Report: "you have no rights here, but welcome to Tunisia!"

A few months from now, the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) will be held in Tunis, when global attention will focus on Tunisia. External communications are therefore an absolute priority, and any means of luring and manipulating the international press will be deemed justified. Foreign journalists are welcome as long as they are accommodating and cooperative-and not too inquisitive. The surveillance also extends to anyone who may be tempted to provide them with information (dissidents, human rights activists, trade union leaders, independent journalists, etc.).

In a report made public today, Reporters Without Borders, whose representatives visited Tunisia from June 2 to 6, condemn the government’s formidable propaganda machine.

The commitments made by the President of the Republic of Tunisia, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, are nothing but a subterfuge. Information pluralism does not exist, and any cyberdissidents will still be behind bars when the WSIS opens in Tunis. This is an unprecedented and inexcusable situation. The so-called liberalization of the audiovisual media is a falsehood, and administrative censorship is still used to prevent the creation of independent media outlets.

Reporters Without Borders also objects to the conduct of the United Nations. Their decision to allow a country that imprisons people for using the Internet, and that blocks news websites from organizing a world summit on this issue, is beyond comprehension.

There is still one last chance to rectify this situation. If the Secretary General of the United Nations and the Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)-the organizer of the Summit-were to unanimously condemn President Ben Ali’s governmental policy, some positive measures would likely be taken prior to the Summit.