Tunisia Monitoring Group

The Tunisia Monitoring Group (IFEX-TMG) is a coalition of 21 free-expression organisations that belong to the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), a global network of non-governmental organisations that promotes and defends the right to freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

The IFEX-TMG monitors free expression violations in Tunisia and works to raise international awareness of censorship in the country. In the lead-up to, and during, the November 2005 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), the IFEX-TMG called attention to Tunisia's failure to respect international human rights standards as the summit's host.

In the years running up to and during the Arab Spring, and the immediate months after, the chairman spokesman and chief fundraiser of the IFEX-TMG was Rohan Jayasekera, then Associate Editor of Index on Censorship. He was succeeded in 2012 by Virginie Jouan of the World Association of Newspapers who remained in post until IFEX wound up the group in late 2012.

A mission carried out in April 2011 post-revolution took place in an entirely different context. In stark contrast to previous missions, the delegation of seven IFEX-TMG member groups was able to meet and talk openly with civil society groups, human rights activists, journalists, bloggers and representatives from across the political spectrum. The work of the IFEX-TMG in consistently raising freedom of expression issues both inside Tunisia and on the international stage during the country's darkest years was widely praised, while opinions on how the transition process is unfolding were freely given. A full report is being issued on 1 June 2011.

"Tunisia needs a truly independent judiciary to reverse its worsening record on human rights and treatment of prisoners of opinion." This is a key conclusion of the latest IFEX-TMG mission to Tunisia in April/May 2010.

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