Prison of Bizerte city
Letter of protest From the families of the prisoners of opinion, victims of anti-terror law
Tunis, the 31/08/2006
We, the families of the prisoners of opinion, victims of the anti-terror law, call upon you in order to intervene and lift the injustice inflicted on our children in the Tunisian prisons, who have been jailed in accordance with a non-constitutional and inhuman law- law of 10 December 2003- because of their "intentions" and not acts, nor even because of intentions harmful to the interest of fatherland. Read more...(In French, English and Arabic)

Prison of Borj Erroumi, Bizerte
Aymen Dridi was arrested at his new work place in Ras Jebel on 8 June 2005, in the frame of the still on-going campaign operated by the Tunisian authorities under the cover of combating terrorism among young people who regularly visit mosques. His family was kept ignorant of his arrest and went to search for him in the different police stations without receiving any information, until a lawyer suggested that they went to the “9 April” prison in Tunis where his family met with him indeed after two months search. He was not to stay long there since the jail authorities have soon decided to deny him the right to visits and was moved afterwards to the Borj Erroumi prison in Bizerte. After he reported to the world the desecration of the Koran in the Borj Erroumi prison (see the rapport of the LTDH in French or in Arabic), he was tortured and transferred in the Bulla Regia prison.

See more details about his case here (in Arabic). See also Ayman's mother talking in the video above.

Nadhor Prison, Bizerte
Dozens of people were charged under the new “anti-terrorism” law introduced in December 2003. They were sentenced to lengthy prison terms following unfair trials on “terrorism”-related charges. The trial failed to respect international fair trial standards. According to defence lawyers, most arrest dates in police reports were falsified, and in one case the place of arrest was falsified. There were no investigations into allegations that the defendants were beaten, suspended from the ceiling and threatened with rape. The convictions rested almost entirely on confessions extracted under duress. The defendants denied all charges brought against them in court.

See the case of The Youth of Bizerte, victims of the “anti-terrorism” law here. (in French)

Ali Ramzi Bettibi
He was arrested on 15 March 2005 while he was in an Internet café and sentenced to 4-years imprisonment for re-posting on a website an online statement from an obscure group promising bloodshed if Sharon attended the WSIS in Tunisia. “The Tunisian government is sending the message that downloading or re-posting information it finds objectionable can lead to prison,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the Middle East and North Africa division at HRW “However deplorable this threat was, the mere act of reposting this information online should not be a crime.”

For mor information about this case, see: HRW Letter to President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali on Ali Ramzi Bettibi

Prison of El Haouareb, Kairouan
See the video above about the case of Mme Sihem Najjar wife of the political prisoner Hatem Zarrouk and here daughter Balkis (15 years old) who went on hunger strike at their home in Tunis during the month of November 2005 to protest against the imprisonment of Hatem Zarrouk captured in 2005 and condemned to six-year prison cell.

9 avril prison, Tunis
The new “anti-terrorism” law introduced in December 2003 contains a very broad definition of "terrorism", that it may lead to unfair imprisonment. It also allows for the extension for an undefined period of pre-trial detention.
According the Tunisian Organisation against Torture about 200 young people have been arrested since May, accused of terrorism offences. Some people have also been extradited from European countries (Turkey, Italy, Luxembourg) in the recent months although it is uncertain if people have been rendered to Tunisia for torture in the war on terror.

See the flash animation about the case of Mahjoub Zayani who was arrested since april 2005 and held in the 9 April Prison in Tunis.

Gorjani detention centre in Tunis
Whilst being interrogated at the Gorjani detention centre, the detainees were reportedly forced, under the threat of being sent back to the Ministry of the Interior, to sign police reports with confessions they had not even read.

Prison of Beja

Prison of Borj El Amri, near Tunis

Prison of Gabes

Prison of Gafsa

From one prison to another. See the video in the other tab windows.

Prison of Grombalia, near Nabeul

Prison of Harboub

Prison of Kef
From this prison we just bring to mind:

1-The case of lawyer Mohammed Abbou who is serving a 3 year prison sentence for publishing an article on a banned website criticizing the human rights situation in Tunisia (more info here)

2- The case of the Youth of Kef condemned for downloading an mp3 (See the flash animation here) of a HipHop song criticizing the brutality of the Tunisian police service (more info here and here)- (an other flash animation about the song).

Prison of Jandouba (Bulla Regia)
At least 30 prisoners have been trialled several times for the same accusations and have been for years deprived from their right to contact the judicial body for the revision of the court rulings against them. Amongst these cases, thirty have proved to be repetitive rulings. They have entered on 10 May 2006 in a hunger strike, to support their request for reconsideration of their heavy sentences. On July 25 1997, Ridha Khemiri died in Jandouba prison (Bulla Regia) after undertaking a hunger strike of more than 40 days protesting against this injustice.


More info about this case here (in Arabic). See also the video embedded above.

