Friends of Tunisia Newsletter
October 2004
(an affiliate of the National Peace Corps Association)
P.O. Box 25245
Washington, DC 20027
Tel. 202-526-0897
fotrpcv@yahoo.com

SOME IMPROVEMENT IN HUMAN RIGHTS.

As far back as 1956, Tunisia has never shown much tolerance of genuine political dissent. Marxists, other leftists, and some union officials were President Bourguiba's most common targets in the early years, but the Islamist threat that began in the late 1970s, after fundamentalists in Iran overthrew the shah, signaled a new level of political anxiety and repression throughout the Moslem world. This came to a head in 1992 in Tunisia, when the government arrested the leaders of the fundamentalist Nahda - "Renewal" - Party. In a military trial, the government claimed to have uncovered a weapons cache and a plot to assassinate President Ben Ali.

By most accounts, the next four years were a period of severe political repression in Tunisia. Arbitrary arrests, disappearances, beatings and torture in prison, and some questionable deaths were reported by human rights organizations. Since then the country's record is generally deemed "poor" in reports by Human Rights Watch and the US State Department. Yet if one reads the latest reports of these organization carefully, there seems to be some improvements that are worth noting.

International organizations are not allowed to inspect Tunisian prisons, so it is difficult to assess exactly what is happening behind those walls. Yet it appears that a report several years ago in the French publication "Realites" caused President Ben Ali to call for several reforms that have helped alleviate severe overcrowding and poor health conditions in Tunisia's prisons. Furthermore, he has placed control of prisons under the judiciary. Judges are now required to visit prisons under their jurisdiction once every two months.

This improvement in prison conditions seems to be part of a general reduction in repression that has been ongoing since 1996. Although there appears to have been a renewed crackdown just after 9/11 that lasted well into 2002, the latest situation described in the State Department's report for the year 2003 indicates that there have been no deaths or disappearances, and prisoners' families are being granted some limited access to prisoners. Last year, there were no reports of forced entry into homes. The Tunisian League of Human Rights now has 41 branch offices throughout the country, although the League is heavily influenced by the government.

On the other side of the coin, freedom of the press and freedom of speech and assembly are still severely curtailed. Those critical of the government and their families are still being harassed by security forces. In prisons, beatings of some naked prisoners are still being reported. Lawyers and judges who raise objections to government practices have also been attacked in the street. Although the government insists that there are no political prisoners in Tunisia, several independent human rights groups believe 541 political prisoners are being held in Tunisia and 30 to 40 of these prisoners are being held in long-term solitary confinement, a violation of Tunisian law and international penal standards that require solitary confinement to be temporary.

All of these 541 alleged political prisoners are Islamists. In recent years there has only been one non-Islamist imprisoned for criticizing the government. This was a young man who operated a satirical website. He was sentenced to two years in prison and has now been released.

Some other notable provisions of Tunisian law that pertain to human rights:

- No political party may claim to represent god or a religion.

-Any religion that was practiced in Tunisia in 1956 is officially recognized. No religion, however, may proselytize. Ba'hai, which is regarded by most Moslems as a heretical form of Islam and is actively persecuted in other Moslem countries, may be practiced in private, but not in public. Mosques are to be open only during prayer times and for ceremonies such as funerals or weddings. The salary of Tunis's Grand Rabbi is paid by the government.

-Any Tunisian who speaks to foreign media in the two weeks prior to an election is subject to a 25, 000-dinar ($19,000) fine.

REUNIONS, MEETINGS, CONFERENCES.

Only a few FOT members attended the August NPCA Conference in Chicago, but they managed to get some cous cous by joining Friends of Morocco at a local restaurant.

There have also been two recent reunions. About 20 members of the group that served in Tunisia from 1965 to 1967 met at Susie Cooley's farm in Barton, Vermont. According to Bob Younes, "We mostly laughed together about our experiences, and we discovered that we still had the same bonds we made 40 years ago." Anyone who wants to see photos of attendees should email Bob at ryounes@verizon.net.

The other reunion, held on Columbus Day, pulled together about a dozen former members of "Tunisia 8," kindergarten teachers who served in 1966-68. It was held at Susan (Kandarian) Gefvert's home in Penngrove, California. Anyone who wants photos or more info should email Susan at gefvert@comcast.net or call 707-8323. (One member of that group, Sabra Webber, has written a book "Romancing the Real," about Tunisian
folklore.)

A NEW ORGANIZATION REPRESENTING TUNISIAN AMERICANS.

Many former Peace Corps volunteers in Tunisia may remember Beya Ghariani, who managed the Peace Corps office in Tunis for about 25 years. Beya recently moved to Washington, DC, and now works at Peace Corps headquarters. (Her office phone number is 202-692-1763 for those who may want to get in touch with her.) Meanwhile Beya's husband, Faouzi, is starting an organization for Tunisian-Americans that is concentrating first on the Washington, DC, area. The Tunisian American Association hopes to establish a school that will teach Arabic to Tunisian- American kids in the DC area as well as establish a "Tunisian Awareness" week, similar to those that currently exist in France and Germany. Those interested in getting more information can contact Faouzi at The Tunisian American Association, P.O. Box 10767, Fairfax, VA 22009 or telephone 240-838-0508 or email at tounescarthage@yahoo.com. Membership in the organization is $30 a year.

