Major Human Right Abuses in Tunisia ----------------------------------- (i) Some Background --------------- There is little doubt that President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali would dearly like to turn Tunisia into a democratic' country, provided he is also the leader of that `democracy'. This would consolidate his own position as a prospective father of the nation, in the image of his predecessor Habib Bourguiba whom he had deposed in November 1987. It would also help him in the eyes of the outside world. including the USA and France whom he particularly wants to impress. But the problem is that at the same time President Ben Ali is bent on destroying, or at least emasculating, the Islamic movement of Ennahdah which, although representing at least a very substantial section of the Tunisian nation, is still denied the status of a political party. Indeed it is subjected to brutal repression. Yet in order to be taken as `democratic', Ben Ali also needs an `opposition'. There being few credible political parties and personalities outside the Islamic opinion, he is having to prop and nurse his own opposition, from the various political fractions. Ben Ali and his Democratic Constitutional Rally, the RCD, the ruling party and successor of the legendary Neo-Destour created by Bourguiba during the struggle against colonialism, are going to extraordinary length in order to breathe life into the fragmented `legalized' political opposition. For example, President Ben Ali paid last April the six opposition groupings a subsidy of 50,000 dinars (1 dinar approx. 1US) plus another 30,000 dinars to finance their newspapers and guaranteed them access to government-controlled media including TV. The government has furthermore associated this opposition in various legislative and other planning, such as the preparation of the next national development plan, 1992-1996, and administration of such delicate matters as human rights and university life. Central administration, governors and regional representatives have been instructed to bring the regime's own opposition into their deliberations and activities. Then, on 25 July, President Ben Ali solemnly decorated the opposition party leaders. About a fortnight before that he, had offered even more substantial, if somewhat embarrassing gift. He suggested an agreement between his party and the legal opposition by which the RCD would field no candidates at the next partial parliamentary elections. Opposition would thus have no competition and could gain at least some ten seats. But the proposal backfired. Many members of the RCD did not want to share their monopoly of power and privilege and opposed it on the ground that it would amount to cheating the electorate. They were not wrong and the opposition parties themselves saw in it the offer of a poisoned chalice. Already largely unfamiliar to the electorate the prospective opposition candidates would be badly compromised as government stooges if they accepted to take parliamentary seats unopposed. As expected, the six parties rejected the offer. This, of course, does nothing to solve the problem of credibility for the opposition which suffered a debacle at the last general elections in April 1989. As the leader of one of the six parties Mohammed Moaada, of the Social Democrat Movement, has candidly put it: `The entry of opposition in the parliament is always a positive development, but the opposition must preserve its credibility. Only the ballot box will allow it to take a proper place in the elected assemblies'. In order to be able to confront the government in a credible manner the six opposition parties have been trying to build a joint front. But this would clearly serve only electoral pub because it is hard to imagine how they could agree on a viable common political programme (one of them is the Tunisian Communist Party!). But, above all, even these opposition parties want the present electoral system and laws on media and political activities changed and made more `democratic'. Nevertheless they have no wish to change the system in such a way as to allow the Ennahdah into the political arena. This opposition essentially agrees with the present repressive policies pursued by Ben Ali. In other words, it wants to keep the cake and eat it. No date has yet beet fixed for the next parliamentary elections and no procedures have beer announced for them. One thing is certain, both the government and the essentially surrogate opposition parties will do what they can to prevent the Ennahdah taking part in the election of the government. While Ben Ali's government has been offering carrot to the `legal' opposition there has been nothing but stick for the Ennahdah. On 28 September the Tunisian minister of interior, Abdallah Kallel, claimed that the Ennahdah had been planning to assassinate President Ben Ali the following October. Also to die, according to this `terrorist plan,' were the Prime Minister and members of his cabinet and the Speaker or parliament, all that in order to create a `constitutional vacuum'. According to Kallel this `criminal project' represents the final phase of a five-stage plan for seizure of power by force and formation of an interim government composed of Ennahdah leaders. The minister also claimed that the `plotters' planned to fire a Stinger missile at President Ben Ali's aircraft during one of his official trips. This was not the first time that the Tunisian government claimed to have discovered an Ennahdah `plot'. On 22 May the minister of interior, Kallel, announced the discovery of an Ennahdah conspiracy to establish Islamic state in Tunisia. Nearly hundred people were then arrested, about one-third of them military personnel. On 7 September President Ben Ali himself announced the discovery of a store of arms and ammunition which allegedly also served as a place to manufacture various weapons. Ben Ali spoke of a `diabolical conspiracy' of the Ennahdah. A total of over one hundred rifles and large number of revolvers were said to have been included in the find. More people are likely to have been arrested following this `discovery', although no details are available. But we know that many arrests followed the interrogations of people apprehended last May. We also understand that several of these people were tortured in prisons. One, Fathi-Khiari, an Islamist, died in prison as a result of torture inflicted on him in jail - according to members of his family. Repression of the Islamic movement in Tunisia also has its international dimension as some countries, particularly France, lend full support to Ben Ali, while others draw to themselves the wrath of Tunisian authorities for refusing to cooperate and even assisting the Islamic party