By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK | TUNIS, 14 March 2023 (IDN) — A campaign targeting Black migrants in the north African nation of Tunisia has escalated with misleading videos on social media. The African Union has responded—cancelling a major conference on illicit financial flows due to take place in Tunisia this month.
The misleading videos repeated remarks by President Kais Saied who called migration a “plot” to change the country’s profile from Black to Arab.
But according to Reality Check and BBC Monitoring, nearly all the videos that claim to show African migrants in Tunisia were actually filmed elsewhere.
One of the videos, with millions of views reads, in Arabic: “Tunisia under occupation.” Another says: “Tunisia has become the kingdom of Africans.” While the video purports to be filmed in Tunisia, a Senegalese flag can be seen and the language heard in Wolof, a Senegalese language.
There are an estimated 20,000 sub-Saharan migrants in Tunisia, which has a population of 12 million.
Tunisian rights researcher Kenza ben Azouz told the BBC: “This is not a matter of legality or illegality. It’s about being Black in this country”. Black Tunisians, who make up around 10-15% of the country’s population, suffer discrimination because of the colour of their skin, she said.
Hundreds of people have protested In Tunis to denounce Saied’s speech, accusing him of racist comments against refugees while Ivory Coast, Mali and Guinea have begun repatriating their citizens from Tunisia.
Tunisia has rejected responsibility for the racial violence, saying it only sought to ensure “laws of the land are respected to avoid spreading chaos”.
According to Lawyers Without Borders, an advocacy group, approximately 800 sub-Saharan Africans have been arrested. Others have been evicted from homes they had rented or have lost their jobs. [InDepthNews]
Image: The consul of Mali in Tunis checks a list as Sub-Saharan migrants arrive with their belongings to take a repatriation flight for their countries of origin on March 4, 2023. Source: Vanguard
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Freedom Of the Press Suffers A Body Blow In Senegal
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK, 13 March 2023 (IDN) —Journalism is in trouble in Senegal.
On March 3, a reporter with the news service Walf TV was detained and then charged with six crimes including “spreading false news,” after reporting on the questionable prosecution of an opposition politician.
The legal columnist, Pape Ndiaye, was arrested based on his expose of politician and opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, who was accused of rape.
According to Ndiaye’s attorney, Moussa Sarr, the alleged victim never filed a complaint against Sonko and the case was being pursued at the discretion of a government prosecutor.
Pape Ndiaye had alleged in the broadcast that all 19 deputy prosecutors in Dakar were in favor of dismissing the case. However it was the wish of President Macky Sall that the case be sent for criminal prosecution.
Angela Quintal, with the Committee to Protect Journalists, urged Senegalese authorities to immediately release Pape Ndiaye, cease jailing members of the press for their work, and reform the country’s laws to ensure they cannot be used to criminalize journalism.
“The jailing of journalists has thrown into serious doubt Senegal’s reputation as a stable democracy in West Africa,” said Quintal, Africa program coordinator with the New York-based CPJ.
The six charges filed against Ndiaye include provoking a crowd, contempt of court, intimidation and reprisals against members of the judiciary, speech discrediting a judicial act, spreading fake news, and endangering the lives of others, the journalist’s lawyer told CPJ.
In November 2022, another journalist, Pape Ale Niang, head of the news website Dakar Matin, was arrested and charged with “divulging information likely to harm national defense” on the same case.
At the request of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), 78 African journalists and press freedom organizations signed a letter asking for the release of editor Pape Alé Niang and to respect the country‘s constitution, which enshrines press freedom.
In the letter, titled “Pape Ale Niang Has No Place Being in Prison,” they wrote: “We, journalists from the African continent, are alarmed by the plight of our colleague Pape Alé Niang and are very concerned about the consequences of his imprisonment on his health, on press freedom and on the right of all citizens to news and information.
His imprisonment highlights other challenges for the media in Senegal, once a press freedom flagship in Africa. Further, Senegal lacks a law on access to information, which prevents journalists and citizens from accessing state-held information. It is time to remedy this without delay and to amend the Press Code in order to decriminalize press offences.
CPJ’s calls to government spokesperson Abdou Kerim Fofana and Justice Minister Ismaila Madior Fall rang unanswered or did not connect. [InDepthNews]
Image: The consul of Mali in Tunis checks a list as Sub-Saharan migrants arrive with their belongings to take a repatriation flight for their countries of origin on 4 March 2023.
IDN is the flagship agency of the Non-profit International Press Syndicate.
Visit us on Facebook and Twitter.
We believe in the free flow of information. Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, except for articles that are republished with permission.