Tunisia: the trial of Zain El-Abedeen Ben Ali “the Arabic Pinochet ” opens the door for torture victims in the Arab World to bring their slaughterers to courts.

Cairo on 18th June 2005, as an important development and a step forward towards to punish the torture slaughterers in the Arab World and the globe, Gineva primary court opened a law case filed by the Tunisian Activist Abdul-Nasser Naiet Liman, the ex-prisoner against Zein Al_Abedeen Ben Ali and his ex-minister of interior, Abdullah Al-kallal on Wednesday 9th June 2005.the case opened despite Ben Ali’s being on power till now.

Leiman filed the case against the ex-interior minister Kallal and the Tunisian government represented in its president Ben Ali in October 2004 , after a previous law file was suspended in 2001 as a result of Kallal’s escape from Switzerland where he was staying just then. The primary court in Geneva decided to open the case filed in last October, after the Swiss Attorney General was so confident that it is impossible to accept opening such a case in Tunisia. The court opened the case despite both Kallal and Ben Ali did not attend the session or even representatives for them. But for sure this will not hinder the case or prevent from issuing absence sentences against them, for torturing Leiman in19991 for 40 days.

Gamal Eid the executive director of the Arabic Net work for Human Rights information said that;” Now torture victims in the Arab World can feel hope and optimistic, as the torture machine owned by Zein El-Abedeen and many supporting judges and journalists will not be able to protect him from being accused, trialed or being scandalized.” He added that; “if justice managed to reach Pinochet in England and, Hussein Habry, known as African Pinochet in Senegal, it certainly would not except Ben Ali “the Arabic Pinochet” and his system to be punished for the crimes they committed and are committing against the Tunisian activists.”

It is to be mentioned that the Swiss courts opening such a case is considered an unprecedented one, against the ex- interior minister and the president, according to the articles of confronting torture agreement signed by Tunisia in 1988. the “Trial” legal organization in Switzerland which is working on the field of following the unpunished criminals helped in this case and also depending on some documented reports on Tunisia, written by international human rights Organizations such as Amnesty international and Human Rights Watch.

And when torture and human rights violations have spread just like cancer allover the Arab World, covered with what the governments claims about reform, especially in countries such as Syria and Egypt, This trial comes to draw the attention of all slaughterers that the circle is shrinking and they would better stop such violations instead of depending on fake protection just as fake as their reform.

Source: The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information