January 6, 2003
Hon. Bill Graham
c/o Pratima Rao, Special Assistant
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Tower A, 10th Floor
Lester B. Pearson Building
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0G2
Dear Mr. Graham,
Re: Tunisia
Thank you for your letter of November 13, 2002, concerning Canada’s reaction to the deterioration of the Zimbabwean judicial system. The Canadian Section of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is grateful for your partnership in working to protect human rights, the rule of law and the integrity of the judiciary internationally.
I write again on behalf of ICJ Canada, at the direction of President Ed Ratushny, Q.C., regarding a separate matter of concern: Tunisia.
In June of 2002, Canadian Federal Court Judge Alice Desjardins was dispatched by the ICJ to Tunisia as part of a delegation of international judicial experts, along with Louise Doswald-Beck, ICJ Secretary-General, and David Ellman, a British barrister. The team sought to investigate allegations that the Tunisian government had been persecuting lawyers and judges.
When our own Judge Alice Desjardins arrived at the airport in Tunis,
she was, without explanation, refused entry into the country. The ICJ
mission had been deliberately obstructed. The Tunisian government had
earlier expressed objections to the inclusion of David Ellman on the
ICJ mission
on the basis of his Jewish identity and alleged anti-Arab bias but this
allegation was thoroughly refuted.
In October of 2002, a second ICJ team of three eminent experts was turned back at the airport immediately upon its arrival in Tunis. This team consisted of Mr. Christian Grobet, Swiss lawyer specialist in human rights law, Mr. Joakim Nergelius, President of the Swedish section of the ICJ and a Professor of Constitutional Law at Lund University; and Ms. Margaret Owen, a former British Magistrate.
Tunisia’s obstruction of international scrutiny is inconsistent with its claim of being a leading democracy in the Arab world. The integrity of the rule of law and judicial independence in Tunisia has been seriously undermined further by the following recent events:
- On December 11, 2002, suspected state agents violently assaulted Mokhtar Yahyaoui, a former Tunisian judge who was recently removed from the bench for having written an open letter to President Ben Ali complaining about executive interference with the judiciary. Mr. Yahyaoui is a founding member and President of the Tunisian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary. His assault occurred during an effort to rendezvous with a colleague who had just returned from discussions with the ICJ in Geneva regarding violence against Tunisian lawyers.
- In mid-December, 2002, Tunisian police physically assaulted lawyers Saida and Nourredine Bhiri and their children. Ms. Bhiri was subsequently detained and interrogated at the Tunisian Ministry of Interior. Other lawyers are being refused access to Ms. Bhiri’s office which remains surrounded by security agents. When the Secretary-General of the local Bar Association tried to enter Ms. Bhiri’s office, he was attacked by state agents and dragged into the street.
- Several other lawyers have also been violently attacked, some of which are members of the newly created International Association for the Support of Political Prisoners, of which Mokhtar Yahyaoui is a founding member.
The refoulement of Canadian Federal Court Judge Desjardins and the subsequent obstruction by the Tunisian government of ICJ investigative efforts are disturbing. It is incumbent on the Canadian government to take strong objection, not only to the shocking mistreatment of one of our most distinguished jurists, but against a pattern of conduct by the Tunisian government which discredits it amongst democratic and free nations.
The ICJ regularly dispatches expert missions abroad to meet with actors
involved in the administration of justice, including government, legal
professionals and members of civil society. In its fifty year history,
ICJ missions have rarely been denied access in the course of such work.
The Tunisian government’s blatant defiance of international scrutiny
is exceptional, characteristic of the treatment accorded to ICJ missions
by China and by Chile during its 1973 military coup. The International
Red Cross has also been denied access to inspect prisons in Tunisia.
We will continue to monitor the situation in Tunisia. In the meantime, we appeal to your Department and the Canadian government to express its strong disapproval together with whatever additional diplomatic action that you deem fit to respond to these issues of concern. The ongoing and increasing threat to key advocates of judicial independence in Tunisia renders this an urgent matter.
Thank you for your attention. If there is anything that ICJ Canada can do to facilitate Canada’s reaction to this crisis, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
David Aaron
Correspondent
cc: Hon. Jean Chretien, Prime Minister, Canada
Mr. Mohamed Saad, Tunisian Ambassador to Canada
Mr. Joakim Nergelius, ICJ Sweden
Hon. Justice John Dowd, ICJ Australia
Mr. Mohammed Nyaoga
Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson, South Africa
Ms. Louise Dowald-Beck, ICJ
Ms. Linda Besharaty, ICJ
Ed Ratushny, Q.C., President, ICJ Canada