Tunisia is a constitutional republic with a population of approximately 10 million, dominated by a single political party, the Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD). Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has been the president since 1987. The international community generally did not consider the 2004 presidential election to be free and fair. President Ben Ali ran against three opposition candidates and was declared the winner with approximately 94 percent of the popular vote. In concurrent elections for the Chamber of Deputies, the RCD won 152 of the 189 seats. During the year the indirect elections for some members of the Chamber of Advisors, the upper house of parliament, resulted in a heavily pro-RCD body. The civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces.

There were significant limitations on citizens' right to change their government. Local and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported that security forces tortured and physically abused prisoners and detainees and arbitrarily arrested and detained individuals. Security forces acted with impunity sanctioned by high-ranking officials. There were also reports of lengthy pretrial and incommunicado detention. The government infringed on citizens' privacy rights and continued to impose severe restrictions on freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and association. The government remained intolerant of public criticism, and there were widespread reports that it used intimidation, criminal investigations, the judicial system, arbitrary arrests, residential restrictions, and travel controls to discourage criticism by human rights and opposition activists. Media freedom was severely restricted during the year and corruption was a problem.

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From:

a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life

The government or its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings; however, security forces killed demonstrators during the year.

On May 6, according to domestic NGOs, protestor Hichem Alaimi was fatally electrocuted at a power station in Redeyef when local officials proceeded to restore power to the station, although Alaimi and others refused to let go of the cables after allegedwarnings by officials that power would be restored. Protestors had temporarily shut down the generator during a sit-in protesting unemployment. Two other protestors were non-fatally electrocuted.

On June 6, security forces shot and killed Hafnaoui Al-Maghzaoui during an unemployment protest in Redeyef. Security forces also shot Abdelkhalak Amaidi, who died on September 13 due to complications resulting from the wound. Government officials claimed that protestors threw Molotov cocktails at security forces, prompting them to open fire; however, local civil society leaders maintained that the protest was peaceful and that security forces began firing without warning. At year's end there was an investigation into the circumstances of the shootings, but no charges had been filed.

There were no developments in the 2006 case of Tarek Ayari, allegedly killed by Bechir Rahali, a Tunis police chief, who hit the victim on the head with the handle of a pickaxe.

b. Disappearance

There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances.

c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

The law prohibits such practices; however, according to human rights organizations, security forces tortured detainees to elicit confessions and discourage resistance. Reported abuses included sexual abuse; sleep deprivation; electric shock; death threats; submersion of the head in water; beatings with hands, sticks, and police batons; suspension, sometimes manacled, from cell doors and rods resulting in loss of consciousness; and cigarette burns. According to international human rights groups, on occasion, police and prison officials used threatened and actual sexual assault against prisoners' wives and daughters to extract information, intimidate, and punish.

Charges of torture in specific cases were difficult to prove, and authorities generally did not take steps to investigate allegations or punish perpetrators. There were several allegations that authorities often denied victims of torture access to medical care until evidence of abuse disappeared. The government maintained that it investigated all complaints of torture and mistreatment filed with the prosecutor's office and noted that alleged victims sometimes accused police of torture without filing a complaint, a prerequisite for an investigation. However, according to defense attorneys and local and international human rights groups, police routinely refused to register complaints. In addition, judges dismissed complaints without investigation and accepted as evidence confessions allegedly extracted through torture. The government can open an administrative investigation of allegations of torture or mistreatment of prisoners without a formal complaint; however, in those cases the results were not made public or available to the lawyers of affected prisoners.

Consistent with an effort to extract information or coerce confessions, reports of torture were more frequently associated with the initial phases of interrogation/investigation and in pretrial detention centers more than prisons. Human rights activists, citing prisoner accounts, identified facilities at the Ministry of Interior (MOI) as the most common location for torture. Political prisoners, Islamists, and persons detained on terrorism-related charges allegedly received harsher treatment than other prisoners and detainees.

Defense attorneys for protestors arrested during the January to June unemployment protests in the southwestern region of Tunisia allege that their clients were tortured while in police custody but have not been able to obtain court-ordered medical exams to prove their charges.

According to local NGO, Freedom and Equity, Gafsa prison guards raped Wahid Brahmi, sentenced to two years and four months in prison on charges of spreading false information, during his incarceration beginning on February 12. The guards threatened reprisals if Brahmi told his family what happened to him. Brahmi made several complaints to the head of the prison, but his complaints were dismissed, and authorities transferred him to Mornaguia Prison. At year's end Brahmi remained in prison.

