Government urged to heed demands of “18 October Movement” hunger strikers

Reporters Without Borders today urged the Tunisian authorities to take account of the demands of eight opposition figures who began an indefinite hunger strike on 18 October to demand respect for freedom of expression and association in Tunisia and the release of all prisoners of conscience. The hunger strikers include Lotfi Hajji, the head of the Tunisian Journalists Union (SJT). One of the aims of the “18 October Movement” is to draw the international community's attention to the many violations of basic freedoms in Tunisia although the country is hosting the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) on 16-18 November. The situation in Tunisia is critical and has been deteriorating steadily since the SJT and the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH) were banned from holding a congress. The seven other hunger strikers are: - Ahmed Najib Chabbi, the secretary-general of the Progressive Democratic Party; - Hamma Hammami, the spokesperson of the Tunisian Communist Workers' Party; - Abderraouf Ayadi, the vice-president of the Tunisian congress; - Ayachi Hammami, the president of the Mohammed Abbou defence committee and secretary-general of the Tunis section of the Tunisian Human Rights League; - Mohamed Nouri, the chairperson of the International Association for the Support of Political Prisoners; - Mokhtar Yahyaoui, a judge and president of the Centre for the Independence of the Judiciary and Bar; - Samir Dilou, a lawyer and human rights activist. Doctors are monitoring their condition. After eight days on hunger strike, all eight are feeling weak, are having trouble sleeping and have low blood pressure. Some of them are beginning to show symptoms of dehydration. Hajji has repeatedly been the victim of obstruction by the Tunisian authorities. They stripped him of his press accreditation and his press ID and they forbad him to open an Al Jazeera bureau in Tunis.