Censorship in Tunisia
Encyclopedia
Censorship in Tunisia
has been an issue since the country gained independence in 1956
. Though considered relatively mild under President Habib Bourguiba
(1957–1987), censorship and other forms of repression have become common under his successor, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
(Nov. 1987– Jan. 2011). The latter has been listed since 1998 as one of the "10 Worst Enemies of the Press" by the Committee to Protect Journalists
. Reporters Without Borders
has also named Ben Ali as a leading "Predator of Press Freedom".
The main reference for the information in this section is the "IFLA/FAIFE Report on IFEX-TMG Mission to Tunis".
and human rights are two frequent points of contention. Frequently banned authors include Mohamed Talbi, Hamma Hammami
, Sihem Bensedrine
, Moncef Marzouki
, and Taoufik Ben Brik
. The League of Free Writers believes that 40 books were censored in the decade 1995–2005.
Tunisia has 380 public libraries, which include a regional branch for each of the 23 regions and a National Library in Tunis. It is estimated that 200–300 new titles for adults are published each year. The National Library has depository rights to four copies of each work published in the country.
, Libération
, La Croix
, Le Figaro
are often banned or censored, when they publish articles unfriendly to the Tunisian regime. Charlie Hebdo
and Le Canard enchaîné
, both satirical newspapers, are banned on a permanent basis. In order to avoid accusations of censorship, Ben Ali's regime authorized only a very limited number of editions of foreign newspapers.
Some banned editions are available "behind the counter" at libraries and must be requested. Twelve editions of Le Monde have been censored since 2006 according to RSF. Libération was censored in February 2007 following the publication of an article by Taoufik Ben Brik
; it was the first time since 1992 that Tunis had censored it.
Tunisia is thought by many organizations to have one of the strictest Internet censoring procedures in the world. Technically, it is a transparent proxy that processes every HTTP request sent out and filters out sites based on hostnames. Empirical evidence shows that NetApp hardware was used to implement the controls (and NetCache
).
From 23–27 November 2008, Wikipedia
and all Wikimedia Foundation
servers were not accessible from Tunisia. It is not known if this was censorship, a technical problem, or something else entirely.
, press reports indicated that books banned under the previous regime, including La régente de Carthage and L'assassinat de Salah Ben Youssef, had appeared in bookstores and were openly circulating.
is a journalist and former editor of Al-Fajr, the publication of the banned Islamist party An-Nahda. He was sentenced to one year in prison in January 1991 after his newspaper called for reform of the military justice system. In August 1992 he was given a much harsher 16-year sentence by a military court for insurrection and membership in an illegal organisation. He was tried with 279 other suspected An-Nahda members or sympathisers. The trials were heavily criticised by foreign human rights monitoring groups. Hamadi Jebali remains in prison as of December 2005.1 Jebali is considered a prisoner of conscience
by Amnesty International
.
, who followed in 2000 a 42 days hunger strike
in protest against Ben Ali's regime, published in February 2007 articles criticizing Ben Ali in the French press. Tunis responded by censoring the 23 February 2007 edition of Le Monde, which published an article from Ben Brik titled "Qui écrit encore à Tunis?" (Who Still Writes in Tunis? ) and two editions of Le Nouvel Observateur (8 and 21 February 2007). The 8 February 2007 article criticized the display of wealth in Tunisia, which contrasted with the real misery of its inhabitants The 20 February 2007 article used boxing metaphors to talk about his life during the past three years
Libération 's website was blocked starting on 21 February 2007, following the publication by Taoufik Ben Brik of an article titled "En 2009 je « vote » pour Ben Ali" (In 2009, I "vote" for Ben Ali ). www.leblogmedias.com is also censored since Ben Brik wrote for it, as well as the review Médias
.