On July 25, security forces arrested Zakia Dhifaoui, a teacher, journalist, and member of the opposition Democratic Forum for Freedom and Labor (FDTL), after she took part in a demonstration in Redeyef. On September 15, a court sentenced her to four-and-a-half months in prison on charges of participating in an illegal demonstration. During her trial, Dhifaoui told the judge she was harassed by security officials. Authorities granted her early release on November 4, and upon her release, Dhifaoui told the international press that she had been raped by prison officials while incarcerated.

On January 16, the Tunis Court of First Instance acquitted and released Oualid Layouni after he had been detained at Mornaguia Prison since January 2007. There was no investigation of his allegations that officials hit him on the head and body, confined him to a small space without natural light or aeration, and subjected him to sleep deprivation.

On May 23, the Court of Cassation confirmed the convictions on terrorism charges of Ramzi el Aifi, Ousama Abbadi, and Mahdi Ben Elhaj Ali, sentenced to life, 30 years, and eight years in prison, respectively. There was no investigation into the men's November 2007 allegations of torture, including Aifi's claim that officials inserted a stick into his anus, and the men remained in prison at year's end.

There were no developments in the December 2007 case of 30 citizens who alleged torture by security forces, or the 2006 case of Aymen Ben Belgacem Dridi who reported that security forces beat, kicked, and subjected him to falka (beatings on the soles of the feet) in the Borj er-Roumi prison.

On May 23, the Court of Cassation upheld Mohamed Amine Jaziri's 30-year sentence. He was arrested in 2006 on terrorism-related charges. From 2006 to January 2007 authorities reportedly blindfolded, bound, and beat him with electric cables. At year's end he remained in prison, and there had been no public investigation of his allegations.

Police assaulted human rights and opposition activists throughout the year.

On February 18, according to the Committee for the Respect of Freedom and Human Rights in Tunisia (CRLDHT), security forces assaulted CRLDHT secretary general Fatma Ksila and Tunisian Association for Combating Terrorism (ATLT) member Samia Abbou and prevented them from meeting with torture victims' families. The officers allegedly hit Ksila and Abbou repeatedly, abused them verbally, and confiscated their cash, a camera, and a tape recorder.

On April 17, security forces assaulted a member of the opposition Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) while she was selling copies of the PDP's Arabic weekly in central Tunis.

On June 18, according to an Agence France-Presse report, four security officers attacked and kicked Hamma Hammami, a member of an unregistered political party, in front of his nine-year-old daughter as he was leaving his home.

There were no developments in the June 2007 case of regional union leader Khaled Barhoumi, reportedly attacked by police during a protest; the August 2007 case of Aymen Rezgui, assaulted by police as he was leaving a PDP press conference; or the 2006 case of lawyers Ayachi Hammami, Abderraouf Ayadi, and Abderrazak Kilani, reportedly assaulted while they were staging a three-week sit-in to protest a new law creating a government-controlled training institute for lawyers.

Prison and Detention Center Conditions

Prison conditions generally did not meet international standards. Overcrowding and limited medical care posed a significant threat to prisoners' health. During the year there were credible reports that authorities sometimes denied injured or sick prisoners prompt access to medical care. The government permits the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to prisons, but not other independent human rights observers.

According to human rights organizations, prison conditions in the country continued to fall short of minimum adequate standards. Hygiene was extremely poor, and prisoners rarely had access to showers and washing facilities. Sources reported that 40 to 50 prisoners were typically confined to a single 194-square-foot cell, and up to 140 prisoners shared a 323-square-foot cell. Most prisoners were forced to share beds or sleep on the floor. Current and former prisoners reported that lack of basic facilities forced inmates to share a single water and toilet facility with more than 100 cellmates, creating serious sanitation problems. Contagious diseases, particularly scabies, were widespread, and prisoners did not have access to adequate medical care. Additional discriminatory and arbitrary measures such as restrictions on family visits worsened the conditions for detainees, particularly when prisoners sought redress for grievances about treatment and conditions.

According to domestic and international human rights organizations, from April to May, Sfax prison officials denied journalist Slim Boukhdhir access to a shower for six weeks. As a result, he developed scabies, and for a time prison officials withheld medication. In addition, on May 27, an inmate threatened to stab Boukhdhir, and guards near his cell did not respond to his repeated calls for help.

