Censorship tightened in host country for World Summit on the Information Society

Tunisia, host of the 16-18 November 2005 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), blocked access to the opposition Progressive Democratic party (PDP) website on 1 March, adding it to a long list of filtered sites. The moves showed censorship was being tightened said Reporters Without Borders, condemning Tunisia's model for developing the Internet. Even radionongrata.org, the website set up by the worldwide press freedom organisation to report on the summit has been censored. "President Ben Ali believes that the fact the UN agreed to hold a summit on the Internet in his country means the international community approves of his policy in this field," the organisation said. "We believe that, on the contrary, the Internet model advocated by Tunisia, combining censorship and crackdown, should be condemned by countries that care about freedom of expression". The PDP site (www.pdpinfo.org) may have been blocked for having fuelled the debate provoked by the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, announced for November 2005. Its home page features a photo of the Israeli leader stamped with the slogan, "No to the visit of the bloodthirsty one". The party leader, Néjib Chebbi, has said in reference to the invitation, "The government should review its decision, or Sharon will walk on our corpses". The website www.radionongrata.org was set up by Reporters Without Borders for the preparatory meeting of the WSIS in Geneva on 17-25 February 2005. It lists the organisation's recommendations for free expression on the Internet and carries a personal account by Tunisian cyberdissident Zouhair Yahyahoui, who has spent more than a year and a half in jail. Following the preparatory meeting, President Ben Ali accused human rights NGOs of carrying on a "trade in distorting Tunisia's image". He also repeated that the holding of the WSIS in his country was a "world affirmation" of "our choices and orientations". Websites censored in Tunisia Human rights websites www.maghreb-ddh.org http://www.tunisiadaily.com/tunisnews.html www.rsf.org, www.internet.rsf.org et www.radionongrata.org http://www.zarzis.org http://www.dabbour.net http://www.tunisia-info.org http://www.nawaat.org http://www.verite-action.org News websites www.tunezine.com www.kalimatunisie.com http://www.quibla.net http://www.elwatan.com http://www.islamonline.net http://www.oulala.net http://www.africaintelligence.fr http://www.tunisnews.net www.reveiltunisien.org http://www.alternatives-citoyennes.sgdg.org Political opposition websites Progressive Democratic Party: www.pdpinfo.org Tunisian Communist Workers Party: http://www.albadil.org Tunisian Perspectives: http://www.perspectivestunisiennes.net Congress for the Republic: http://www.cprtunisie.com Ennahdha Party: http://www.nahdha.net --