is a journalist active in the political opposition. For her work in advancing human rights and press freedom, she was shortlisted for the Sakharov Prize
in 2002 and was awarded an International Press Freedom Award from Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
in 2004. She filed a request with the government to publish the magazine Kalima in 1999 and did not receive a response.2 In June 2001 Bensedrine was arrested and imprisoned for six weeks for making comments critical of the judiciary on a private London
television station; she was released in August.3 In January 2004 she was assaulted by alleged plainclothes police and had her third attempt to register Kalima rejected.4
The Index on Censorship
reported in mid-2005 that Bensedrine had become "the target of a viciously obscene campaign of hate" in the pro-government media, which it attributes to pressure from the government. An editorial in the newspaper As-Shouruq charged her with "selling her conscience ... to foreigners ... and to Zionists in particular." She was described in other publications as "hysterical," "delirious," and a "political prostitute." In the past, a photograph of Bensedrine's face had been superimposed onto pornographic images. These and similar notions, widely regarded abroad as spurious and insulting, have led censorship experts such as Rohan Jayasekera to hail Bensedrine as "a friend to media freedom."5
Sihem Bensedrine currently publishes Kalima on the Internet, as it remains banned in print after four attempts to register. The government has had mixed success in blocking the electronic version. Bensedrine collaborates with Néziha Rejiba, alias Om Zeid, who was harassed by customs police in September 2003 for bringing a small amount of foreign currency from abroad.6
(Parti communiste des ouvriers tunisiens, PCOT) is a proscribed communist political party led by Hamma Hammami
. PCOT is described by its co-thinkers in France as "constituting the most important opposition force" in Tunisia. Hammami was arrested and sentenced to over four years in prison for contempt of court, and reports that he was "savagely tortured." He was given additional sentences of eleven years and five years for, among other things, membership in an illegal organisation and distribution of propaganda.7 At least ten of his books are banned. Hammami's wife, Radhia Nasraoui, a human rights lawyer and also an outspoken opponent of President Ben Ali, went on a 57-day hunger strike
in late 2003 to protest official surveillance of her home and communications.8
, alias Ettounsi, founded and edited one of the first open discussion forums on the internet the satirical website TUNeZINE (http://www.tunezine.com). This 'Zine' (a play on words connecting the genre to the President) drew participants from across the political spectrum discussing women's issues, human rights, economic problems, freedom of expression as well as religion. The site itself was often censored, access to it could be difficult if at all possible, and though he used a pseudo, Yahyaoui himself was tracked down and arrested for creating the site. Imprisoned for a few years in the Borj al Amri prison, there were numerous campaigns for his release (he was sentenced to a couple of years). Shortly after being released he died of a heart attack on March 13, 2005. He was severely tortured and developed several health problems in prison.10
(WAN) suspended the Tunisian Newspaper Association for not speaking out about attacks on the press. The TNA was expelled in June 1997 following an investigation into press freedom.11
, a global conference on the development of information technology. Many observers felt that the choice of country was inappropriate given the Ben Ali government's repression of independent voices.
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
has been an issue since the country gained independence in 1956
History of Tunisia
The History of Tunisia is subdivided into the following articles:*Outlines of early Tunisia*History of Punic era Tunisia*History of Roman era Tunisia*History of early Islamic Tunisia*History of medieval Tunisia*History of Ottoman era Tunisia...
. Though considered relatively mild under President Habib Bourguiba
Habib Bourguiba
Habib Bourguiba was a Tunisian statesman, the Founder and the first President of the Republic of Tunisia from July 25, 1957 until 7 November 1987...
(1957–1987), censorship and other forms of repression have become common under his successor, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali is a Tunisian political figure who was the second President of Tunisia from 1987 to 2011. Ben Ali was appointed Prime Minister in October 1987, and he assumed the Presidency on 7 November 1987 in a bloodless coup d'état that ousted President Habib Bourguiba, who was...
(Nov. 1987– Jan. 2011). The latter has been listed since 1998 as one of the "10 Worst Enemies of the Press" by the Committee to Protect Journalists
Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent nonprofit organisation based in New York City that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.-History:A group of U.S...
. Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
has also named Ben Ali as a leading "Predator of Press Freedom".