According to international NGOs, on November 11, prison officials at Mornaguia Prison refused to give former prisoner Ridha Boukadi, who suffered from kidney problems, his medical file. President Ben Ali granted Boukadi conditional release on November 4 after more than a decade in prison.

On April 5 and April 20, security forces allegedly beat Adnan Hajji, and also extinguished lit cigarettes on his skin. On December 11, a court in Gafsa sentenced Hajji to ten years in prison on charges of forming a criminal group with the intent of destroying public and private property, leading an armed rebellion, and assault on officials during the exercise of their duties.

Political prisoners were separated from the general prison population and were under the authority of security forces working for the Department of State Security in the MOI and Local Development instead of Ministry of Justice (MOJ) officials. Other inmates were instructed to stay away from political prisoners and were punished severely for making contact with them. In addition, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that the government continued to keep some political prisoners, most of whom were outlawed Islamist party An-Nahdha leaders in small-group isolation; however, the government released the remaining ah-Nahdha prisoners on November 4. Former An-Nahdha President Sadok Chourou, one of those released on November 4, was subsequently rearrested on December 3, shortly after giving an interview to the London-based satellite television station Al-Hiwar. He was sentenced to one year in prison for membership in an unauthorized organization on December 13.

According to prisoner and detainee testimony, prison conditions for women were generally better than those for men. On July 23, the government passed a law mandating that prisons have separate areas for pregnant women and nursing mothers. The law also reduced the period of time infants and toddlers are allowed to reside with their mothers from three years to one. The law requires that pretrial detainees be held separately from convicted prisoners, but in practice they were not always separate.

The ICRC continued to visit detainees in prisons and detention facilities in the country. Per ICRC standard modalities, its observations and recommendations were shared on a confidential and bilateral basis with the authorities. The government did not permit media to inspect or monitor prison conditions.

The governmental Higher Commission on Human Rights and Civil Liberties (HCHR) continued to make unannounced prison visits and inspections of MOJ facilities during the year; however, the HCHR's reports were not made public.

d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention

The law prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention, but the government did not observe these prohibitions.

Role of the Police and Security Apparatus

The MOI controls several law enforcement organizations including the police, who have primary responsibility within the major cities; the National Guard, which has responsibility for border security and policing smaller cities and the countryside; and state security forces, which monitor groups and individuals that the government considers to be a threat, such as opposition parties and leaders, the media, Islamists, and human rights activists.

In general law enforcement groups were disciplined, organized, and effective; however, incidents of petty corruptionand police brutality took place. Law enforcement organizations operated with impunity sanctioned by high-ranking officials. Police attacked dissidents and oppositionists.

The MOI's Higher Institute of Internal Security Forces and Customs has oversight of law enforcement officers in the ministries of interior and customs. The organization's stated mission was to reinforce human rights and improve law enforcement; however, no information was available about its operations, and no information was available about any punishment of police and prison guards.

Arrest and Detention

The law provides that the police must have a warrant to arrest a suspect, unless the crime committed is a felony or is in progress; however, arbitrary arrests and detentions occurred. The penal code permits detention for up to six days prior to arraignment, during which time the government may hold suspects incommunicado. This requirement, however, was not always observed. For example, a 2007 National Council for Freedom and Labor (CNLT) report documented 24 cases in which the six-day pre-arraignment detention reportedly was exceeded. Arresting officers are required to inform detainees of their rights, immediately inform detainees' families of the arrest, and make a complete record of the times and dates of such notifications, but those rules were sometimes ignored. Detainees were allowed access to family members when they were not being held incommunicado, although the government did not always facilitate the efforts of family members to identify the whereabouts of their detained relatives.

Detainees have the right to know the grounds of their arrest before questioning and may request a medical examination. They do not have a right to legal representation during the pre-arraignment detention. Attorneys, human rights monitors, and former detainees maintained that authorities illegally extended detainment by falsifying arrest dates. Police reportedly extorted money from families of innocent detainees in exchange for dropping charges against them.

The law permits the release of accused persons on bail, and detainees have the right to be represented by counsel during arraignment. The government provides legal representation for indigents. At arraignment the examining magistrate may decide to release the accused or remand him to pretrial detention.

