UN told of rights fears in Tunisia

By Heba Saleh 
November 17, 2005
Financial Times
Original Source: http://news.ft.com/cms/s/94507d70-570e-11da-b98c-00000e25118c.html

Amnesty International has warned that journalists and civil society activists attending a United Nations conference in Tunisia may be in danger from attacks and intimidation by the country's security services.
The warning follows an attack last week on a French journalist, Christophe Bol-tanksi, and complaints to UN envoys of the blocking of streets to prevent meetings, the closing down of lawyers' associations, and physical attacks by members of security forces on journalists, lawyers and defenders of human rights.
France has asked the Tunisian authorities for clarification of the attack on Mr Boltanski, who was beaten and stabbed in the back the day his newspaper, Libération, ran his story on human rights in the country. Tunisian authorities say they have arrested two suspects.
In a statement yesterday, three UN human rights envoys said they had received numerous reports of other abuses, although they did not provide details of specific incidents.
Hina Jilani, UN rapporteur on defenders of human rights, Ambeyi Ligabo, rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, and Leandro Despouy, rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, called on Tunis to take all necessary steps to protect the fundamental freedoms of expression, of association and of the independence of judges and lawyers.
Seven Tunisian dissidents have been staging a hunger strike for almost four weeks to draw attention to the state of human rights in the country.
The government of Tunisia's President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali strongly rejects any suggestion that it violates human rights.