Ben Ali era: Legal provisions
Article 8 of the Tunisian Constitution states "the liberties of opinion, expression, the press, publication, assembly, and association are guaranteed and exercised within the conditions defined by the law." Article 1 of the Press Code provides for "freedom of the press, publishing, printing, distributing and sale of books and publications."The main reference for the information in this section is the "IFLA/FAIFE Report on IFEX-TMG Mission to Tunis".
Books
The Press Code requires a receipt from the Ministry of the Interior before distributing books in the country. IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and human rights are two frequent points of contention. Frequently banned authors include Mohamed Talbi, Hamma Hammami
Hamma Hammami
Hamma Hammami is a Tunisian communist, spokesman of the Tunisian Workers' Communist Party, and former editor of the party news organ El-Badil...
, Sihem Bensedrine
Sihem Bensedrine
Sihem Bensedrine is a Tunisian journalist and human rights activist.-Biography:She was born in La Marsa, near Tunis and went to France to study at the university in Toulouse, where she earned a degree in philosophy....
, Moncef Marzouki
Moncef Marzouki
Moncef Marzouki is a Tunisian human rights activist, politician and physician.-Education and early human rights activities:Born in Grombalia , Marzouki studied medicine at the University of Strasbourg...
, and Taoufik Ben Brik
Taoufik Ben Brik
Taoufik Ben Brik is a Tunisian journalist born in 1960 in Jerissa.-Career:Brik is a prominent critic of the former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and an outspoken critic of censorship in the Middle East...
. The League of Free Writers believes that 40 books were censored in the decade 1995–2005.
Tunisia has 380 public libraries, which include a regional branch for each of the 23 regions and a National Library in Tunis. It is estimated that 200–300 new titles for adults are published each year. The National Library has depository rights to four copies of each work published in the country.
Newspapers
All major newspapers essentially follow the government line and tend to report uncritically on the activities of the President. Certain editions of foreign—principally French—newspapers that criticise the human rights situation or alleged electoral fraud, such as Le MondeLe Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
, Libération
Libération
Libération is a French daily newspaper founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Originally a leftist newspaper, it has undergone a number of shifts during the 1980s and 1990s...
, La Croix
La Croix
La Croix is a daily French general-interest Roman Catholic newspaper. It is published in Paris and distributed throughout the country, with a circulation of just under 110,000 as of 2009...
, Le Figaro
Le Figaro
Le Figaro is a French daily newspaper founded in 1826 and published in Paris. It is one of three French newspapers of record, with Le Monde and Libération, and is the oldest newspaper in France. It is also the second-largest national newspaper in France after Le Parisien and before Le Monde, but...
are often banned or censored, when they publish articles unfriendly to the Tunisian regime. Charlie Hebdo
Charlie Hebdo
Charlie Hebdo is a French satirical weekly newspaper, featuring cartoons, reports, polemics and jokes. It appeared from 1969 to 1981, when it folded, and was resurrected in 1992. The current editor is cartoonist Charb. His predecessors are François Cavanna and Philippe Val...
and Le Canard enchaîné
Le Canard enchaîné
Le Canard enchaîné is a satirical newspaper published weekly in France. Founded in 1915, it features investigative journalism and leaks from sources inside the French government, the French political world and the French business world, as well as many jokes and humorous cartoons.-Early...
, both satirical newspapers, are banned on a permanent basis. In order to avoid accusations of censorship, Ben Ali's regime authorized only a very limited number of editions of foreign newspapers.
Some banned editions are available "behind the counter" at libraries and must be requested. Twelve editions of Le Monde have been censored since 2006 according to RSF. Libération was censored in February 2007 following the publication of an article by Taoufik Ben Brik
Taoufik Ben Brik
Taoufik Ben Brik is a Tunisian journalist born in 1960 in Jerissa.-Career:Brik is a prominent critic of the former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and an outspoken critic of censorship in the Middle East...
; it was the first time since 1992 that Tunis had censored it.