In cases involving crimes for which the sentence may exceed five years or that involve national security, pretrial detention may last an initial period of six months and may be extended by court order for two additional four‑month periods. For crimes in which the sentence may not exceed five years, the court may extend the initial six‑month pretrial detention by an additional three months only. During this pretrial stage, the court conducts an investigation, hears arguments, and accepts evidence and motions from both parties. Complaints of prolonged pretrial detention were common.

On June 25, according to Amnesty International (AI), police arrested Zied Fakraoui but failed to notify his family of his whereabouts until July 2 when local government officials told Fakraoui's lawyers that he had been brought before an investigating magistrate without the presence of counsel. At year's end Fakraoui was believed to still be in custody.

On August 27, police arrested International Association for the Support of Political Prisoners (AISPP) member Tarek Soussi shortly after his interview with Al-Jazeera regarding several recent arrests. He was charged with spreading false news likely to disturb public order. According to Reporters Without Borders (RWB), security forces did not present a warrant at the time of Soussi's arrest and posed as electric company employees to gain entrance to his home. Soussi was released on September 25, following a ruling by the Bizerte Court of Appeals. At year's end no court date had been set.

There were no developments in the May 2007 case of founding AISPP member Lassaad Jouhri, reportedly detained by police for approximately 12 hours and questioned on his plans to accompany international NGOs Human Rights First (HRF) and Frontline to El Kef prison.

According to international and domestic human rights organizations, police arrested individuals (more than one thousand since late 2006) following security operations to disrupt an armed cell that was plotting to carry out terrorist attacks. Families made inquiries about the individuals, but authorities provided no information. Local and international groups have expressed concern that authorities held the arrested in incommunicado detention at the MOI State Security Department, where they would be at risk of torture and other ill-treatment.
Although 30 suspects charged with plotting against state security were convicted, the total number of those in pretrial detention is unknown.

Amnesty

The government did not grant amnesty during the year; however, judges sometimes exercised their authority to release prisoners or suspend their sentences in favor of conditional parole.

e. Denial of Fair Public Trial

The law provides for an independent judiciary; however, the executive branch and the president strongly influenced judicial procedures, particularly in political cases. The executive branch exercised indirect authority over the judiciary through the appointment, assignment, tenure, and transfer of judges, rendering the system susceptible to pressure. The president headed the Supreme Council of Judges, composed primarily of presidential appointees.

The law provides citizens legal recourse to an administrative tribunal to address grievances against government ministries, although officials rarely respected the tribunal's nonbinding decisions. The government permitted observers from diplomatic missions and foreign journalists to monitor trials. Observers may be allowed to attend sessions of military tribunals at the court's discretion.

The training institute for lawyers that President Ben Ali signed into law in 2006 became operational in October. Once it was granted a management role, the Tunisian Bar Association no longer opposed the creation of the institute; previously it argued that the institute would undermine judicial independence by giving the government control of those admitted to the bar.

The civil court system is a three‑tiered hierarchy. At the first level, there are 51 district courts, in which a single judge hears each case. At the second level there are 24 courts of first instance, which serve as the appellate courts for the district courts but also have original jurisdiction for more serious cases. The Court of Cassation (or Supreme Court) serves as the final court of appeals. The Supreme Court considers only arguments pertaining to points of law. The organization of the criminal court system is similar to that of the civil court system. In most cases the presiding judge or a panel of judges dominates a trial, and attorneys have little opportunity to participate substantively.

Military courts fall under the Ministry of Defense. Military tribunals have the authority to try cases involving military personnel and civilians accused of national security crimes. Defendants may appeal the military tribunal's verdict to the civilian Supreme Court. In 2007, according to AI, the military courts sentenced at least 15 civilians to up to 10 years' imprisonment.

There is also an administrative tribunal, which hears administrative cases between citizens and the government.

Trial Procedures

The law extends the same trial procedure rights to all citizens, and it provides for the right to a fair trial; however, according to international and domestic NGOs, this did not often occur in practice.

Trials in the regular courts of first instance and in the courts of appeal are open to the public. By law the accused has the right to be present at trial, to be represented by counsel (provided at public expense for the indigent), and to question witnesses; however, judges did not always observe these rights in practice. The law permits the trial in absentia of fugitives from the law. Both the accused and the prosecutor may appeal decisions of the lower courts.

The law provides that defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty; however, that presumption was sometimes ignored in practice, especially in politically sensitive cases. Defendants may request a different judge if they believe the assigned one is not impartial; however, judges are not required to recuse themselves. Juries are not used.

