Student Activist Held in Tunisia at Risk of Torture

Mohammed Soudani, a member of the General Union of Tunisian Students, was arrested following a meeting with journalists three days before the presidential elections in Tunisia. According to Amnesty International, the Tunisian activist has not been seen since 22 October 2009 and it is thought that he is being held at the State Security Department of the Ministry of the Interior, where torture is common.

Soudani met with French journalists in the Africa Hotel in Tunis who were covering the presidential and legislative elections. Whilst at the hotel he had telephoned his lawyers and friends to tell them that if they received no contact from him after 10 pm it was likely that he had been arrested. On 23 October 2009 his lawyer filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor about the enforced disappearance.

Under Tunisian law his family should have been informed of the arrest and his whereabouts. His father has sought assistance from the police in his home city of Mehdia but has so far received no information.

Mohammed Soudani is an active member of the General Union of Tunisian Students (UGET) and was previously arrested in June 2007 and given a six-month suspended prison sentence. He has since said that he was tortured during the 12 days in which he was detained. In the same year he was expelled from university because of his activism with the UGET.

On 11 February 2009 Soudani and four other students went on hunger strike for 58 days, demanding their right to education and re-admittance to university. They also called for the judicial proceedings against them to be dropped.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Presidential and parliamentary elections were held in Tunisia on 25 October 2009. The results announced on the following day signified a landslide victory for both the incumbent President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and the ruling Consitutional Democratic Rally party. There have been complaints of unfair process in the election and the US has claimed that the Tunisian government would not allow international election monitoring.

Tunisia is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, article 9 of which provides for liberty and security of person and procedural fairness. Article 22 protects freedom of association. The country is also party to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment which obliges states to “ensure that its competent authorities proceed to a prompt and impartial investigation, wherever there is reasonable ground to believe that an act of torture has been committed in any territory under its jurisdiction”.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Amnesty International has recommended the following action:

Please send appeals:

1. Urging the authorities to disclose Mohammed Soudani’s whereabouts immediately, and give him access to a lawyer of his choice, his family, and any medical attention he may require;
2. Urging them to ensure that he is not tortured or otherwise ill-treated;

3. Urging them to release Mohammed Soudani immediately and unconditionally, unless he is promptly charged with a recognisably criminal offence and brought to trial in proceedings that meet international standards for fair trial.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS *BEFORE 15 DECEMBER 2009 TO:

Minister of Interior

Rafik Haj Kacem
Ministry of Interior
Avenue Habib Bourguiba
1000 Tunis
Tunisia
Fax: + 216 71 340 888

Salutation: Your Excellency

Minister of Justice and Human Rights

Béchir Tekkari
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights
31 Boulevard Bab Benat
1006 Tunis - La Kasbah
Tunisia
Fax: + 216 71 568 106

Salutation: Your Excellency

COPIES TO:

Ridha Khemakhem
General Coordinator for Human Rights
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights
31 Boulevard Bab Benat
1006 Tunis - La Kasbah
Tunisia

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives of Tunisia accredited to your country.

PLEASE ALSO SEND COPIES OF YOUR APPEALS TO:

Jonathan Travis
Programme Officer, Network for Education and Academic Rights
90 London Road,
SE1 9LN
London, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7021 0884
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7021 0881

jonathan.travis@nearinternational.org

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Alert - Tunisia

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