Television
The state exercises a monopoly on domestic television transmissions, although satellite dishes are popular and offer access to foreign broadcasts.Radio
There is a small number of private radio stations, but they do not independently report news. A permit is required to establish a radio station. Electoral endorsements of candidates are not permitted in the private media.Internet
There is one internet server for the entire country, which is controlled by the palace, allowing the government to restrict and block access as it sees fit. Currently the Wikipedia 'Tunisia' and 'Zine Abidine ben Ali' entries in English are blocked from inside the country.Tunisia is thought by many organizations to have one of the strictest Internet censoring procedures in the world. Technically, it is a transparent proxy that processes every HTTP request sent out and filters out sites based on hostnames. Empirical evidence shows that NetApp hardware was used to implement the controls (and NetCache
NetCache
NetCache is a former web cache software product which was owned and developed by NetApp between 1997 and 2006, and a hardware product family incorporating the NetCache software.-History:...
).
From 23–27 November 2008, Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
and all Wikimedia Foundation
Wikimedia Foundation
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. is an American non-profit charitable organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States, and organized under the laws of the state of Florida, where it was initially based...
servers were not accessible from Tunisia. It is not known if this was censorship, a technical problem, or something else entirely.
Post-Ben Ali
Following the resignation of President Ben Ali in the Tunisian RevolutionTunisian revolution
The Tunisian Revolution is an intensive campaign of civil resistance, including a series of street demonstrations taking place in Tunisia. The events began in December 2010 and led to the ousting of longtime President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011...
, press reports indicated that books banned under the previous regime, including La régente de Carthage and L'assassinat de Salah Ben Youssef, had appeared in bookstores and were openly circulating.
Hamadi Jebali
Hamadi JebaliHamadi Jebali
Hamadi Jebali is a Tunisian engineer, Islamist politician and journalist. He is the Secretary-General of the Ennahda Movement, a moderate Islamist party in Tunisia.-Education and professional life:Born in Sousse, Hamadi Jebali studied engineering...
is a journalist and former editor of Al-Fajr, the publication of the banned Islamist party An-Nahda. He was sentenced to one year in prison in January 1991 after his newspaper called for reform of the military justice system. In August 1992 he was given a much harsher 16-year sentence by a military court for insurrection and membership in an illegal organisation. He was tried with 279 other suspected An-Nahda members or sympathisers. The trials were heavily criticised by foreign human rights monitoring groups. Hamadi Jebali remains in prison as of December 2005.1 Jebali is considered a prisoner of conscience
Prisoner of conscience
Prisoner of conscience is a term defined in Peter Benenson's 1961 article "The Forgotten Prisoners" often used by the human rights group Amnesty International. It can refer to anyone imprisoned because of their race, religion, or political views...
by Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
.
Taoufik Ben Brik
Taoufik Ben BrikTaoufik Ben Brik
Taoufik Ben Brik is a Tunisian journalist born in 1960 in Jerissa.-Career:Brik is a prominent critic of the former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and an outspoken critic of censorship in the Middle East...
, who followed in 2000 a 42 days hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
in protest against Ben Ali's regime, published in February 2007 articles criticizing Ben Ali in the French press. Tunis responded by censoring the 23 February 2007 edition of Le Monde, which published an article from Ben Brik titled "Qui écrit encore à Tunis?" (Who Still Writes in Tunis? ) and two editions of Le Nouvel Observateur (8 and 21 February 2007). The 8 February 2007 article criticized the display of wealth in Tunisia, which contrasted with the real misery of its inhabitants The 20 February 2007 article used boxing metaphors to talk about his life during the past three years
Libération 's website was blocked starting on 21 February 2007, following the publication by Taoufik Ben Brik of an article titled "En 2009 je « vote » pour Ben Ali" (In 2009, I "vote" for Ben Ali ). www.leblogmedias.com is also censored since Ben Brik wrote for it, as well as the review Médias
Medias
Mediaș is the second largest city in Sibiu County, Transylvania, Romania.-Geographic location:Mediaș is located in the middle basin of Târnava Mare River, at 39 km from Sighișoara and 41 km from Blaj. The health resort Bazna, officially recognized for the first time in 1302, is...
