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INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1519

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 000227 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/FO (GRAY), NEA/MAG (GERMAINE,LAWRENCE), 
NEA/PPD (FERNANDEZ, SMITH, AGNEW), NEA/PI (MULENEX, KIRBY), 
NEA/PA, NEA/IPA, I/GNA, DRL, CWG-PD 
PARIS FOR ZEYA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/26/2016 
TAGS: PREL KDEM KPAO EAID PHUM KMPI TS
SUBJECT: SIGNS OF INCREASED PRESS FREEDOM, BUT TUNISIAN 
JOURNALISTS ARE SKEPTICAL 
 
REF: A) TUNIS 2450 (2005) B) TUNIS 2395 (2005) 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William J. Hudson; reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) 
 
1.(C) Summary: Over the past three months, the GOT has taken 
small, but public steps to improve the situation of the 
media. The steps include the legislative removal of depot 
legal (prior review) for Tunisian print media (Ref A), a 
highly publicized campaign on the part of newly-appointed 
Minister of Communications Rafaa Dekhil to reach out to 
Tunisian journalists, the announcement of the creation of a 
new Journalists' Union, an increase in funding for opposition 
papers, and an increase in financial assistance for 
journalists.  These steps were greeted, however, with 
skepticism on the part of Tunisian journalists who were 
hesitant to believe that the GOT was really easing 
restrictions on press freedom in the country.  The January 18 
GOT seizure of two Tunisian newspapers from the newsstands 
further convinced an already skeptical media corps that the 
GOT has no real intention to relinquish its control over the 
press.  Embassy officials have noted what appears to be 
reduced laudatory coverage of Presidential activities (a 
subject that has traditionally dominated the front pages) and 
the apparent testing -- however tentative -- of expanded red 
lines for reporting that has resulted in increased critical 
coverage of social and economic issues.   Tunisian 
journalists, however, are quick to assure us that 
self-censorship on the part of both writers and editors is 
still pervasive and that the GOT continues to dictate what 
can and cannot be written in the local press. End Summary. 
 
What Appear to Be Positive Signs 
-------------------------------- 
2.(U) In his speech on November 7, 2005, President Ben Ali 
announced several measures to "promote pluralism in the 
media."  These steps included the creation of a new cultural 
radio station, an increase in financial assistance available 
for Tunisian journalists, and an increase in government 
funding for opposition newspapers. The most significant of 
these measures, however, was the start of the legislative 
process to lift prior review (depot legal) for Tunisian print 
media. (NB: Ben Ali had originally announced the end of depot 
legal for the print media in May 2005. Depot legal continues 
to remain in force for books and foreign press).  The 
Tunisian media closely followed the legislative process 
involved in removing the depot legal requirement from the 
law, giving front page coverage to the bill's examination in 
Parliament and its subsequent signing into law by President 
Ben Ali on January 12, 2006. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The past three months also witnessed several other 
developments on the media scene.  Rafaa Dekhil, Minister of 
Communications and Relations with the Chamber of Deputies and 
the Chamber of Advisors (a ministry that was created in 
August 2005), engaged in almost weekly meetings with a wide 
range of Tunisian journalists, newspapers, and media 
organizations, all advertised as aimed at improving the 
situation of journalists and the press in Tunisia.  On 
January 4, newspapers reported that the Secretary General of 
the Tunisian Labor Union (UGTT) had announced the creation of 
a Journalists' Union in 2006. (NB: Such a union has been in 
discussion for close to ten years, but had never been 
formally announced.)  The clear message for the public was 
that the GOT was seriously engaging with the fourth estate to 
find ways to improve the situation of the press in Tunisia. 
 
4.(C) Since November, Embassy staff also observed reporting 
in the Tunisian press on previously-taboo subjects.  The 
first private television station in Tunisia, TV Hannibal, 
crossed redlines in its Ramadan programming, without any 
apparent repercussions.  These redlines included taking 
cameras into the homes of poor Tunisians to observe how they 
celebrated Ramadan and airing a miniseries that referred (via 
subtle innuendo) to previously untouchable topics as the 
influence of the Trabelsi family (the First Lady's family) 
and the failure of the GOT to provide assistance to the 
public during the 2003 floods.  TV Hannibal and the Tunisian 
written press also recently covered previously taboo social 
issues such as family violence, poor public hospital 
conditions and unwanted pregnancies.  Also, in December and 
early January, we noted that newspaper coverage of President 
Ben Ali's daily activities was no longer dominating all of 
Tunisian media and that his photo was not in its regular 
place above the fold in every newspaper. Newspapers openly 
debated the issue of rising olive oil prices and some 
editorials began to address sensitive issues such as 
 
democracy in the Arab world, the poor state of the Tunisian 
media and the need for reform in the press. In December, we 
counted at least three editorials in the mainstream press 
that directly criticized the current state of the press and 
civil society in Tunisia, all without repercussions. The 
December Parliamentary meetings received wide coverage and 
included the views of the opposition parties, and "Al Mawqif" 
and "Attariq Attajdid" regularly published newspapers full of 
pointed criticism of the GOT. 
 
