Rights 224

Interview with Moroccan Prince Moulay Hicham after his expulsion from Tunisia

Researcher at Harvard University and third in the order of succession to the Moroccan throne, Hicham Alaoui was expelled from Tunisia on 8 September 2017, few hours after landing in Tunis. The Boston resident, nicknamed the « red prince », was to speak in an academic symposium on Sunday organized by Stanford University. In spite of our numerous requests, Tunisian authorities have refused to reveal the motives behind their decision. Moulay Hicham, who is known for his critical views on authoritarianism in the Arab world and Morocco in particular, responded to Nawaat’s questions. Interview.

Local elections: What about Tunisians living abroad?

Voter registration for Tunisia’s municipal elections closed on August 10, bringing the total number of citizens registered to over 5.7 million. Of the 1.3 million Tunisians living abroad, 8,838 registered to vote in the elections scheduled for December 17th. As the country prepares for its first district-level elections since the revolution, the Fédération des Tunisiens pour une Citoyenneté des deux Rives (FTCR) and partnering organizations are leading a discussion on the role of Tunisian immigrants in local governance in their towns and cities of origin.

Meknassi: calm before the storm?

Thursday, June 15, 2017, protesters demanding employment during the Haremna (We’ve grown old) sit-in in Meknassi, governorate of Sidi Bouzid, blocked the road to trucks carrying phosphate from Gafsa. The trucks had been mobilized to replace two trains that have been held up for the past two months in Meknassi. Sit-inners aim to put pressure on the government which has yet to follow through on its agreements with the town’s unemployed. Following confrontations between police and protesters over acts of civil disobedience in January 2017, Meknassi today lives a precarious peace as citizens continue to protest.

Menzel Bouzaiene: Women mobilize against social exclusion

« Keep quiet! » several men ordered a fellow sit-inner when she tried to speak up during a gathering. Such a scene is common in Menzel Bouzaiene, governorate Sidi Bouzid. For in spite of their capacity to mobilize, women are essentially excluded from public space and marginalized in social movements. Conscious of the double discrimination they face, 32 women decided to launch their own protest called « Manich Sekta », I will not keep quiet, to make their voices heard. In the summer’s blazing heat, they invited us to learn about their struggle for work, dignity, and social inclusion.

El Kamour: Resistance in the south radicalizes despite intimidation

Set between an oil field and the main road connecting oil wells to the rest of the country, the El Kamour sit-in, firmly constested by the government and the media, has persisted for more than three weeks. In the days following Beji Caid Essebsi’s speech, the will of the sit-inners remains unchanged. And since the government appears determined to fulfill a dialogue of the deaf, the resistance continues to radicalize. Report.

Politics aside, civil society pushes for an end to violence against women 

In anticipation of International Women’s Day on March 8, Tunisian civil society organizations are campaigning for the expedient adoption of legislation concerning the elimination of violence against women. The Tunisian Association of Women Democrats (ATFD), the Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights (LTDH), and other non-governmental associations who are the first recourse for women victims of violence, are pushing for the adoption of a pending draft law, even while one of their primary critiques regarding the text is its failure to recognize the essential role played by non-governmental actors.

The complex ideology of Tunisia’s Truth and Dignity Commission

The Tunisian TDC will be praised and it will be blamed as it has been the case with previous renewed Truth and Reconciliation Commission worldwide. The high stakes that the TDCT carry within an ongoing unstable political and economic local and regional contexts insure that the established ideals of justice and social and political restoration will be scrutinized according to one’s subjective view of what the post-revolution Tunisia should be like.

Truth Commission Public Hearings: Kamel Matmati and Tunisia’s disappeared

Last Thursday, November 17, Tunisia’s Truth and Dignity Commission held the country’s first public hearings with victims of human rights violations carried out under the Bourguiba and Ben Ali regimes. Torture victims—including former political prisoners Sami Brahem and Gilbert Naccache—as well as the families of the disappeared and martyrs of the revolution testified on national television.

Where are our children? Families of migrants lost at sea protest

“Give us the truth : where are the children?” On the rainy morning of November 9, a few dozen middle-age and elderly women and men occupy the stairs before closed doors of the Ministry of Social Affairs in Tunis. Grey sky and cold air accentuate the solemnity of the gathering, yet another demonstration by the families of Tunisians who disappeared while crossing the Mediterranean to the shores of Italy.

Jemna: Genesis of a model, or end of a social experiment?

The political implications of Jemna’s social activism on State policies are still cloudy. Some State officials, such as Mehdi Ben Gharbia, have not shied away from praising Jemna’s experience on television, saying that it only needs a legal framework. Other officials however, including Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, are solely offering a Socratic answer regarding Jemna: “All I know is that I know nothing.”

Tunisian Gender Law Reform: Optimism in Spite of the Long Road Ahead

On June 3rd, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (Euro-Med) hosted a conference entitled “Forms of Violence Against Women and Girls” to discuss the Tunisian Personal Status Code and Penal Code – both of which are long overdue for reform. Critical yet optimistic, the proposed goals for legal reform are found in a study entitled “Violences à L’égard des femmes: Les lois du genre” written by Sana Ben Achour, a law professor and former president of ATFD.