Tunisia:
“Please tell the world
Kasserine is dying!”
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Tunisian netizens are working around the clock to show the rest of the world the ongoing carnage in their country. What started as a protest against unemployment when a 26-year-old Tunisian man set himself on fire in Sidi Bouzid last month has ignited the country, sparking a wave of protests across it.
Despite the fact that protesters on the ground are facing a heavy-handed response from the authorities, and cyber-activists are facing the same dilemma, photographs, testimonies and videos showing the daily mayhem are appearing online.
Today's news says that at least 20 people have been killed in both the city of Tala, 200km southwest of the capital Tunis, and in the Kasserine region - and the Twitterosphere is on fire.
Earlier today, I got the following appeal on the mico-blogging site.
@JustAmira @globalvoices please tell to the world that kasserine is dying!
A quick search of the #sidibouzid hashtag weaved a story of horror - and an out pour of solidarity from decent citizens from around the world.
Tunisia-based SBZ_news tweets:
According to a source inside Talah, the police prevent the evacuation of injured citizens #SidiBouzid
and asks:
الى سيادة المفتي: شنوّا حكم قتل طفل-13 ربيعا- برصاصة في الرأس على يد الشرطة؟ #SidiBouzidTo the Mufti (top religious judge), what is the ruling on policemen who kill a child - aged 13 - with a direct shot in the head?He also links to a video, uploaded on Facebook, which shows how the police have used live ammunition against protesters:
Bullets, used by the Tunisian police in Kassrin http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=170356223007700 #SidiBouzid
Nawaat too posts a video on YouTube showing how police have been engaging with the protesters using live ammunition:
Dead Tunisian boy in Tala. Image from Nawaat
On Twitter, Nawaat drives home the indiscriminate killings on the streets by showing us the image of a dead boy, on the streets of Tala:
Dead boy in the streets of Tunisia. (thala) 09.01.10 http://post.ly/1SQF7 #sidibouzid
And even the dead don't seem to be immune. Nawaat adds:
اخبار مؤكدة 100% عن اطلاق رصاص حي على موكب جنازة لاربعة شهداء سقطوا البارحة في تالة و تفرقت الجنازة تركت النعوش لوحدم في الشارع #sidibouzid100% accurate news on the firing of live ammunition on the funeral procession of four martyrs killed in Tala last night. The funeral procession was dispersed and the coffins were left abandoned on the streetfra-ise adds:
On Tunisian TV citizens and journalists express anger for the loss of doc and buildings. In #Tunisia only life is cheap. /@zizoo #sidibouzidBut for Tunisian Youssef 3al-7it, hope is on the horizon:
ما عادش تقولوا تونس تحتضر راهو موش إحتضار أما صرخة آلام ولادة الرجال #sidibouzidYou can no longer say that Tunisia is dying. This is not how death looks like. It is the cry of pain of a mother who gives birth to men.Tunisia's clashes against its own people have brought an out pour of reactions from people from around the world.
Reacting to today's events, Saudi Essam Al Zamil tweets:
الجزيرة: عشرون قتيلا اليوم في مظاهرات تونس (يبدو أن الحكومة التونسية الجبانة بدأت باستخدام القتل لارهاب الشعب) #SidiBouzid
According to Al Jazeera, 20 people killed in Tunisia's protests today. It seems that the cowardly Tunisian government has started to resort to murder in order to terrorise its people.Dima Khatib continues:
النظام في تونس وقع أمس شهادة بداية النهاية لنفسه. دماء ضحايا القمع في القصرين وتالة فرضت نفسها على وسائل الإعلام. انتهى الصمت #SidiBouzidThe Tunisian regime yesterday signed the beginning of its end. The blood of the innocent victims of Kasserine and Tala have imposed themselves on mainstream media. The silence is over.And she adds:
يبدو أن وسائل الإعلام العالمية لا تحلو لها الأخبار إلا عندما تأتي ملطخة بدماء الأبرياء. خرجت من صمتها حول انتفاضة تونس بالإجبار #SidiBouzidIt seems that the international media does not like news unless it comes splattered with the blood of innocents. It has now been forced to break its silence on the Tunisian uprisingFrom more videos from citizens in Tunisia on what is happening on the ground, tune into Nawaat's YouTube channel here or check out tunisians on vimeo here.
