Welcome to the website of the the Tunisia Monitoring Group (TMG), a coalition of 12 organisations that belong to the International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX) network. The TMG monitors free expression violations in Tunisia to focus attention on the country's need to improve its human rights record as the host of the November 2005 World Summit on the Information Society.
CANADIAN CIVIL SOCIETY AFFIRMS IMPORTANCE OF FREE EXPRESSION AT WSIS
22 June 2005 - Canadian civil society organisations have called on participants at the upcoming World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunisia to respect the right to freedom of expression and apply that principle to the summit itself.
TUNISIA: SERIOUS HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNS REMAIN, SAY WATCHDOGS
10 May 2005 - The Tunisian government is failing to take effective action to stop human rights abuses in the country, putting its status as host of the November 2005 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in question, says the Tunisia Monitoring Group (TMG), a coalition of 13 IFEX members that monitors free expression violations in the North African country.
IFEX MEMBERS SPOTLIGHT TUNISIA AT UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
29 March 2005 - On 31 March 2005, members of the IFEX Tunisia Monitoring Group (TMG) will highlight the worrying state of freedom of expression in Tunisia at a panel discussion in Geneva during the annual session of the UN Commission on Human Rights.
The  World Summit on the Information Society, organized by the International Telecommunication Union, concluded on Friday evening, November 18th, in Tunis, the capital of the north African nation of Tunisia. The event's organizers intended for the event to "put into motion" the plan for Internet financing and governance developed at the 2003 WSIS summit in Geneva, Switzerland.

The summit was marred by criticism of Tunisia for allowing attacks on journalists and human rights defenders to occur in the days leading up to the event. A French journalist for "Libération" was stabbed and beaten by unidentified men after he reported on local human rights protesters. A Belgian television crew was harassed and forced to hand over footage of Tunisian dissidents, while local human rights defenders were roughed up and prevented from organising a meeting with international civil society groups. A representative from the French media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, Robert Menard, was prevented from disembarking from his Air France flight to Tunis to attend the summit.

''Expression Under Repression panel at WSIS in Tunis.Source: Rebecca MacKinnon''

During the event, representatives from the Global Voices project were menaced by the Tunisian police as they held their session on "Expression Under Repression." Speaking at the session were Rebecca MacKinnon, Ethan Zuckerman, Nart Villeneuve, Taurai Maduna, Isaac Mao, and Hossein Derakshan, among others. The  interaction with the Tunisian police is related by Amanda Michel of the Berkman Center with the description from an attendee as, "Before the break, a phalanx of secret police (ie scary guys in dark suits) showed up. They filled the hall outside the room, forcing cancellation of the break for fear that we'd not be allowed to re-start."

Nicholas Negroponte demonstrated the first working prototype of his $100 laptop.