Tunisia 918
Themes Sami Ben Gharbia 05 May 2008

Sarkozy a voté Ben Ali

« Le premier des droits de l’homme, c’est manger, être soigné, recevoir une éducation et avoir un habitat ». On se souvient toujours de cette désormais célèbre phrase de l’ancien président français Jacques Chirac lors de sa visite en Tunisie qui avait provoqué un tollé. L’année dernière, son successeur, Nicolas Sarkoz, en entamant sa première visite d’Etat en Tunisie avait souligné que « le président Ben Ali est le premier à reconnaître […]

Rights Malek Khadhraoui 05 Sep 2007

Qui Censure Dailymotion En Tunisie ?

C’est la fin pour nous Tunisiens de ce service de partage de vidéos en ligne, le célèbre dailymotion.com est censuré en Tunisie”. C’est en ces termes que le blog Escalier 7 a lancé, hier 3 septembre 2007, l’alerte concernant le blocage du site Dailymotion en Tunisie. Information confirmée […].

Themes Kamel Labidi 17 Aug 2007

Tunisian democracy: To hope or despair?

The release of 21 Tunisian political prisoners at the end of July, on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Tunisian Republic, provoked satisfaction among local and international human rights groups. However, no one ventured to describe the conditional liberations as a sign of softening on the part of President Zein al-Abedin ben Ali’s police s […].
Themes Anne Applebaum 13 Feb 2007

A Good Place to Have Aided Democracy

“If you wanted to support democracy in the Arab world, why did you begin with your enemies instead of your friends? Why Iraq and Iran? Why not us?” It’s an excellent question, and when it was posed to me a few days ago by Mokhtar Trifi, president of the Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights, I at first found it hard to answer. Trifi, whose dark […].
Themes Nawaat 05 Jan 2007

Tunisia: The Next Militant Hotspot?

Security forces and Islamist militants clashed Dec. 23 and Jan. 3 south of the Tunisian capital of Tunis. The Tunisian government will continue carefully downplaying the incidents, which come as Islamist militant groups in North Africa garner increasing support from al Qaeda and seek to assert themselves more in the region. […].
Themes Sofien Guerfali 24 Nov 2006

Soutien à Jalila Baccar et Fadhel Jaïbi

Soutien à Jalila Baccar et Fadhel Jaïbi auteur dramatique et metteur en scène tunisiens Nous apprenons qu’en Tunisie la commission consultative dite d’orientation théâtrale a recommandé la censure de la pièce Khamsoun(“Corps otages”). Cette recommandation est effective depuis qu’elle a été entérinée par le ministre de la Culture. Faut-il rappeler que les […].
Themes Daniel Lav 23 Nov 2006

The War over the Veil in Tunisia

Ramadan 2006 may well be remembered as the Ramadan of the veil. In remarks widely reported in the Arab press, former U.K. foreign secretary Jack Straw described the veil as “a visible statement of separation and difference” ; in the ensuing controversy, British Prime Minister Tony Blair lent his support to Straw and made similar comments. In a related dev […].
Themes Bruce Maddy-Weitzman 31 Oct 2006

Maghreb Regime Scenarios

Western interest in seeing at least the beginning of a process of political evolution in Tunisia may eventually bear some fruit in the coming years. However, with the Tunisian secular opposition as emasculated as the Islamists, there is neither no one individual, nor any issue, that appears capable of galvanizing a process of genuine democratic reform. Non […].