Tunis : daughter of carthage

Certain parts of the globe, valleys, hills, have a true predestination. He who first comes upon these places, feels attracted to them, recognises them and stops to shelter in them The hut or tent settled in these privileged places becomes the larva of a town, sometimes an empire, or something even greater: a civilisation ».
Tunis is one of these places: ii is above all a predestined site. Fa¬cing the sea, the Mediterranean, it has unequalled riches : surrounded by fertile plains, within easy reach of and directly communica¬ting with the Sahel, the Centre and also with the fertile regions in the North, Tunis, thanks to its geographic position, at the crossroads, fully merits to be called « daughter of Carthage ».

ORIGINS
These are the subject of much speculation. According to some theories, it is a purely secular city, but others say that it is none other than Tarchiche quoted in the Bible, Tynes, Tunis.. There are many different theories, some contradictory. In fact, the wisest humbly admit that they are una¬ble to solve the mystery. So ins¬tead of speculating, let us rather
follow historical facts. Around 400 BC Tunis was a partial witness to the war between Rome and Car¬thage. Carthage was ruined, and so was Tunis, Carthage was re¬born from its ashes, Tunis expe¬rienced wealth, during 15 centuries until the fall of Carthage … The little girl then came of age. It was her turn now, this was in 698 … Turned towards the West after the Arab conquest, (the Maghreb was already in gestation), Abdelmoumen, a follower of Mahdi Ibn Tou¬mert, arrived before Tunis, at the head of 100.000 men; they had come from afar, from the west of Morocco, from the imposing Anti¬Atlas. This was in 1159.
Tunis complied but did not break. At last ii became capital of Tunisia and was to remain so until the present day.

TUNIS, THE BEWITCHING CITY

Built around the famous lake of Tunis (famous also for its smells, it is in the process of being cleaned), the capital has undergone a ha¬phazard development, the fate of all big towns that grow quickly. However, the heart of Tunis has maintained its beauty and its ‘joie de vivre ».
From Avenue Mohammed V (the city’s widest and longest thoroughfare) dominated by the Hotel du Lac, an original architectural specimen, shaped like an upside¬down pyramid, to Bab Souika, everything is delightful.

Let us begin with the very at¬tractive square dominated by the imperious statue of Ibn Khaldoun, the city’s illustrious son, opposite Tunis’ very fine cathedral. The Municipal Theatre, one of the jewels of Avenue Bourguiba, built in pure  »Art Nouveau » style cau¬sed the hearts of the locals to tremble, but it is to be spared by Tunis-Centre that is planned on the site of the existing Handicrafts Centre. Tunis-Centre : a tall buil¬ding which will contain hotels, offices, shops, cinemas. a total of 70 000 square metres of floor¬space for an investment of 35 million. However the nec plus ulutra of this avenue remains the mall lined with ficus-trees. Over the years, it has become so popular that it has come to be called simply ‘The Avenue ». Here people like to stroll and show-off their finest clothes, florists compete to make bouquets for weddings and par¬ties, oblivious of the twitter of the starlings who are also part of the gaiety.
Other places to visit. besides Tunis’. numerous parks, are the outskirts, from la Goulette to Sidi Bou Said, via Carthage, Marsa and Gammartth ; the Mediterra¬nean, in its infinite tunic of blue, beckons you, .friendly and hospi¬table. Sidi Bou Said is where you will admire, a glass of Jasmine tea in hand; the full beauty of that peaceful sea that bathes the banks of the tranquil City, Tunis the dignified daughter of Carthage.

Le contrôle sur l’Internet est omniprésent en Tunisie, l’Agence tunisienne de l’Internet est l’entité responsable de la mise en place des sites institutionnels nationaux, elle gère l’enregistrement et l’administration des noms de domaine et régit le réseau tunisien, l’ATI a conçu des contrats restrictifs stipulant que l’usage d’Internet doit se limiter à des fins commerciales strictement en relation avec l’activité du client, scientifiques, technologiques. Les sites institutionnels doivent informer l’agence ATI de l’ouverture de comptes, changement d’adresse e-mail, d’équipement et d’utilisateur, ainsi que veiller à la restriction de l’accès à distance de son réseau à des tiers personnes.

En Tunisie, certains services en ligne et sites sont censurés en amont des universités tunisiennes. Les fournisseurs de mail gratuit : Netcourrier, Caramail et Hotmail, les fournisseurs d’hébergement gratuits : MultiMania, Chez, Angelfire, ou des forums de discussion tunisiens ne passent pas les limites des campus.