On Facebook, a page named Liberate Tunisia has been created, with regular updates of developments on the ground as well as images of the victims. Mr President, the Tunisian People are Setting Themselves on Fire is another group on Facebook, dedicated to documenting the struggle of Tunisian people.
| Tunisia arrests bloggers and rapper | ||||
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Dissidents were arrested or "disappeared" in crackdowns against what is being described as a national uprising.
Last Modified: 07 Jan 2011 20:37 GMT
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Tunisian authorities have rounded up bloggers, activists and a rap singer in a string of arrests that come in the midst of what is being described as a nationwide uprising. Two web activists, Slim Amamou and Azyz Amamy, have not been heard from since Thursday, sources in Tunisia told Al Jazeera. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said that it had been alerted that at least six bloggers and activists had been arrested or had disappeared in locations across Tunisia, and that there were probably others who had been targeted. Al Jazeera spoke with Amamy on Wednesday evening, local time, after his email and Facebook accounts werehijacked in an alleged government-led "phishing" campaign. His last tweet was published on Thursday morning, as was Amamou's. Amamy's phone was disconnected on Friday night when Al Jazeera tried to reach him. Hamadi Kaloutcha was arrested at 6am local time by police dressed in civilian clothing. His laptop and hard drive were also taken, according to RSF. The police officers told his wife that they had "a few questions to ask him" and that it would take a few hours. Another cyberdissident, Sleh Edine Kchouk, linked to the Tunisian General Students’ Union (UGET) was taken in for questioning in the town Bizerte and had his computer confiscated. As of Friday evening, he had not been released, sources confirmed. The arrests come in the context of a "cyberwar" between the Tunisian authorities and web activists, who have been struggling to break through the country’s extensive censorship wall. International web activists from Anonymous have launched "distributed denial of service" (DDoS) attacks on government-linked websites during the past week. 'Muffling discontent' Local journalists are facing violence and arrest as they try to cover the "unprecedented" protests that began on December 17.
"We are asking for the release of all those who are in jail for just telling the story of what is going on in their country," Jean-Francois Julliard, the head of RSF, said. "And we are asking above all for journalists to have access to what is going on in the country at the moment."Julliard said it was unacceptable that the Tunisian authorities have refused to allow a correspondent from the newspaper Le Monde into the country. "We are worried, worried because we feel that there is a toughening of the situation," Julliard said. "President [Zine El Abidine] Ben Ali … only wants to muffle this discontent as soon as possible, he wants his country to go back to this image of a tourist paradise, the beaches, security, peace and so on, so I think he's ready to do anything." The Committee to Protect Journalists said it was "disturbed" by the Tunisian government's attempts to censor coverage of the protests, citing violence against journalists, newspapers being pulled from shelves and the blocking of websites. "We are also alarmed by the shrill government-orchestrated campaign against Al Jazeera," the CPJ said in an open letter to Ben Ali. Rap singer arrested Tunisian police have arrested a rap singer who made a song critical of government policies as protests against President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali's rule continue to shake the North African nation, his brother said on Friday.
Video That Led To The General's Arrest
Hamada Ben-Amor, a 22-year-old rapper, was taken from his home in the Mediterranean Sea coast city of Sfax late on Thursday, his brother Hamdi Ben-Amor said. "Some 30 plainclothes policemen came to our house to arrest Hamada and took him away without ever telling us where to. When we asked why they were arresting him, they said 'he knows why'," he said. Ben-Amor is known to fans as "The General". Last week he released a song on the internet titled 'President, your people are dying' that talks about the problems of the youth and unemployment. The song came out as students, professionals and youths mounted a series of protests over a shortage of jobs and restrictions on public freedoms. The protests have grown into the most widespread and violent flare-up of dissent of Ben Ali's 23-year rule. Tunisian officials had no immediate comment on any of the arrests. |
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Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
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