๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐จ๐๐ข๐๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ญ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ
In recent weeks, Tunisia has been living in a state of social upheaval because of the policies of a government that did not fulfil the expectations of Tunisian women and men. The Government failed to confront corruption and instead established a policy of impunity and inequality before the law. It replaced political solutions with brutal security and judicial approaches reminiscent of the last days of the Mechichi government.
Legitimate social movements of active youth in a number of major neighborhoods of Tunis (Tadhamon, Al Intilaqa, Sidi Hssin, El-Kram, Citรฉ Ezzouhour…) and in other cities in the interior (El Hamma, Zarzis, Moknine, Nabeul, Bizerte…) have expressed and requested the virtues of the Revolution – freedom, dignity, justice and equality. The protests reflect an outrage at the authorityโs failure to find fair and effective alternatives to failed and unjust development policies. They are an expression of resistance towards an authority that systematically resorts to coercive security and justice responses to harass and repress protesters with brutal methods such as the use of teargas in entire neighborhoods, violent police raids on cafes and homes, massive arbitrary arrests, kidnapping of activists, imprisonment of dozens through unjust sentences based on undemocratic, outdated and colonial laws and beylical decrees. These accusations are fomented to weaken popular movements and to intimidate activists.
The signatory organizations, associations and unions express their total rejection of the way police and justice was implicated in the following cases:
The kidnapping of the activist Saif Ayadi following the support he provided to the family of the martyr Malek Sellimi, victim of police violence in the Ettadhamen district in an attempt to silence witnesses, acquit the guilty security officers and ensure their impunity. The search of the house of the activist Awsse Saadi, imprisoned without clear charges and the kidnapping and arrest of the student activist Ghaith Marzouk in one of the cafes of Jbal Lahmer:
The persistence in prosecuting journalists such as Ghassan Ben Khalifa, Arroi Baraket and Khalifa El Guesmi and the judicial harassment against opponents of the bill criminalizing attacks on the armed forces;
The unfair trial of demonstrators from Mornag following their protests against the state’s treatment of Mohamed Amine Dridi, a young fruit seller who committed suicide upon the confiscation of his goods by municipal officers;
The police raids in houses of protesters in the neighborhoods of Ettadhamen, Al Intilaqa and Al Kabbaria, and their arrest for investigation – in retaliation and in order to prevent them from continuing their civil and peaceful demonstration;
The excessive display of armed forces around the court of first instance of Ben Arous during the trial of the killers of Omar Laabidi, the prohibition of dozens of citizens from participating in the organized demonstrations during the hearings, the abduction of some of them and the abuses against some members of the โT3allem 3oumโ campaign; these restrictions have affected several members of the defense committee;
The trial of 36 activists of the campaign “Manish Msabb” from the region of Agareb-Sfax in order to shut down the movement that demands fair environmental policies in a city facing the dangers of pollution and heading towards slow death;
The harassment and prosecution of lawyers in contradiction to the principles of fair trial;
The prosecution of numerous youth – such as Wassef Derbali – following opinions expressed on social media and the defamation and incitement against activists and demonstrators thereby violating their right to dignity and privacy;
On the basis of the above, the national and international civil organizations express:
– Their entire support to all peaceful demonstrations against the policies of marginalization, impoverishment and starvation, and against the manipulation of the current authority undermining the hopes and expectations of the Revolution by adopting the same backward approaches of the last decade and the years of dictatorship ;
– Their support to citizen and youth movements to continue their struggles, while respecting public and private property, in their attempt at remaining a positive influential force on the system of governance and in pushing for development policies that fight corruption and promote rights and freedoms ;
-Their denouncement of the excessive use of force, of arbitrary arrests and of attacks against activists in lieu of treating the protests positively by understanding their root causes and hearing the views of the protesters ;
The signatories:
– Hold the authorities accountable for the consequences of their failed economic and social policies that produce exclusive development programs causing further unemployment, poverty and extreme inequality. They call the authorities to revise them, including through fair development decisions and an effective fight against corruption ;
– Call for the immediate release of all detainees, to stop prosecuting them and to guarantee the right of expression and protest, paid with the blood of the martyrs of the Revolution ;
– Announce that they begin -in coordination with all relevant bodies and structures- to provide legal support to all those who are arbitrarily referred to justice, in line with their belief in the right to a fair trial and in their refusal of the instrumentalization of justice to settle accounts with youth and human rights movement ;
The signatory organizations also announce that a press conference will be held on Tuesday, October 25, 2022, at 10:00 am at the headquarters of the National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT), to present their position on the recent demonstrations, the political and security situation and announce the forms of actions that they will take during this period of crisis.
Organisations signataires/Signatory organizations :
โข Forum Tunisien pour les Droits Economiques et Sociaux
โข Syndicat National des Journalistes Tunisiens
โข Ligue Tunisienne des droits de lโHomme
โข Association Tunisienne des Femmes Dรฉmocrates
โข Union Gรฉnรฉrale des Etudiants de Tunisie
โข Comitรฉ National pour la Dรฉfense des Libertรฉs et de la Dรฉmocratie
โข Al Bawsala
โข DAMJ
โข Association Tunisienne pour la Dรฉfense des Libertรฉs Individuelles
โข Aswat Nissa
โข Union des Diplรดmรฉs Chรดmeurs
โข Association Droit ร la Diffรฉrence
โข Intersection pour les Droits et les Libertรฉs
โข Observatoire National pour la Dรฉfense du Caractรจre Civil de lโEtat
โข Association Free Sight
โข Association Calam
โข Organisation Contre la Torture en Tunisie
โข Coalition Tunisienne Contre la Peine de Mort
โข Association Karama pour les Droits et les Libertรฉs
โข Comitรฉ de Dรฉfense des Libertรฉs et des Droits de l’Homme en Tunisie
โข Association Moussawet
โข Association Tunisienne pour lโEgalitรฉ, la Justice Sociale et la Dignitรฉ Humaine
โข Association des Femmes Tunisiennes pour la Recherche sur le Dรฉveloppement
โข Association Beity
โข Rรฉseau Tunisien pour la Justice Transitionnelle
โข Dignity & Rehabilitation Coalition
โข LโObservatoire Tunisien des Lieux de Dรฉtention
โข Legal Agenda
โข Association Tunisienne de l’Action Culturelle
โข Association Insaf
โข Association Nachaaz
โข EuroMed Droits
โข Avocats Sans Frontiรจres
โข Article 19
โข Psychologues du Monde โ Tunisie