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From the IFEX-TMG Report of
April 2007:
In the first report of the IFEX-TMG we observed press censorship and lack of diversity of content in newspapers. At the time of the second report we witnessed a step in the right direction through the 27 May 2005 announcement to abolish the «dépôt légal» for periodicals, but there was no other progress on our recommendations. At the time of the present report, there is still no press freedom in Tunisia, the main reasons being state censorship, lack of open distribution networks comprising all printed media, and a serious one-sided distribution of financial resources. We therefore reiterate our previous recommendations by asking the Tunisian government to take serious steps toward lifting all restrictions on independent journalism and encouraging diversity of content and ownership of the press. Furthermore, we urge the government to abolish the «dépôt légal» for foreign newspapers. We also call on the Ministry of the Interior to respect Article 13 of the Tunisian Press Code enabling the establishment of newspapers and periodicals. Newspapers, both local and international, are still being censored. During the mission, two French dailies (Le Monde and Libération) and one weekly news magazine (Le Nouvel Observateur) were banned in Tunisia for publishing articles written by Mr. Ben Brik that upset the authorities. In the case of Libération, the article was ironically entitled: “En 2009, je ‘vote’ pour Ben Ali” (“In 2009, I ‘vote’ for Ben Ali”). Mr. Ben Brik has been widely published abroad, but de facto banned in his home country. Distribution is casual and favours newspapers close to the authorities. Readers have to ask for opposition papers in the kiosks, as the vendors are not likely to display them so that people can see them, but instead store them under the counter. These obstacles to distribution are designed to isolate the opposition from the population, and are meant to hinder the accessibility of non-controlled content and information to Tunisian citizens. One newspaper editor stated to the group during the mission: "You just have to open the pages of a newspaper to see if it is government controlled – the ones controlled by the government have all the advertising." Even journalists in the
official press are censored. An article entitled "Bayrou le
candidat du bon sens" was reportedly censored by the editorial
team in the government-controlled French-speaking newspaper
La Presse. |
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