Journalists Skeptical 
--------------------- 
5.(C) Tunisian journalists, however, remain cynical about 
these apparent signs of improvement.  All of them dismiss the 
end of depot legal as having little effect on their work, and 
most argue that Minister Dekhil will never have the influence 
or power to reverse what is perceived to be President Ben 
Ali's intention to control the media. Many of our contacts 
argue that the public is not watching TV Hannibal and that, 
in any case, due to his relation by marriage to the First 
Lady, TV Hannibal's owner will never take the lead on 
challenging the regime. Contacts tend to agree that social 
issues were being more openly treated but caution that such 
coverage will cease if it ever touches GOT interest in 
preserving its image in the eyes of the public.  Journalists 
dismiss those editorials that we found daring, arguing that 
they were allowed to run in newspapers with poor circulation 
and that the courage of one or two editors could in no way be 
viewed as a change in self-censorship.  Finally, journalists 
tell us that the President's photo had been absent from the 
front page simply because he had few public engagements 
during the period in question. (Comment: In the past, 
presidential inactivity has never stopped Tunisian newspapers 
from daily publication of the President's portrait or other 
stock presidential photos.  End comment.) 
 
6.(C) Journalists have told us that the GOT continues to 
directly and indirectly control the coverage of domestic 
events.  Examples are abundant.  A journalist at the most 
widely-read Tunisian newspaper, privately owned Arabic 
language "Ash Shourouq" told the IO that most of his articles 
on the December Parliamentary meetings were censored.  (Note: 
"Ash Shourouq" is supposedly read by around 800,000 Tunisians 
each day.  This takes into account the daily circulation of 
80,000 and the fact that each paper is believed to be read by 
10 people.  Given its wide public influence, it is tightly 
controlled by the GOT despite being privately-owned.)  Good 
contacts at both "Ash Shourouq" and its sister 
French-language daily "Le Quotidien" reported that 
recently-published editorials attacking opposition figures 
were drafted and sent to the newspapers by the GOT. 
Journalists also recalled that important domestic issues such 
as the continued activity of the October 18 movement (Ref B) 
and a recent debate on the use of the hijab by Tunisian women 
were absent from the Tunisian press.  (Comment: The GOT 
position on the hijab was presented and defended, but the 
opposing view was not provided. End Comment.) 
 
Worst Fears Confirmed 
--------------------- 
7.(C) On January 18, the GOT seized all of the copies of two 
Tunisian newspapers (mainstream weekly "Al Akhbar Al 
Joumhouriya" and opposition weekly "Al Mawqif") from the 
newsstands apparently based on their articles on the possible 
rise in bread prices in the coming months.  Rumor has it that 
the GOT found these articles, which were published close to 
the anniversary of the 1984 bread riots, to have been too 
provocative.  These seizures have served to transform 
skepticism on the part of Tunisian journalists to a complete 
conviction that the GOT will never release its grip on the 
Tunisian press.  Contacts note that seizures send two 
important messages: the GOT is closely monitoring the press 
and the GOT is unafraid of publicly demonstrating its tight 
control of the media.  These two messages serve to reinforce 
other fears (based on existing precedents) that plague 
Tunisian journalists, such as the possibility of losing their 
jobs, negative repercussions on family members, and possible 
imprisonment. 
 
 
Journalists Unwilling to Mobilize 
--------------------------------- 
8.(C) Despite a palpable sense of frustration, Tunisian 
journalists appear resigned to their fate, at least, as some 
note, until Ben Ali departs office.   During a January 
gathering of 15 journalists, the newsstand seizures dominated 
 
the discussion.  When the IO asked what action the Tunisian 
Journalists Association (AJT) would take in response to the 
seizures, an AJT board member who was present replied that 
there would be no reaction.  The question was raised whether 
the journalists could present their concerns to Minister 
Dekhil, but this idea was quickly dismissed.  Journalists 
simply repeated the same refrain:  "This is the situation in 
which we live.  It is never going to change." 
 
Glimmer of Hope Remains 
------------------------ 
9.(C) In conversations with close to 20 journalists over the 
past months, only one note of optimism was expressed.  Jamel 
Arfaoui, a journalist at a government-owned newspaper and a 
member of AJT, informed the IO that, since the WSIS, 
journalists were beginning to debate among themselves issues 
that used to be untouchable.  Arfaoui felt that fear was 
dissipating and that, given time, these private debates might 
become more public. 
 
Comment 
------- 
10.(C) The GOT's recent engagement on press freedom is likely 
a result of both USG pressure and a post-WSIS realization on 
the part of the GOT that they can no longer control every 
aspect of news coverage of Tunisia.  Recent news coverage of 
previously censored domestic issues such as a sudden spike in 
consumer olive oil prices and scandalous hospital conditions 
indicates that the GOT has moved its redlines back to allow 
Tunisian press coverage of certain social and economic 
subjects.  The remaining (unspoken but widely known) 
redlines, however, remain and continue to encompass coverage 
of opposition movements, debate on government policy, and 
mention of the First Lady's family.  The recent GOT seizures 
of newspapers in order to limit information on news that the 
government deems potentially destabilizing and the continuing 
manipulation of private newspapers to discredit opposition 
movements are clear signs of the GOT intention to continue to 
control the media when it comes to politically-sensitive 
issues. 
 
11.(C) It is unfortunate that most local journalists continue 
to play their customary role of self-censorship and 
resignation to a situation which, in their eyes, cannot be 
changed by anyone but the President.  While this reaction, or 
lack of reaction, on the part of journalists is the natural 
legacy of over fifteen years of tight and heavy-handed GOT 
control of the media and civil society, the situation of the 
press in Tunisia cannot evolve if the journalists themselves 
are unwilling to acknowledge movement on the part of the GOT, 
miss small windows of opportunity to push the redlines that 
exist, and refuse to publicly react to GOT actions such as 
the seizure of newspapers. The challenge for the USG is to 
continue to find ways to further engage both the GOT and 
Tunisian journalists on the need for a free and responsible 
press. 
HUDSON