difficulties for journalists working and reporting freely on the WSIS. Tunisian and foreign reporters were harassed and beaten even before the opening of the summit. The PES finds it unacceptable that the secretary-general of “Reporters Without Borders”, Robert Ménard, winner of the European Parliament Sakharov Prize 2005, was refused access to Tunisia.

The PES believes the WSIS should have included a call for internet freedom. The PES urges the 15 “enemies of the Internet” (Tunisia, Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, Libya, The Maldives, Nepal, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam) to stop their repressive policies towards internet users. According to ‘Reporters Without Borders’, these are the countries that crack down hardest on the Internet, censoring independent news sites and opposition publications, monitoring the Web to stifle dissident voices, and harassing, intimidating and sometimes imprisoning Internet users and bloggers who deviate from the regime’s official line.

Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, President of the Party of European Socialists, said “Freedom of expression, including on-line through the internet, is a fundamental right. Information technology is an engine for economic growth but must also be freely accessible tool for education, human development and democracy”.

Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, President of the PES, also expressed his support for the hunger strike initiated on October 18 by the opposition demanding greater freedom. The hunger strikers include Mr. Ahmed Néjib Chebbi, Secretary general of the Democratic Progressist Party (PDP), Mr. Hamma Hammami, Spokesperson of the Communist worker Tunisian Party (PCOT), Mr. Abderraouf Ayadi, Vice-President of the Republican congress Party (CPR), Mr. Mokhtar Yahyaoui, Judge and President of the Centre for the independence of justice (CIJ), Mr. Mohamed Nouri, President of the  international association for political prisoners support (AISPP), Mr. Ayachi Hammami, Secretary general of the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH Mr.), Mr. Lotfi Hajji, President of the Union of independent Tunisian journalists and  Samir Deilou, AISPP member.