More than a year after the Tunisian revolution and Z. BEN ALI’s demise, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) Executive Committee convened in Tunis on 24, 25 and 26 February 2012. Accompanied by the President of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (ATFD), they met on 23 and 24 February with the President of the Tunisian Republic, the President of the Constituent Assembly and the Minister of the Interior.
On 25 February 2012, a EMHRN delegation including the Secretary General of the Tunisian League for Human Rights (LTDH) was able to visit the Ouardiyya detention centre, near Tunis, where illegal foreign nationals are held. This visit should be followed up in order to investigate the situation in the other 25 detention centres as well as in other locations, if necessary.
During the meetings with the Tunisian authorities, the EMHRN delegation reminded their interlocutors that it was the Tunisian people’s strong attachment to legal process that had liberated them from dictatorship and led to free, transparent elections. The delegation also reiterated the absolute necessity to incorporate into the future constitution the essential principles on which all democracies are based: equality between men and women, independence of the judiciary, primacy of international law, freedom of association and expression, as well as free and transparent elections. The delegation called on the Tunisian authorities to take these imperatives into consideration when drafting the new constitution.
The EMHRN Executive Committee was also informed of the results of the mission that it led in Egypt with the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation against Torture (OMCT) on 11-14 February 2012. The EMHRN is particularly worried about the way security forces constantly resort to excessive force, having no qualms about shooting unarmed protesters and bringing others before military Courts, which procedures are in no way equitable.
Moreover, the mission noted that the Egyptian authorities are engaged in a war against various Egyptian and international NGOs, launching abusive prosecutions against them on the pretext that their funds partly come from abroad. The Egyptian military and civil authorities are clearly trying to prevent Egyptian civil society from playing its part independently and autonomously. The EMHRN calls for the end of these prosecutions and asks the European Union and the European governments to stress the incompatibility of such practices with normal European-Egyptian relations.
The EMHRN Executive Committee welcomed EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton’s recent statements condemning the continuation of Israeli colonising activities in the Occupied Territories, reiterating that such actions are an obvious hindrance to any peace process.
The EMHRN is pursuing its action in support to Syrian Human Rights organisations that oppose the current regime. It is deeply dismayed at the on-going massacres committed by the Syrian authorities and deplores the incapacity of the international community. The EMHRN reiterates its demand for its members to be able to travel freely, and in particular Danial Saoud, EMHRN Executive Committee member, banned from leaving Syria for more than a year.
Finally, the EMHRN Executive Committee is very concerned about the economic and social situation affecting Greece and other European countries, as well as several southern Mediterranean countries. Respecting people’s social and economic rights is every bit as important as respecting their civil and political liberties; to disregard them endangers democracy. The EMHRN Executive Committee reiterates that the peoples should not suffer from financial policies that lead to poverty and social fragmentation.