.
Sihem Bensedrine
Sihem BensedrineSihem Bensedrine
Sihem Bensedrine is a Tunisian journalist and human rights activist.-Biography:She was born in La Marsa, near Tunis and went to France to study at the university in Toulouse, where she earned a degree in philosophy....
is a journalist active in the political opposition. For her work in advancing human rights and press freedom, she was shortlisted for the Sakharov Prize
Sakharov Prize
The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named after Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, was established in December 1988 by the European Parliament as a means to honour individuals or organisations who have dedicated their lives to the defence of human rights and freedom of thought...
in 2002 and was awarded an International Press Freedom Award from Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression is a Canadian non-governmental organization supported by Canadian journalists and advocates of freedom of expression. The purpose of the organization is to defend the rights of journalists and contribute to the development of press freedom throughout the...
in 2004. She filed a request with the government to publish the magazine Kalima in 1999 and did not receive a response.2 In June 2001 Bensedrine was arrested and imprisoned for six weeks for making comments critical of the judiciary on a private London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
television station; she was released in August.3 In January 2004 she was assaulted by alleged plainclothes police and had her third attempt to register Kalima rejected.4
The Index on Censorship
Index on Censorship
Index on Censorship is a campaigning publishing organisation for freedom of expression, which produces an award-winning quarterly magazine of the same name from London. The present chief executive of Index on Censorship, since 2008, is the author, broadcaster and commentator John Kampfner, former...
reported in mid-2005 that Bensedrine had become "the target of a viciously obscene campaign of hate" in the pro-government media, which it attributes to pressure from the government. An editorial in the newspaper As-Shouruq charged her with "selling her conscience ... to foreigners ... and to Zionists in particular." She was described in other publications as "hysterical," "delirious," and a "political prostitute." In the past, a photograph of Bensedrine's face had been superimposed onto pornographic images. These and similar notions, widely regarded abroad as spurious and insulting, have led censorship experts such as Rohan Jayasekera to hail Bensedrine as "a friend to media freedom."5
Sihem Bensedrine currently publishes Kalima on the Internet, as it remains banned in print after four attempts to register. The government has had mixed success in blocking the electronic version. Bensedrine collaborates with Néziha Rejiba, alias Om Zeid, who was harassed by customs police in September 2003 for bringing a small amount of foreign currency from abroad.6
Tunisian Workers' Communist Party
The Tunisian Workers' Communist PartyTunisian Workers' Communist Party
The Tunisian Workers' Communist Party , also known by its French acronym PCOT, is a Marxist-Leninist political party in Tunisia. Its general secretary is Hamma Hammami. It was outlawed until the Tunisian Revolution, when in a failed attempt to shore up the state framework it and another banned...
(Parti communiste des ouvriers tunisiens, PCOT) is a proscribed communist political party led by Hamma Hammami
Hamma Hammami
Hamma Hammami is a Tunisian communist, spokesman of the Tunisian Workers' Communist Party, and former editor of the party news organ El-Badil...
. PCOT is described by its co-thinkers in France as "constituting the most important opposition force" in Tunisia. Hammami was arrested and sentenced to over four years in prison for contempt of court, and reports that he was "savagely tortured." He was given additional sentences of eleven years and five years for, among other things, membership in an illegal organisation and distribution of propaganda.7 At least ten of his books are banned. Hammami's wife, Radhia Nasraoui, a human rights lawyer and also an outspoken opponent of President Ben Ali, went on a 57-day hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
in late 2003 to protest official surveillance of her home and communications.8
Abdallah Zouari
Abdallah Zouari is a journalist (formerly of Al-Fajr) who was sentenced to eleven years in prison in 1991 for membership in an illegal organisation. He was released in June 2002 but continued to serve five years of "administrative control" in a remote desert town in southern Tunisia.9 He was re-arrested in August the same year and charged with possession of illegal weapons. He was again released in September 2004.Zouhair Yahyaoui
Zouhair YahyaouiZouhair Yahyaoui
Zouhair Yahyaoui was the first cyber-dissident to be pursued and condemned in Tunisia, a country that is often rated at the top of lists of internet policing by independent third-party sources such as the OpenNet Initiative...