fugitives. President Francois Mitterand has personally assured President Ben Ali of every possible French assistance in the matter and complete `understanding' regarding any actions taken by the Tunisian government against members of Ennahdah. These assurances are particularly significant in that they imply French refusal to allow on its territory any exiled leader of the Islamic movement. Recently they refused visa to the Ennahdah president in exile, Prof. Rashid al-Ghannoushi. Tunisian government's relations with Algiers have, on the other hand, been strained because Algerian authorities gave permission to a number of exiled Tunisian Islamists to reside in their country. The latest incident concerns relations with Sudan as Tunisian government announced on October 15 the decision to recall its ambassador from Khartoum, accusing the Sudanese government of assisting a number of Tunisian Islamists. The Political Bureau of the ruling RCD publicly voiced its `disapproval' in regard to Sudan for `providing assistance and facilities' to several Tunisian Islamists. Rashid al-Ghannoushi himself is believed to have been travelling on a Sudanese passport. The RCD said it deplored Khartoum's persistence in its attitude in favour of the Ennahdah, `in spite of the established proof of the terrorist character and criminal methods' of the Islamic party. The Tunisian party recalled in this connection `the promises made many times by the Sudanese government to put an end to such behaviour which causes harm to relations between the two countries'. The Tunisian regime faces a dilemma. By refusing to `legalize' the Ennahdah it is driving its militants underground. But the movement is gaining strength as the Tunisian regime is unable to satisfy the demands of ever larger sections of the population for economic and social improvement. In the old colonial days a Tunisian was asked to trade off his traditional beliefs and customs for a better standard of living and career. Today, there is no advantage in imitating the foreigner. Moreover, the Islamists themselves have been developing economic and social solutions for the country's problems. (ii) A Sample of Human Right Abuses ------------------------------ Considering its abilities, the general interest of the country, and the regional and international situation, the islamic movement chose to soften its postion to the new regime so that he may learn from the failure of the oppressive policies of his predecessor. The movement made some concessions on some issues that were used as a pretex against it. In spite of this, President Ben Ali insisted on following the same steps of his predecessor. Supported by the anti-Islamic political elite surrounding him, he turned back on his promises, falsified the will of the people, and embarked on the the implementation of a comprehensive plan to eliminate the Islamic movement. This plan included but not restricted to: * Organizing show trials to issue heavy sentences including the the death sentence. * Embarking in an assissination campaign that resulted in the killing of several. * Arresting many teenagers and sentencing them for few years of prison in order to punish their fathers for their political activities. * Taking the families of the political refugees hostages including women, children, and elderly. * Continously organizing numerous savage night raids on various quarters of the Tunisian cities frightening the children and arbitrarily arresting more than 25,000 muslims man and women. * Brutally torturing thousands of muslim men, women, children and elderly. The torture methods included electric shocks, droping acids on the genitals, electrically drilling the feet, and having a special kind of dogs abuse the arrested victims sexually. This has resulted in the death of many muslims. * Accusing the Islamic movement of plotting a coup in order to isolate it politically and pave the way for further arrests and trials aiming at eliminating the movement. * Congesting all the streets of the country with the military, the police and the newly formed special forces that are harassing the people everywhere, even in their own homes. * Passing some legal bills restricting the political life and aiing at depriving the Islamic movement from its political, legal, and public rights. * suspending various newspapers and independent magazines, among which `Al-Fajr' which was the only Islamic channel of information anf whose director has been jailed. * Freezing the activities of the Tunisian General Students Union and assassinating many of its members, particularly on the May 8, 1991 slaughter where automatic weapons were used. * A systematic, and intensive elimination of anything related to Islam. President Ben Ali appointed a Communist as minister of education, closed the Islamic book centers, banned the Islamic books from all public libraries. * dismissing thousands of muslims from their jobs, ceasing their properties, and withholding the licenses of those who run their own businesses in order to put the Islamic movement in further financial difficulties. * Continuing the application of bill 108 that prohibits wearing the Islamic dress in schools and public administrations. * Applying bill 29 that imposes shutting down the mosques in public administrations, and preventing teaching Qur'an in the mosques. * Preventing any Islamist from participating in any cultural or youth organization, and banning Islamic marriage celebrations. * Banning Islamic teaching at the Zaytouna University after it had resumed two years ago, and closing all the Qur'anic schools that had been teaching children how to memorize Qur'an throughout the Bourguiba's era. (iii) Organizations Condemning the Tunisian Government ------------------------------------------------ Several international human rights organizations has condemned the Tunisian regime for human right abuses, among them: 1. International League for the Rights and the Liberation of Peoples, Roma, Italy. 2. Arab Association of Human Rights, Paris, France. 3. La Ligue des Droits de L'homme, Paris, France. 4. Tunisian Human Rights League, Tunis. 5. Tunisian Lawyes Organization, Tunis. 6. CAFEAT, London, England. 7. International Federation of African Jurists, London, England. (iv) Further Information ------------------- For more information on human rights in Tunisia, please contact one of the following: 1. North African Students for Freedoms Box 18025, Washington, DC 20036 2. American Muslim Council 1212 New York Ave, NW, Suite 525, Washington, DC 20005 3. Muslim Public Affairs Council 3010 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 217, Los Angeles, CA 90010 Source: IMPACT International, Vol 21: issues 5 & 6 Dec. 13, 91 - Jan. 9, 1992 And other Tunisian and Human rights sources