VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTU #0388/01 0531553
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 221553Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY TUNIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9863
INFO RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1529

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 000388 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA/MAG FOR LAWRENCE, NEA/FI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/21/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KPAO KMPI KDEM TS
SUBJECT: TUNISIAN ASSOCIATION OF DEMOCRATIC WOMEN ON GOT 
INTERFERENCE, DANGER OF ISLAMISTS 
 
REF: A. TUNIS 224 
 
     ¶B. 05 TUNIS 2550 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William Hudson for Reasons 1.4 b & d 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: On February 9, Poloffs met with senior 
officials of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women 
(ATFD), an authorized and independent NGO active in debating 
and publicizing women's issues.  While focused primarily on 
social issues, ATFD leaders have at times been outspoken 
critics of the restriction on political freedoms in Tunisia, 
and reported to us that the GOT has blocked their meetings, 
frozen foreign funding and instructed hotels not to rent 
space to ATFD for public events.  ATFD leaders claimed that 
the Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) initiative 
appears to be supporting Islamists in the region.  The ATFD 
leadership was strongly anti-Islamist, saying an Islamist 
government in Tunisia would only "replace one dictatorship 
with another."  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (C) Deputy Pol Counselor and HROff met February 9 with 
Alhem Belhaj, President, and Hafidha Shkeir, Director of 
External Operations, for the Tunisian Association of 
Democratic Women (ATFD).  Founded in 1989, ATFD has been 
active in debating and publicizing women's issues, and 
operates a counseling center for female victims of domestic 
violence.  ATFD is particularly active in tracking and 
advocating legislative reform impacting rights of women. 
ATFD leaders said they feel constrained in advocating full 
rights for women because of the overall lack of political 
rights in Tunisia.  They claim that due to their independence 
and critical watch-dog approach to social and political 
issues in Tunisia, they suffer from interference by the GOT. 
Belhaj said that the GOT has prevented ATFD awareness 
campaigns, restricted access to the press, blocked meetings, 
and instructed hotels not to rent space to ATFD for public 
events.  Belhaj was particularly concerned that the GOT 
continued to block funding from foreign NGOs, including a 
U.S. NGO (NFI).  Belhaj said that AFTD was looking for 
Embassy support regarding securing meeting space, unfreezing 
donor funds, and reiterating our support for freedom of 
association. 
 
¶3. (C) When asked if ATFD supported the Movement of 18 
October, an alliance of disparate opposition political groups 
and activists demanding freedom of association, expression, 
and a general amnesty for political prisoners (ref A), Belhaj 
said that while ATFD supported the Movement's demands, ATFD 
was strongly against the inclusion of "Islamists" in the 
alliance, and thus did not support the Movement itself.  ATFD 
had released a statement explaining this position. (NB: 
Belhaj and Shkeir, like many secular Tunisians, defined 
"Islamists" broadly, to include anyone supportive of a 
religious aspect to governance.)   Belhaj claimed that even 
those who claimed to be moderate Islamists posed a serious 
threat to Tunisia's significant social progress, and added 
that should an Islamist government ever take power in 
Tunisia, it would just "replace one dictatorship with 
another."  They added that any Islamists who say they are 
democratic or moderate will become authoritarian and seek to 
limit women's rights after gaining power. 
 
¶4. (C) Belhaj and Shkeir also emphasized their perception 
that the Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) implies 
support for a political role for Islamists in the region, and 
that the USG was seen as lending "dangerous" support to these 
groups, e.g. the Muslim Brotherhood.  Belhaj claimed that 
this viewpoint was shared by many other Tunisian civil 
society groups as well.  Shkeir cautioned that an alliance 
similar to the Movement of 18 October between secular and 
Islamist parties was exploited by Islamists in Iran shortly 
before the fall of the Shah in 1979.  When asked how ATFD 
reconciled its belief in an open democratic system with its 
refusal to recognize Islamist groups, Belhaj conceded that 
Islamist groups could be part of the dialogue, but that they 
should not be bolstered by support from the U.S.  According 
to Belhaj despite a GOT ban of the Tunisian Islamist party 
an-Nahdha, support for Islamists remained strong, albeit 
subdued, in Tunisia. (NB: The extent of any latent Islamic 
movement in Tunisia is debatable, but Belhaj reflects a 
fairly widespread concern, certainly shared by the Tunisian 
leadership, about Islamic strength in the country.) 
 
¶5. (C) Comment: Although ATFD leaders are well-known 
independent activists, and have been critical of the GOT, the 
substantive, commendable work of the organization has always 
been on social issues.  The GOT's tactics which have at times 
prevented the ATFD from carrying out this work differ only in 
degree from those used to limit the activities of more boldly 
anti-GOT associations such as the National Council for 
 
Liberty in Tunisia (CNLT) and the International Association 
for Political Prisoners (AISPP), and attest to the GOT's 
unwillingness to tolerate any independent organization that 
does not walk, or at least respect, the party line.  End 
Comment. 
HUDSON