FORMER PCV IN TUNISIA IS PROLIFIC AUTHOR.

Thurston Clarke, a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tunisia in 1968-70, has published ten books since his years in Tunisia. The most recent, published this month, is "Ask Not," an examination of John F. Kennedy's famous inaugural speech and what it meant to both JFK and the nation. Clarke now lives in upper New York state. His other books (unfortunately many of them now out of print) include:

- "The Last Caravan" about the Taureg tribe, the "blue men" of the Sahara.
- "Lost Hero," about Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who was murdered as he tried to mediate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
- "Equator," a tour of the countries and peoples who live on the equator.
- "Searching for Paradise," a tour of the world's more fabulous islands (still in print).
- "Dirty Money," an investigation of Swiss banks and Mafia money.
- "Thirteen O'clock," a novel about George Orwell.

TUNISIAN FILMS IN THIS COUNTRY.

The Tunisian film "Red Satin" is part of October's San Francisco Film Festival. Although "Red Satin," which is being shown in Berkeley, has been around for a new Tunisian film is part of "Arabian Sights," in Washington, DC.

The new film is "The Villa" a 2003 film about a young man in Tunis in the 1980s who starts spying on the daughter of his father's boss who lives in a big villa. This film is being paired with a short Lebanese film entitled "Van Express." Set in Lebanon, it describes two young men who use a VW van to make some money. These two films are shown together at Loew's Cineplex at 4000 Wisconsin Avenue on Sunday, Oct. 17 at 6 p.m., and on Friday, Oct. 22 at 9 p.m. Tickets are $9, available at the door one hour ahead of listed show times.

FORMER TUNISIAN PCV SELECTED TO HEAD PC IN MAURITANIA.

Obie Shaw, who spent five years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tunisia and the Central African Republic, has just been named the Peace Corps country director in Mauritania. Prior to this, he was an associate director in Mauritania. Obie is an alumnus of the University of Utah - Salt Lake City, with degrees in economics, political science and French. In past years he has served on several election monitoring missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

***NEWS OF TUNISIA********TUNISIAN NEWS********NEWS OF TUNISIA***-

-Are you sick of all the so-called reporting on the upcoming election here in the US? Do you try to find some actual news in your local newspaper? Do you feel just a tad exasperated with all the discussions of the 2,721 polls conducted every week or the latest, most up-to-date information about Bush's "grimace" or Kerry's "stiffness?" Well, folks, something similar is under way in Tunisia. Nationwide elections will be held on October 24th, and if you can find any recent news out of Tunisia that isn't something exceedingly trivial about this upcoming election, then, my friend, you're a better person than FOT's editor! Following is a bit of sports news plus some semi-old news. However, before turning to that, you might be interested to know that, so far, two of the nine "opposition" parties in Tunisia have endorsed President Ben Ali for another term in office.

- On October 9, Oussama Mellouli won Tunisia's first global swimming crown. In Indianapolis, he won the 400-meter individual medley at the World Short Course Championship. American Michael Phelps did not compete in this event, although he swam in another race.
Mellouli had been fifth at the Olympics. After winning the gold medal, he said, "It was great to hear our national anthem in the US." The winning time was 4 minutes 7.02 seconds.

- By 2006, it is estimated that young women will constitute no less than 60 % of university students in Tunisia. Today, they represent 56%. Women also account for 37% of Tunisia's civil service, 24% of the judiciary, 22% of lawyers, 38% of the "medical profession," 25% of the press, and 70 % of the "pharmaceutical profession."

- Water is always a problem in North Africa, and now "development" is putting pressure on water supplies in Tozeur. According to a September article by Claude Liena in France's "Le Monde Diplomatique," Tozeur's population is about 20,000 and its world-famous oasis contains about 400,000 palm trees watered by about 200 springs. An ancient system of water sharing allowed everyone free water to grow not only date palms but also greens, beets, carrots, and even bananas. This provided the people of Tozeur a balanced diet and, more or less, economic self- sufficiency. But in the early 1990s, the government began building hotels to bring additional prosperity to Tozeur. A dozen four- and five-star hotels were built, offering all kinds of jobs. But now two problems have become acute. Water is no longer free. It is now a commercial product that costs $150 per hectare per year. That may not seem like much, but it made farming not quite profitable for enough farmers that Tozeur must now import vegetables from elsewhere, thus draining the local economy. The other big problem is fluctuations in the employment market. When terrorism caused tourism to decline, unemployment went through the roof. Yet young people can no longer return to agriculture in the oasis to obtain enough money for the life-style they now desire. It's a huge problem. The government had good intentions in bringing tourists to Tozeur, but the consequences look dire. Meanwhile Tozeur's golf courses virtually eat water.

MEMBERSHIP: For FOT-only, send $15 to address at the head of newsletter. For combined NPCA and FOT membership, send $50 to NPCA, Suite 205, 1900 L Street, Washington, DC 20036. Specify your desired affiliation as Friends of Tunisia, not just "FOT."