Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network – EMHRN

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Tunisia: Exploiting the Judicial System for Political Ends (LTDH Crisis)	Date: 21-02-2007

Tunisia In September 2005, government sympathizers succeeded in having the impending congress of the Ligue Tunisienne pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme (LTDH) canceled by the courts. More than a year later, on Saturday February 17, 2007, it came as no surprise when the Trial Court of Tunis confirmed that decision. This last episode is only the latest example of the determination of the Tunisian government to force an organization known and respected for its independence to toe the line. For a number of years now, the authorities have done everything in their power to silence the LTDH: financial strangulation, news blackout, slander campaign, etc. Legal harassment is but one facet of the mounting pressures applied by the authorities. Since 2000, no less than 34 judicial proceedings have been pursued against the LTDH. Some proceedings are still pending but the outcome never varies: all the decisions by the courts have been in favor of the plaintiffs, all of them members of the party in power. The Tunisian justice system is being improperly used by the authorities for the sole purpose of unseating the lawful board of an organization. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network denounces the improper role that the government imposes upon the Tunisian judicial system; reaffirms its full support to the current board of the LTDH; calls upon the Tunisian government to establish a genuine dialogue with the lawful board of the LTDH and put an end to its policy of harassment against the management. 02/21/2007

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