Interviews with Sihem Bensedrine

I started as a student of the university for trade union activities. But I started working on human rights as a member of an NGO [Non-Governmental Organization] since 1979. There was a big clash between the general trade union in Tunisia and the government of Bourguiba. And it was a big, big clash. And then there [were] a lot of people in prison. There [were] people assassinated, also. And we started working on this field defending people in prison.

Then Bourguiba allowed a bit more freedoms basic freedoms like freedom of association. And in 1977 two things happened in Tunisia. The first is Bourguiba allowed free media, independent media to be published. And he also allowed the first human rights NGO in the Arab world. It was the first one, the Tunisian League for Human Rights. And I was a member of this Tunisian league.

Also I started working as journalist in the first independent newspaper in Tunisia. It was very, very great moment I had in my life because I learned a lot about my country. You know, when you have this position of journalist, you can discover every day a new part of your society. And I– it was very, very– the most important experience of journalism in my life, it was this one and at the same time I was a human rights activist. I started working in both sides at the same time.

Sihem Bensedrine was born in 1950. She studied at the University of Toulouse Le Mirail in France, from which she holds a degree in philosophy. Upon her return to Tunisia in 1977, she began work as a journalist, and became known as a critic of the regime.

As one of the most prominent Tunisian human rights activists, she paid a high price for her views. The regime continually harassed her and her family, pressuring employers to fire her, applying financial pressure, and slandering her in the media. Bensedrine’s family was under constant surveillance, received death threats, and was at times not allowed to travel outside the country. Due to these threats, she spent years as an exile, continuing to speak out on human rights and democracy issues in her homeland.

In 1998, she cofounded the National Council for Liberties in Tunisia (CNLT). In 1999, she launched the “Kalima” website, which reported on conditions inside the country. Kalima later expanded to satellite radio broadcasting. She also cofounded the Observatory for Defense of Freedom of the Press, Publishing and Creation (OLPEC).

Bensidrine returned to Tunisia as the demonstrations against the Ben Ali regime gathered steam. She continues to advocate for freedom of the press and other human rights as Tunisia transitions to a new democratic system of government.