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A number of NGOs have expressed indignation at the recent humanitarian crisis involving migrants driven out of Sfax, and the government is not impressed. Associations openly critical of authorities are blaring on the president’s radar, as acts of intimidation targeting certain organizations portend an open war against civil society’s dissenting voices.
An open letter from 379 researchers and members of civil society from the Global South and the Global North against the “Memorandum of Understanding on a Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership between the European Union (EU) and Tunisia” and against the EU’s border externalisation policies.
The religious tendencies of immigrants in Tunisia have become an object of politicization. President Kais Saied accuses Christian immigrants of threatening the country’s Muslim identity. Protestants have taken to worshiping in rented hotel conference rooms, where they can practice their religion–though not without fear for their safety. And the government stands by.
On the 25th of July, Tunisia witnessed a major shake-up of the political landscape. Western “experts” could have predicted that. They were able to believe what they actually saw and heard. In their well-entrenched imaginary, something was decidedly wrong with this picture. The complexity was too much to handle for minds trained to see Tunisia, and the region as a whole, as easily knowable if not already known. No wonder many of them have rushed to cry foul.
Located in the south of Tataouine, the Nawara oil field was inaugurated by former prime minister Youssef Chahed on February 5. According to Chahed, the field was alloted a 3.5 billion dinar budget and promises a production of 2.7 million m3 of gas, 7,000 barrels of petroleum and 3,200 barrels of liquefied petroleum gas per day. This is enough to reduce Tunisia’s energy deficit, an estimated 435.5 million dinars, or 44.9% of the 20% commercial deficit. And yet this project that Chahed described as « historic » flies in the face of the country’s international commitments.
Since March 25, 2019, more than 140 university professors have held an open sit-in before the Ministry of Higher Education. The demonstration is the latest development in the course of a two-year mounting crisis involving the Tunisian University Professors and Researchers Union (IJABA) and concerned Ministry. With a warning to the government about the possibility of losing out on an entire academic year, the protest movement is drawing attention to the precarious future of Tunisia’s public universities. As they demand sector reforms, professors are shedding light on the deterioration of the institutions that serve as the country’s incubators of thought and knowledge.
Another hot summer in Tunisia gave way to teachers’ strikes in the fall, while winter follows suit with plans for a general strike on January 17. In this context, on December 10 the government adopted the Finance Law of 2019, a package of measures that perpetuate fiscal injustice, aiming to handle the country’s growing deficit by reaching into the pockets of those most impacted by economic crisis. Ahead of the 2019 elections, the new public budget was passed amidst a rejection rate of 30% in parliament, suscitating a new wave of popular and political rejection in the most recent test put to the government of prime minister Youssef Chahed.
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.
La 22ème COP se déroule actuellement à Marrakech, jusqu’au 18 novembre. Ce sommet du climat, qui rassemble des cohortes de négociateurs internationaux, de représentants de firmes multinationales, d’ONG, est l’occasion pour le Makhzen marocain de verdir son image, dans un contexte social tendu. Il confirme aussi la mainmise des intérêts privés sur la question du climat, occultant le débat démocratique sur un modèle de développement obsolète et destructeur qui est à l’origine du changement climatique. Et la Tunisie suit la même tendance.
In a letter to Barack Obama on July 27, 121 American analysts and former diplomats called upon the President to make an official visit to Tunisia before the end of his term in January. While some openly request official support for Tunisia, the possible appointment of Youssef Chahed, former employee of the American embassy in Tunis, raises questions around the less overt forms of US engagement with its unique North African partner.
With each measure of “support” the EU has offered Tunisia—whether in the form of a sizable loan for security reforms, or a free trade agreement for economic growth—particular emphasis has been placed on the recent successes and imperative role of civil society in the country’s path to democracy. But if what Tunisian civil society demands is a shifting of the scales and relations based on reciprocity, is Europe really prepared to listen?
Picture this as a cryptic phenomenon in the modern history of Tunisia, a script that is currently being written by revolting masses. It is not one about the true start of this modern history in 1837 with Ahmed Bey’s access to power and the initiatives he undertook abolishing slavery, 18 years before the US, modernizing education by establishing the Saint Louis school in 1845, with its all-inclusive philosophy, giving equal access to modern means to Tunisia’s Muslims and Jews equally
Today, we are confronting what we could credibly call a ‘crisis.’ An identity crisis, a socioeconomic crisis, and most of all, a daily, practical crisis.
“One year after its accession to power in December 2011, the coalition, dominated by the Islamist party, has transformed the country, and is currently being contested and defied by a large portion of the population.”
Tunisia’s ‘economic miracle’ has not benefited all, nor has it been matched by greater enjoyment of human rights. This was […]
“In the past, Tunisia made huge efforts to invest in journalism education. Unfortunately, the people who benefited from those efforts have been gradually prevented from serving their country according to the basic rules of journalism and ethics. Scores of skilled and honest journalists have been silenced and forced to leave their job or the country,” says Kamel Labidi
What do the designation of a new prime minister and the public admonition of national television’s CEO have in common? Both highlight President Kais Saied’s new priority to « cleanse » the administration. Envisioned as a means to further consolidate the regime’s grip on power, the planned purge may in fact undermine the fragile web of alliances that is holding it together.
One year after Kais Saied’s dismissal of 57 judges, Tunisia’s judiciary has never been less independent. Working under pressure and fearing retaliation from the executive power, Tunisian judges have never fared worse. Not even under the Ben Ali regime, according to a representative of the profession.
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