Lengthy trial delays remained a problem. Defendants do not have the right to a speedy trial, nor is there any time limit on cases. Defense lawyers claimed that judges sometimes refused to let them call witnesses on their clients' behalf or to question key government witnesses. Defense lawyers contended that the courts often failed to grant adequate notice of trial dates or allow time to prepare their cases. There were reports that judges restricted access to court records and evidence, especially to that held by the government, and in some cases required all the lawyers working on a case to examine documents together on a single date in judges' chambers, without allowing them to copy relevant documents.

Lawyers and human rights organizations reported that courts routinely failed to investigate allegations of torture and mistreatment and accepted as evidence confessions extracted through torture. These groups also reported that the summary nature of court sessions sometimes prevented reasoned deliberation and that erratic court schedules and procedures deterred observers of political trials.

Although family and inheritance law is codified, civil law judges were known to apply Shari'a (Islamic law) in family cases if the two systems conflicted. Some families avoided the application of Shari'a inheritance rules by executing sales contracts between parents and children to ensure that daughters received shares of property equal to that of sons.

 Political Prisoners and Detainees

The number of political prisoners remained unknown. Human rights organizations alleged that the government had arrested and imprisoned approximately 2,000 persons since 2005 without sufficient evidence that they had committed or planned to commit terrorist acts. Human rights activists and lawyers alleged that many of these detainees were tortured in MOI facilities and forced to sign confessions under duress.

All remaining An-Nahdha leaders in prison were pardoned, however one was subsequently re-arrested soon after his release.

Former political prisoners stated that upon their release, officials failed to give them their identification cards, marked their identification cards in a specific way, or denied them the certificate attesting that they had served their sentences and were permitted to work. They also reported being closely monitored by both uniformed and plainclothes police.

The ICRC and the HCHR had access to political prisoners in Ministry of Justice-controlled prisons and detention facilities.

Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies

While a court system existed through which a human rights complaint could be made, the judiciary was not independent and impartial in cases involving human rights violations when the government was involved. Administrative remedies were available through the Office of the Ombudsman at the Presidency or the Administrative Court under the Prime Ministry. However, decisions taken by these institutions were not binding and were often ignored by other government departments and agencies.

f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence

The law prohibits such actions "except in exceptional cases defined by law;" however, the government generally did not respect these prohibitions in practice. Police sometimes ignored the requirement to have a warrant before conducting searches if authorities considered state security to be involved. Domestic NGOs and civil society activists reported that members of the security forces entered their offices when they were not present and searched without a warrant.

Authorities may invoke state security to justify telephone surveillance. According to numerous reports by NGOs and the news media, the government intercepted faxes and e-mails. The law does not explicitly authorize these activities, but the government stated that the code of criminal procedure implicitly gives investigating magistrates such authority. Opposition political activists experienced frequent and sometimes extended interruptions of service to home and business telephones, faxes, and the Internet. Human rights activists accused the government of using the postal code, with its broad and undefined prohibition against mail that threatens the public order, to interfere with their correspondence and interrupt the delivery of foreign publications. Authorities reportedly opened and read letters, many of which never reached the recipients. Security forces routinely monitored the activities, telephone, and Internet exchanges of opposition, Islamist, and human rights activists, as well as journalists, and placed some under surveillance.

Human rights activists claimed that the government punished family members of Islamist activists by denying them jobs, educational opportunities, business licenses, and travel due to their relatives' activism. Police also subjected relatives to surveillance and questioning. For example, during the week of April 13, according to RWB, two security officers threatened the family of journalist Taoufik Ben Brik.

Human rights activists reported that the government made it difficult for released prisoners suspected of An-Nahdha membership to find employment. Other released political prisoners found it hard to get MOI statements that they had no criminal records, and even when not imprisoned, political activists and Islamists had their identification cards confiscated, which created problems with receiving health care, signing a lease, buying or driving a car, and accessing bank accounts and pensions. Police may demand identification cards at any time and may detain those unable to produce their cards until police establish their identity. AISPP member Lasaad Johri has not had an identification card since 1999.

Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

a. Freedom of Speech and Press

The constitution provides for limited freedom of speech and of the press; however, the government generally did not respect these rights in practice. The government restricted press freedom and severely intimidated journalists, editors, and publishers into practicing self‑censorship. Security forces closely monitored both foreign and domestic press activity.

