Tunisia Passes Law To Ban Foreign Assistance of NGOs

This is the Tunisian government you will not see in the glossy brochures of the tourism office promoting the beaches et al: A state that refuses to tolerate any form, no matter how insignificant, of dissident.

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One of the most remarkable, in a horrific sense, things about the Ben Ali dictatorship in Tunisia is its zero tolerance policy on dissent. From a strategic position, it is entirely counterproductive.

Due to the relative prosperous nature of Tunisia and the political stability of the country (in stark contrast to neighboring Algeria which witnessed a civil war in the 1990s that the cost the lives of 200,000 people) alongside the moderate appearance of the ruling class (in stark contrast with the other neighbor in Libya’s buffoonish Qadhafi), dissent in Tunisia is a mild affair. Most are not enthusiastic about the president (and his in-laws are widely detested), but people are content enough. Thus dissenters are marginal and their influence inconsequential. The regime could easily tolerate them and showcase them to Western human rights officials as token opposition. Props to be used to falsely present an image of democracy and pluralism in the nation. That would be clever: the regime will always immediately suppress any opposition with teeth, but with what they are working with in Tunisia they can allow for an opposition of sorts while making sure that their authority remains unchallenged all the while it would maintain the appearance of a liberal regime that the government is keen on promoting.

Instead, they are ruthless in suppressing dissent to their great image loss. A Tunisian human rights activist who is unheard of by most Tunisians becomes the subject of Western headlines and NGO reports all because the thuggish secret police refuses to allow him to publish an obscure website.

Of course, Tunisians have an inalienable right to freedom of speech and the right to association. I am not trying to instruct the Ben Ali goons on how to better manage the P.R. of repression, but just to say a few words of caveat that the government in its extreme repression is actually undermining its international standing when it need not have to resort to such practices in order to insure its continued dominance. That illustrates just how awful the Ben Ali and Trabelsi (the in-laws) group are in their oppression of innocent Tunisians, and so does this:

A law passed by the Tunisian parliament this week is designed to silence government critics and human rights activists, Amnesty International has warned.

The organization said that amendment to Tunisia's penal code, which deals with violations of "external security," is intended to target human rights activists who lobby foreign bodies such as the European Union (EU), to put pressure on the government over its human rights record.

"Instead of cleaning up their dismal human rights record, the Tunisian authorities have elected to further criminalize human rights advocacy and to undermine the courageous work done by human rights defenders and others seeking to expose the violations that take place in Tunisia on a daily basis," said Amnesty International.

The amendment to Article 61bis of the Penal Code criminalizes contacting "agents of a foreign power to undermine the military or diplomatic situation in Tunisia". Those convicted of this crime face up to 20 years in prison, with a minimum sentence of five years.

The new legislation also criminalizes those who contact foreign organisations in order to harm Tunisia's vital interests, including "economic security".

This law appears to be a direct response to meetings held in May by Tunisian human rights activists with EU parliamentarians and officials, in Madrid and Brussels.

During the meetings, the Tunisian activists urged them to pressure the government to uphold its international human rights obligations.

The new law also adds to existing drastic restrictions on human rights defenders and freedom of expression and association by targeting those seek to speak about Tunisia's human rights record to foreign bodies.

Activists in Tunisia face harassment and intimidation. Many have reported being under constant surveillance by the security forces, and have also reported being prevented from travelling abroad or within the country, in breach of the right to freedom of movement.

But Western governments will protest little if any because they value the "stability" the Ben Ali goons uphold.