Summary:
Tunisian journalist Khaoula Boukrim was subjected to a violation of her right as a journalist, The Independent High Authority for Elections revoked her accreditation card and demanded its return, which resulted in preventing her from covering the presidential elections of 2024 course.
Personal Information:
Name: Khaoula Boukrim
Nationality: Tunisian
Occupation: Journalist and editor-in-chief of “Tounes Media”
Incidents of Violation:
On Tuesday, August 20, 2024, journalist and editor-in-chief of Tounes Media website Khaoula Boukri received a message an e-mail from the Independent High Authority for Elections informing her of the decision to revoke her accreditation as a journalist and editor-in-chief of the “Tounes Media” website demanding her to hand over the accreditation card.
The decision has been made based on the Authority’s view that there was a failure to ascertain objective, balanced, and neutral media coverage of the electoral process, as well as the non-adherence to the electoral law, code of conduct, and rules of professional ethics. This decision comes a few months before the election date. Journalist Khaoula did not hand over the accreditation card as requested by the National Union of Journalists, as it is an arbitrary decision that violates her rights as a journalist and deprives her of her right to cover the electoral race. In addition, this decision is a breach of the Constitutional and legal texts regulating journalistic work, according to the statement issued by the National Union of Journalists.
Human Rights Violations:
The decision by the Independent High Authority for Elections, which demands journalist Khaoula hand over her accreditation card and prevent her from covering the electoral process, is one of the arbitrary actions that undermine the rights of journalists. It also represents serious violations and restrictions on press freedom for such decisions reveal clear attempts to intimidate and deter journalists from reporting information and covering events of public interest in real-time.
Furthermore, the National Union of Journalists noted in its statement issued on August 21, 2024, which highlighted the legal violations included in this decision, such as the breach of Article 55 of the Tunisian Constitution which mandates the adherence to the principles of necessity and proportionality when restricting rights and freedoms. Moreover, this decision lacks any clear or specific justifications for the actions attributed to the journalist, constituting a violation of the freedom of the press and its essential role in ensuring the integrity and transparency of elections. The Authority also ignored the right to defense and the principle of confrontation stipulated in Article 9 of its Resolution No. 10 of 2014،
In addition, the National Union of Journalists has considered this decision as an interference in the core of journalistic work, especially since the Authority is not qualified to assess journalistic activities according to professional ethics, which is a task that falls under the jurisdiction of the Press Council.
In this regard, Intersection Association for Rights and Freedoms believes that this decision contradicts Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression. This right includes the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
In addition, this ban is an infringement on the rights of others to receive information from journalistic sources, and is a violation of Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which states that “Every individual shall have the right to receive information.”
The association also deems that this violation is only a part of the pattern of undermining and further restricting the Tunisian press, and an encroachment on one of the fundamental pillars on which democratic societies are built. It also reflects the serious fallouts expressing the Tunisian state’s repeated attempts to weaken the media, curb its performance, and eliminate its supervisory role in holding the authority accountable and exposing its abuse. This contributes to creating an unsafe environment for journalists, where their right to practice is not guaranteed and the essential principles of journalism such as independence and freedom are not respected.
Sources:
Intersection Association documented the violation case after communicating with journalist Khaaoula Boukrim, reviewing her blog, and following up on her interventions and media statements on the matter. In addition to reviewing the National Union of Journalists’ statement issued on August 21, 2024.