The Tunisian authorities have told Human Rights Watch that they will
not allow Human Rights Watch to hold a news conference on March 24, 2010, to release a report
on Tunisia’s repression of former political prisoners. But officials did not present any legal basis for
the decision.
Human Rights Watch plans to go ahead with a March 24 public release of “A Larger Prison:
Repression of Former Political Prisoners in Tunisia.”
On March 22, Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, was told by the
Minister for Communications, Oussama Romdhani, that “it is not the wish of the sovereign” for the
news conference to proceed. Officials from the ministries of Interior and Justice said that they would
not allow it to proceed because it “tarnishes the image of Tunisia and is one-sided and biased.”