Individuals were not free to criticize the government without fear of reprisal, and the government restricted some types of speech. The law prohibits individuals from discussing national politics on foreign radio or television channels during the two weeks prior to national elections, with up to a 25,000 dinar (approximately $20,833) fine per offense. Security forces often questioned citizens seen talking with foreign visitors or residents, particularly visiting international human rights monitors and journalists. The government also attempted to prevent private meetings with foreign diplomats and to influence public meetings by surrounding meeting places with scores of plainclothes policemen.

On January 14, police arrested comedian Hedi Ouled Baballah for alleged possession of cannabis and counterfeiting, shortly after he performed a satirical comedy sketch about President Ben Ali. Baballah denied the charges against him and domestic and international NGOs alleged that he was framed, noting that in March 2007, after he performed a similar sketch, police arrested, beat, and detained him in Bouchoucha detention center for several days. On February 4, a court sentenced him to one year in prison and a 1,000 dinar (approximately $833) fine for "possession of a category B drug;" however, on March 20, President Ben Ali granted Baballah an early release.

The government does not require licensing of print media; however, it rigidly controls print media through a publishing permit process. Print media must request a copyright registration from the MOI, which issues a receipt that constitutes an official permit to publish valid for one year. The Press Code requires that the receipt be issued before printing, effectively prohibiting any unlicensed publications. The code also requires the publisher to inform the MOI of any change of printer. Printers and publishers violating these rules are subject to substantial, per copy, personal fines under the Press Code.

CNLT produced the online newspaper-magazine Kalima without a license, but it was accessible only from outside the country. On April 26, the CNLT made its fifth attempt to register Kalima, but government officials refused to acknowledge their application had been received. International human rights NGOs alleged that the government refused registration of Kalima due to its commentary critical of the government. On October 8, the Kalima Web site was hacked and its archives destroyed. Previously, in May 2007 between 30 and 60 plainclothes policemen reportedly blocked the entrance to Kalima's offices for more than six weeks, beginning shortly after Kalima's representatives met with members of international NGOs Frontline International and HRF.

On November 13, the assistant general prosecutor summoned the secretary general of the opposition FDTL to answer questions about an October 22 editorial in FDTL's Arabic weekly Mouatinoun. The editorial accused government officials of ordering the destruction of Kalima's Web site. Government officials also removed the Mouatinoun edition in question from newsstands.

The government stated that there were 950 foreign publications and newspapers distributed in the country and that 90 percent of domestic newspapers were "privately owned and editorially independent." However, two of the eight mainstream dailies were government owned, two were owned by the ruling party, and two, although nominally private, reportedly took editorial direction from senior government officials. All media were subject to significant governmental pressure over subject matter. There were seven opposition party newspapers with small circulations. Five of them received government subsidies under a law providing government financing to papers representing opposition parties with seats in parliament.

Broadcast media are controlled by the granting or denial of a frequency by the Tunisian Frequencies Agency, a part of the Ministry of Communications Technologies. These licenses, or acceptance of the application, are tightly restricted.

Government regulations required foreign correspondents to obtain written approval before video recording in public. The government controlled the satellite transmissions of local correspondents reporting for foreign television stations by refusing to license correspondents and insisting all correspondents use government-owned facilities for satellite uplinks.

There were widespread reports that the government impeded most criticism in the mainstream press and that it harassed, arrested, and abused journalists during the year, especially those active in opposition activities. The government cited preserving public order as grounds to suppress criticism and used defamation laws to prosecute journalists however, journalists most often faced charges of unrelated offenses (such as counterfeiting), often by private parties. The law authorizes sentences up to five years in prison for offensive statements against the president and up to three years for defamation of constitutional bodies, including the Chamber of Deputies, Chamber of Advisors, constitutional councils, the administration, government members, or deputies.

As a result of his coverage of the January to June unemployment protests in southwestern Tunisia for the private television station al-Hiwar Attounsi, journalist Fahem Boukadous was sentenced on December 11 in absentia to six years in prison on charges of disseminating information that might disturb public order and belonging to a criminal organization.

On March 3, security forces assaulted human rights journalist Sihem Bensedrine and her husband Omar Mestiri, both members of the CNLT, upon their arrival at the port of La Goulette. They were held for six hours, and Bensedrine's arm was injured in the assault. Plainclothes officers confiscated several documents, which were not returned. On August 19, according to RWB, security officers prevented Bensedrine from boarding a flight to Europe. According to the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), the officers were physically and verbally abusive and pushed her to the floor. At year's end there was no known investigation into the allegations.