, alias Ettounsi, founded and edited one of the first open discussion forums on the internet the satirical website TUNeZINE (http://www.tunezine.com). This 'Zine' (a play on words connecting the genre to the President) drew participants from across the political spectrum discussing women's issues, human rights, economic problems, freedom of expression as well as religion. The site itself was often censored, access to it could be difficult if at all possible, and though he used a pseudo, Yahyaoui himself was tracked down and arrested for creating the site. Imprisoned for a few years in the Borj al Amri prison, there were numerous campaigns for his release (he was sentenced to a couple of years). Shortly after being released he died of a heart attack on March 13, 2005. He was severely tortured and developed several health problems in prison.10
WAN controversy
In July 1996 the World Association of NewspapersWorld Association of Newspapers
The World Association of Newspapers is a non-profit, non-governmental organization made up of 76 national newspaper associations, 12 news agencies, 10 regional press organisations and individual newspaper executives in 100 countries...
(WAN) suspended the Tunisian Newspaper Association for not speaking out about attacks on the press. The TNA was expelled in June 1997 following an investigation into press freedom.11
WSIS controversy
Tunis hosted the 2005 World Summit on the Information SocietyWorld Summit on the Information Society
The World Summit on the Information Society was a pair of United Nations-sponsored conferences about information, communication and, in broad terms, the information society that took place in 2003 in Geneva and in 2005 in Tunis...
, a global conference on the development of information technology. Many observers felt that the choice of country was inappropriate given the Ben Ali government's repression of independent voices.
External links
- Documenting Internet censorship in Tunisia. censorship.cybversion.org/
- Committee to Protect JournalistsCommittee to Protect JournalistsThe Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent nonprofit organisation based in New York City that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.-History:A group of U.S...
. "Journalists in Jail on December 1, 2005: A Global Tally." Page retrieved 17 December 2005. - United States Department of StateUnited States Department of StateThe United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
. "Tunisia." Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2000. Published 23 February 2001; retrieved 17 December 2005. - Amnesty InternationalAmnesty InternationalAmnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
. 2002 Tunisia country report (covering events in 2001). Page retrieved 17 December 2005. - United States Department of StateUnited States Department of StateThe United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
. "Tunisia." Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2004. Published 28 February 2005; retrieved 17 December 2005. - Index on CensorshipIndex on CensorshipIndex on Censorship is a campaigning publishing organisation for freedom of expression, which produces an award-winning quarterly magazine of the same name from London. The present chief executive of Index on Censorship, since 2008, is the author, broadcaster and commentator John Kampfner, former...
. "Sticks and stones and hate speech: the unacceptable vilification of Sihem Bensedrine." Published 30 May 2005; retrieved 17 December 2005. - Committee to Protect Journalists. "Attacks on the press in 2003." Published 3 October 2003; retrieved 17 December 2005.
- "Interview with Hamma Hammani on the situation in Tunisia" in La Forge. Published September 1997; retrieved 17 December 2005.
- "Tunisian hunger striker's health fades." Aljazeera.net. Published 1 November 2003; retrieved 17 December 2005.
- United States Department of StateUnited States Department of StateThe United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
. "Tunisia." Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2002. Page retrieved 17 December 2005. - PEN American CenterPEN American CenterPEN American Center , founded in 1922 and based in New York City, works to advance literature, to defend free expression, and to foster international literary fellowship. The Center has a membership of 3,300 writers, editors, and translators...
. Profile of Zouhair Yahyaoui. Retrieved 17 December 2005. - United States Department of StateUnited States Department of StateThe United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
. "Tunisia." Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 1996 and 1997. Page retrieved 17 December 2005.