Prison of Mahdia

Prison of Manouba, prison for women

Prison of Messadine, Sousse
The political prisoners whose names are listed below have entered on 10 May 2006 in a hunger strike, to support their request for reconsideration of their heavy sentences. They have been trialled several times with the same accusations and have been for years deprived from their right to contact the judicial body for the revision of the court rulings against them. Amongst these cases, thirty have proved to be repetitive rulings.
1 Hamadi Labidi, 2 Abderraouf Bédoui, 3 Hechmi Bkir, 4 Khaled Drissi, 5 Mondher Bejaoui, 6 Sami Nouri, 7 Sadok Akkari, 8 Zouhaïr Ben Hassine, 9 Maher Selmane, 10 Frej Jami, 11 Daniel Zarrouk, 12 Hossine Ghodhbane, 13 Ouasfi Zoghlami, 14 Mohammed Bouazza, 15 Abdelkarim Baalouche, 16 Nabil Nouri, 17 Farid Rezgui, 18 Choukri Ayari, 19 Hamadi Abdelmalek, 20 Adel Ben Amor, 21 Abdelbasset Sli’i, 22 Taoufik Zaïri, 23 Ali Ghodhbane, 24 Abdallah Drissa, 25 Béchir Laouati, 26 Lotfi Snoussi, 27 Chedly Mahfoudh, 28 Anouar Bellilah, 29 Ahmed Bouazizi, 30 Mohammed Galoui.

The photos of these prisoners to be seen on this flash animation. More info about this case (in Arabic and French) here. See also the video embedded under Jandouba Prison.

Prison of Monastir

Prison of Mornague, near Tunis

Prison of Mornaguia, (7 miles) east of Tunis
Opened in September 2006. It has been confirmed that number of political prisoners has been transferred from 9 Avril prison to the new one in Mornaguia.
More information about the issue here.

Prison of Sfax

Prison of Siliana

Prison of Sidi Bouzid


See this flash animation about the Tunisian Prison made by mistral, nawaat.org

Banishment of Journalist and former political prisoner Abdalla Zouari

Journalist and former political prisoner Abdallah Zouari completed and an 11-year prison sentence in 2002, the authorities have continued to punish him because of hid criticism of the country's human rights' record. Mr Zouari Has been confined to a rural district, 500 kilometers from his family's home in Tunis, jailed 3 times, placed under round-the-clock police surveillance and intermittently prevented from using Internet cafés.

See this flash animation for more info about the case of Abdallah zouari.
See also the work made by A. Zouari on flickr.com

Administrative Restriction of The syndicalist and former political prisoner Slaheddine Alaoui in Bou Salem (Jendouba)
At the end thirteen years and half of imprisonment, I left behind me this appalling “Guantanamean” and “Abou-Ghraïbian” institution. On June 27, 2004, a horrible surprise was waiting for me: I was overpowered with sixteen years of administrative control, as a complementary penalty. This odious measure paralyzed me and taken away from me any prospect, in spite of many attempts to get over the difficulties, I failed. I made a statement on my situation on the columns of the Tunisian press to find listening ears, but there is no safety for that which shouts on the roofs.

For further information, read the text of Slaheddine Alaoui (in French and Arabic)

"Virtual House Arrest" of Dismissed Mathematics Professor Ben Salem, near Sfax
According to HRW, Dr. Ben Salem has been the target of a "coordinated government campaign of harassment" because of his political views. He has been jailed twice, most recently from 1990-1993 for giving an interview to an Algerian newspaper in which he criticized the Tunisian government. Although there have been no new charges made against him since 1993, he has not been allowed to resume his teaching post, and has been barred even from entering the campus to retrieve his books and papers. Dr. Ben Salem reports that police are stationed outside his door at all times, his activities and those of his wife and children are constantly monitored, visitors are subjected to identification checks, his mail service is irregular and unreliable, and he has been denied a passport.

See the Letter to Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, dated July 7, 1997.
Read also the interview with Dr. Ben Salem on nawaat.org (in Arabic or in French)

military compound (Detention Center) of Zembra, an island some 8km (5 miles) north of Kelibia.

Ministry of the Interior
See also the video above of Ali Ben Salem, president of the LTDH section in the city of Bizerte, speaking about the unconstitutional anti-terrorism law.

Bouchoucha military compound (Detention Center)
Torture has become an institution in Tunisia. It took place in police stations and official detention center like Bouchoucha. Badreddine Reguii, aged 29, arrested on the 3 February 2004, died in Bouchoucha prison in Tunis on 8 February. Police informed the family that he had committed suicide. The family called for a further investigation as the original investigation failed to establish the cause of extensive bruising on his body and a deep wound on his back.

Régim Maatoug military compound (Detention Center)

Tunisian Internet Agency (ATI) Agence Tunisienne d'Internet
In 1996, the Tunisian Ministry of Communications formed the Tunisian Internet Agency (ATI), which performs filtering at the network backbone. It coordinates Internet policies and services and acts as a kind of super-ISP. It leases Internet access to several private ISPs, including two that are licensed to offer Internet services to the private sector and individuals, Global Net and PlaNet. These two companies are reportedly controlled by persons close to the President. The ATI maintains control over all of the protocols and the country's only international gateway.

Carthage Presidence Palace