Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-12-14-Speech-4-193"
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"en.20001214.8.4-193"2
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"Mr President, allow me to start by welcoming Imen Derwiche and Nourredine Ben Tisha to the public gallery; they are young Tunisian students who were tortured and imprisoned for several months.
Action is needed quickly, which is why we decided to include this item on the agenda. The very existence of the oldest human rights league in Africa and the Arab-speaking world, the Tunisian League, is under threat, despite being recognised by President Ben Ali. Judicial proceedings to have it wound up were instituted following its last congress, which appointed directors who are obviously not to the Tunisian authorities' liking. Its fate is to be decided at a hearing scheduled for 25 December, which is surprising, because this date is also a Muslim public holiday this year. As we speak, police forces have surrounded the premises of the Tunisian National Council for Liberties and even the private residences of some of its members. This police operation has already used force to prevent the National Council of the League from meeting in Bizerte and the Tunisian National Council for Liberties from meeting in Tunis. Its spokesman, Moncef Marzouki, risks being sentenced to over 10 years in prison at a hearing the day after tomorrow, on 16 December. Finally, political prisoners have been on hunger strike in prison, some of them for two months. Some, such as Béchir Habid, are in a critical condition. Their very life is in danger.
Repression is on the rise, arrests and intolerable cases of torture are increasing in number. This is no longer a question of attacks on the freedom of expression, association or assembly; now, freedom of movement, freedom of speech and the freedom to receive persons of one's choice are difficult to exercise in Tunisia. Men and women are harassed daily and their families harassed as well. One example is Mehdi Zougah, a French-Tunisian citizen, who was arrested at Tunis airport on 11 August. For four months his wife and children have been waiting for him at home in Marseilles. He will stand trial on 8 January on charges of having attended a meeting of the Tunisian opposition in France, which he denies. It is a case of the most blatant arbitrariness.
The Tunisian authorities should pay heed to the concern and outrage being expressed in this Chamber. They should listen to the representative of the UN Secretary-General for human rights who expressed her acute concern on 7 December, calling for an end to the practice of harassing defenders of human rights. The Tunisian authorities should realise once and for all that we are determined not to relax our vigilance and to continue to press for fundamental rights to be respected."@en1
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