The secretary-general of the General Union of Tunisian Students (Union générale des étudiants tunisiens, UGET) in Tunisia provided the following information during a 15 March 2004 telephone interview.

The UGET was founded in 1952. It is managed by an executive board of 13 members and is present in all universities and higher education institutes in Tunisia. It also has a division in France called UGET-France.

The UGET, however, also has internal divisions. Currently, there are two factions within the UGET: one that claims to be [translation] "independent" and another deemed to be [translation] "close to power" and led by Zaatour Alezzedine. According to the UGET representative, Tunisian authorities that want control of the Union have encouraged the internal divisions. The UGET representative also said that five of the Union's members are staging a hunger strike to protest their expulsion from university. According to the secretary-general, the five strikers were expelled for their union activities.

With regard to the membership cards issued by the UGET, the representative indicated that his organization issues two kinds of cards: a student membership card, which is given to any student who is part of the UGET; and a regular membership card, which is issued only to members who are part of the UGET [translation] "structure." These are usually members of the executive and federal boards, the UGET's two governing bodies.

In describing a student membership card, the UGET secretary-general indicated that the front of the card bears the organization's full name and acronym, followed by the student's name, the level of study, the faculty or institute the student attends, and the seal and signature of Jamel Tlili, Secretary-General, or Hamdi Ramzi, Treasurer. The UGET's objectives are listed on the back of the card. The regular membership card, in addition to the information printed on the student card, bears a photograph of the cardholder. Both types of membership cards are issued in Tunisia and France. The only difference between the cards issued in Tunisia and those issued in France is that the latter are in French and the former in Arabic.

During a 15 March 2004 telephone interview, the president of UGET-France said that his organization has members at the Universities of Paris, Montpellier and Toulouse.

According to an article in Le Monde, the UGET has approximately 150 student members at Paris VIII University (2 Apr. 2003). The same article indicated that the UGET organized an antisemitic exhibit in the university's entrance hall from 25 to 27 March 2003 (Le Monde 2 Apr. 2003; see also Libération 1 Apr. 2003). Le Monde added that Paris VIII University filed a complaint against the UGET in relation to this exhibit (2 Apr. 2003).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Libération [Paris]. 1 April 2003. Thoraval Armelle. "Une exposition antisémite déclenche un tollé à Paris-VIII. L'Union des étudiants tunisiens se voulait propalestinienne." (Dialog)

Le Monde [Paris]. 2 April 2003. "L'Université Paris VIII porte plainte contre une exposition antisémite." (Dialog)

Union générale des étudiants tunisiens (UGET) [Tunis]. 15 March 2004. Telephone interview with the Secretary-General.

Union générale des étudiants tunisiens, France Division (UGET-France) [Paris]. 15 March 2004. Telephone interview with the President.

Additional Sources Consulted

Attempts to reach the director of the UGET faction reported to be [translation] "close to the government" were unsuccessful.

The UGET-France president could not send a sample of a membership card within the time constraints for this Response.

Africa Confidential

Africa Research Bulletin

Jeune Afrique/L'Intelligent

Keesing's Record of World Events

Resource Centre country file. Tunisia.

Internet sites, including: AllAfrica, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch (HRW), InfoTunisie, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), La Presse (Tunisia).