On July 4, former PDP Secretary General Nejib Chebbi was questioned on charges relating to defamation of the judicial system. The charges stem from an editorial in the May 9 edition of the PDP's Arabic weekly al-Mowqif. At year's end the case was ongoing.

On June 6, according to RWB, security forces detained Mouwatinoun reporter Hédi Raddaoui for 36 hours after he attempted to photograph demonstrators injured by security forces during a protest in the mining town of Redeyef.

On November 24, police arrested reporter Fatine Al-Hamdi in Tunis, reportedly hitting her with a baton and dragging her by the hair. Police detained and interrogated her for four hours at the Sidi Bachir police station, reportedly in connection with her employer, the unregistered Internet radio station called Radio Kalima.

There were no developments in the March 2007 case of journalist and press freedom advocate Mohamed Fourati, sentenced in absentia to 14 months in prison for membership in the unauthorized An-Nahdha party. Fourati previously helped edit the opposition newspaper al-Mowqif and authored several articles critical of the government.

There were no developments in the April, June, or September 2007 incidents in which police reportedly assaulted journalists Lotfi Hajji and Aymen Rezki and forcibly prevented Hajji from entering PDP offices.

In June 2007 authorities added 26 months to the internal exile of journalist Abdullah Zouari, who once worked for Al-Fajr, the weekly newspaper of the An-Nahdha party. Zouari has remained under administrative control and in internal exile since 2004. According to RWB, no explanation was given for the extension, which continued at year's end.

On July 21, authorities granted an early release from prison to journalist Slim Boukhdhir, sentenced in December 2007 to one year in prison for "aggression against a public employee," "violation of public morality standards," and "refusal to present identity papers to police." However, on September 20, according to RWB, plainclothes police officers abducted, detained, and threatened Boukhdhir for several hours. Boukhdhir told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that he believed the incident was prompted by his recent article urging President Ben Ali to loosen the government's hold on civil society. The government reportedly continued to refuse Boukhdir a press card.

On December 11, a court sentenced journalist Fahem Boukadous in absentia to six years in prison on charges of disseminating information that might disturb public order and belonging to a criminal organization. In November 2007 authorities arrested Boukadous and a colleague working for the private television station al-Hiwar, where they were covering a labor union meeting.

There were no developments in the 2006 case of opposition political leader Moncef Marzouki, charged with "threatening to disturb the public order" following appearances on Al-Jazeera in which he criticized the government and called for civil disobedience. Marzouki departed the country before his case was heard by the court.

The law prohibits censorship of local newspapers, magazines, and books; however, the government continued to censor international media. For example, it banned the October 30 issue of French weekly L'Express Internationale. The edition carried six articles on Islam and Christianity. Furthermore, self-censorship and obvious government interference continued.

The government routinely seized and prevented distribution of domestic newspapers when it found articles or photos contrary to government policies. For example, authorities reportedly suppressed the March 14, March 21, and April 4 editions of the opposition weekly al-Mowqif, which carried articles on possible increases in the state-controlled prices of semolina and bread, governmental corruption, and the possibility of unsafe cooking oil on the domestic market, respectively.

According to many journalists and non-journalist sources, senior government officials routinely called news directors and editors to inform them which issues they were forbidden to cover or publish and to direct editorial content and news coverage. The government also often pressured newspapers to carry the government wire service's version of an event, even when their own journalists were present. The Tunisian Agency for External Communications enforced these informal censorship mechanisms by favoring certain publications for placement of government advertising. In addition, private companies were unwilling to advertise in newspapers no longer receiving government advertisements to avoid the appearance of siding with a media organization being punished by the government.

Directors and owners of existing private media, as well as journalists at the government and ruling party-owned press, practiced a high degree of self-censorship. Journalists in the mainstream press regularly refrained from investigative reporting on national issues. Only the small opposition press reported regularly on controversial national issues.

The law stipulates that the publication, introduction, and circulation of foreign works may be restricted. The MOI required book fair publishing representatives to deposit publication titles in advance; it rejected many titles from the display list for the April 25-May 4 book fair. Authorities also restricted the timely purchase of foreign publications that included articles deemed critical of the country or that the government determined could prompt a security threat.