Pour accéder à un cybercafé tunisien, les internautes tunisiens doivent décliner leurs noms et adresses ou présenter une pièce d’identité ou pour s’abonner aux Publinet Au sein de ces cybercafés, l’administrateur peut surveiller ce qui se passe sur chaque écran ; Les policiers effectuent des visites ponctuelles et peuvent scruter l’historique de navigation enregistré dans les PC de navigation du cybercafé. Par recoupement des informations des cartes d’adhérents, ils peuvent établir qui a consulté tel ou tel site web.

Le code de la presse tunisien entré en vigueur depuis 1997, un outil très efficace de censure, s’applique également aux publications sur le Web. Il vise la production, la provision, la distribution et le stockage de l’information à travers le réseau.

La censure visait les sites d’opposition politique et parmi les premiers victimes, un webzine hébergé à l’étranger qui a vu son accès bloqué depuis la Tunisie. .
Depuis novembre 1998, date où le Comité pour la protection des journalistes et reporters sans frontières avaient désigné le président Zine Abedine Ben Ali comme l’un des prédateurs de la liberté de la presse, leurs sites ont été censurés dans la Tunisie.
Avec la publication d’Amnesty International d’un rapport sur les atteintes aux droits de l’homme en Tunisie. L’accès au site d’Amnesty y est régulièrement bloqué.

Nationality: Noun and adjective–Tunisian(s).
Population (2010): 10,486,339.
Annual population growth rate (2008): 1.2%. Birth rate–17.7 births/1,000 population. Death rate–5.8 deaths/1,000 population.
Ethnic groups: Arab-Berber 98%, European 1%, other 1%.
Religions: Muslim 99%, Christian less than 1%, Jewish less than 1%.
Languages: Arabic (official), French.
Education: Years compulsory–9. Literacy (definition–age 15 and over can read and write, 2007 est.)–74.3%.
Health (2010): Infant mortality rate–22.57 deaths/1,000 live births. Life expectancy–75.78 total, 73.98 years male, 77.7 years female.
Work force (2009): 3.689 million.
Unemployment rate (2009): 13.3%.

Tunisia Geography
Location: North Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Algeria and Libya.
Area: 163,610 sq. km. (63,378 sq. mi.), slightly smaller than Missouri.
Cities: Capital–Tunis; Greater Tunis Area, Sfax, Nabeul, Sousse.
Terrain: Arable land in north and along central coast; south is mostly semiarid or desert.
Climate: Hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters.
Land use: Arable land–17.05%; permanent crops–13.08%; other–69.87%.

a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life

The Tunisian government or its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings; however, security forces killed demonstrators during the year.

On May 6, according to domestic NGOs, protestor Hichem Alaimi was fatally electrocuted at a power station in Redeyef when local officials proceeded to restore power to the station, although Alaimi and others refused to let go of the cables after alleged warnings by officials that power would be restored. Protestors had temporarily shut down the generator during a sit-in protesting unemployment. Two other protestors were non-fatally electrocuted.

On June 6, security forces shot and killed Hafnaoui Al-Maghzaoui during an unemployment protest in Redeyef. Security forces also shot Abdelkhalak Amaidi, who died on September 13 due to complications resulting from the wound.Tunisia Government officials claimed that protestors threw Molotov cocktails at security forces, prompting them to open fire; however, local civil society leaders maintained that the protest was peaceful and that security forces began firing without warning. At year’s end there was an investigation into the circumstances of the shootings, but no charges had been filed.

There were no developments in the 2006 case of Tarek Ayari, allegedly killed by Bechir Rahali, a Tunis police chief, who hit the victim on the head with the handle of a pickaxe.

Tunisia is a constitutional republic with a population of approximately 10 million, dominated by a single political party, the Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD). Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has been the president since 1987. The international community generally did not consider the 2004 presidential election to be free and fair. President Ben Ali ran against three opposition candidates and was declared the winner with approximately 94 percent of the popular vote. In concurrent elections for the Chamber of Deputies, the RCD won 152 of the 189 seats. During the year the indirect elections for some members of the Chamber of Advisors, the upper house of parliament, resulted in a heavily pro-RCD body. The civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces.

 There were significant limitations on citizens’ right to change their government. Local and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported that security forces tortured and physically abused prisoners and detainees and arbitrarily arrested and detained individuals. Security forces acted with impunity sanctioned by high-ranking officials. There were also reports of lengthy pretrial and incommunicado detention. The government infringed on citizens’ privacy rights and continued to impose severe restrictions on freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and association. The government remained intolerant of public criticism, and there were widespread reports that it used intimidation, criminal investigations, the judicial system, arbitrary arrests, residential restrictions, and travel controls to discourage criticism by human rights and opposition activists. Media freedom was severely restricted during the year and corruption was a problem.