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Rights Partner : Meshkal 28 December 2021

Siliana: A Decade After, Victims Still Demand Justice

Over several days in late November 2012, police used birdshot against protesters in Siliana, injuring hundreds of people including demonstrators, journalists covering the demonstration, and bystanders, according to an Amnesty International report at the time. One investigative report by civil society put the number of injured at 178, and at least 20 people lost eyes or sustained severe damage to their eyes. Now, a decade later, these people are still calling on authorities to cover their healthcare costs, extend their social benefits, and hold the officials responsible for the use of birdshot accountable.

Echoes of Censorship as Police Confiscate Books at Tunis Book Fair

This year’s annual Tunis International Book Fair—the 36th edition and held at the Kram exhibition center from November 11 to 21—was eagerly anticipated since last year’s fair was cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions. However, the event was marred by some of the practices and symbolism reminiscent of the authoritarian Ben Ali regime.

Tunisia’s Vaccine Mandate Sparks Small Protests Ahead of Enforcement

On Saturday, October 30, around 30 people in downtown Tunis protested the President’s new decree mandating vaccination passes for all public spaces. It’s one of several small protests that have occurred around the issue in both Tunis and other cities.

“We Can’t Breathe”: Protesting a Toxic Dump in Agareb, Tunisia

In recent years, there has been increasing tension around the use of haphazard landfills as residents nearby these toxic sites protest the serious short and long-term hazards they face.

Seeking Knowledge While Blind in Tunisia

In another world, Mohamed Gabsi would have studied technology and probably specialized in computer science. Instead, because of the limited access to study material accessible to disabled people like himself in his preferred field, he enrolled in the Faculty of Letters of Sousse. “I am a French graduate, technophile and blind,”the young man likes to introduce himself—both in everyday life and during his activities as a disability justice activist.

Cinema for Prisoners Too, as JCC Film Festival Kicks Off

As Tunisia’s biggest annual film festival, the Carthage Cinema Days (JCC) kicked off on Sunday, October 30, the traditionally desperate search for tickets began. But one group of people received their own private film screening: about 150 prisoners from the Oudhna Civil Prison, including 30 female prisoners who were brought in from the Manouba Women’s Prison facility.

Tunisia. New Political Groups Seize July 25 as Launching Pad

New political groupings, parties, and movements have launched or gained prominence in the wake of President Kais Saied’s decision on July 25 to suspend Parliament, dismiss the previous government, and concentrate powers under the presidency. Meshkal/Nawaat spoke with members or representatives of several of these groups shortly after July 25; they said that the president’s decisions created a new political environment with new conditions ripe for making the changes they want to see. All of them strongly criticized or denounced the political system ante July 25 as undemocratic.

Sun, Sea and Sewage: Mass Protest in Tunis Southern Suburbs

One of the largest environmental protests Tunis has ever seen occurred on Sunday, September 12 when thousands of residents of the southern coastal suburbs formed separate human chains on their beaches in the neighborhoods of Ezzahra, Hammam Lif, Rades, Hammam Chatt and BorjCedria. They demonstrated against the daily sewage flow in their beaches where thousands swim every summer.

Belaid & Brahmi’s Assassinations: Frozen Investigations Warm Up

The assassinations of politicians Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi in 2013 left many unanswered questions and suspicions. In both cases, authorities didn’t immediately explain who the suspected assassins were, and they never clearly detailed to the public the assassins’ potential motives, planning, resources, or organizational support.

In Tunis, Thousands Protest Against President Saied’s decisions

On Sunday, September 26, thousands of people, close to Ennahdha party and its allies, demonstrated in downtown Tunis against President Kais Saied and his latest decision extending his exceptional powers and suspending parts of the constitution. Thousands assembled in front of the National Theater on Habib Bourguiba Avenue from about 10:00 until 16:00 to denounce the recent decisions, which they consider illegitimate, calling it a “coup” and a step back towards dictatorship.

Tunisian Police Violently Disperse Peaceful Demonstrators, Journalists

On September 1, police violently dispersed a peaceful demonstration in downtown Tunis, punching, shoving, and using pepper spray against demonstrators as well as journalists who were there covering the event. Aside from some incidents in front of Parliament on July 26, Wednesday’s police repression was the first documented use of police violence against peaceful demonstrators since President Kais Saied suspended parliament and dismissed the government on July 25.

Fighting Covid Alone: Letter from Kairouan

Late last June, when it was the region hardest hit by Covid-19, Meshkal/Nawaat went to Kairouan. The tragic situation there foreshadowed what the rest of the nation has since been living through: a sharp spike in cases made much worse by a lack of basic State services, personnel, and supplies. Without enough doctors, ambulances, vaccines or vaccination teams, protective gear or nurses, many in Kairouan faced their spike by relying on family for care, exacerbating the spread of the virus. Meanwhile, medical personnel themselves were unable to get vaccines and many worked without receiving salaries promised in their contracts.

Tunisia. The Protesters Who May Have Helped Bring Down Mechichi Government

Sunday’s protests are now better known by the Presidential decisions they seemingly helped prompt: a freezing of Parliament, a dismissal of Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, and the lifting of Parliamentary immunity in what critics of President Kais Saied have called a coup.

Tunisia’s Health Minister Fired, Vax Centers Closed After Overwhelming Turnout

As Tunisians celebrated Eid on Tuesday, crowds of people took to the newly opened, walk-in vaccination centers across the country. The centers—offering vaccinations to anyone over 18-years-old for the first time—had been announced only one day earlier for a limited two-day period. But with the limited time frame, limited vaccine supplies, unclear directives from officials, and short notice given to volunteer organizers, many centers were overwhelmed with some witnessing disruptions, overcrowding, clashes, or the total freezing of operations.

Tunisia. Government Raises Consumer Prices to “Appease” IMF, Some Claim

In early May, an official delegation to Washington D.C. met with International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials for discussions on a new loan program for Tunisia. According to a leaked, confidential document allegedly produced by the Tunisian government which Bloomberg reported on (but did not publish), the government proposed removing food and energy subsidies as part of these discussions. In May and June, the prices of several consumer goods, including subsidized sugar, were raised or increased. Some have claimed these price increases were meant to “appease” the IMF as part of the ongoing loan discussions.

سيدي حسين: إثر مقتل أحمد بن عمارة، ”من التالي؟“ يتساءل مواطنون

أدّى مصرع أحمد عمارة (32 سنة)، بتاريخ 8 جوان الجاري، أثناء إيقافه داخل مركز للشرطة، بحسب ادعاءات، إلى قيام موجة من الاحتجاجات والاشتباكات مع قوات البوليس امتدت على عدة أيام، في الحي الشعبي سيدي حسين. العديد من الأشخاص تعرضوا لإصابات، بمن فيهم طفل يبلغ من العمر15سنة تم تجريده من ملابسه والاعتداء عليه بالعنف الشديد في مقطع فيدو انتشر على نطاق واسع، مما أنتج موجة غضب عارمة. سيدي حسين هو كذلك الحي الذي قتل فيه الشاب أحمد عثماني (19 سنة) برصاص أعوان الديوانة سنة 2018.

Sidi Hassine: After Another Man Dies in Police Encounter, “Who’s Next?” Citizens Ask

The death of 32-year-old Ahmed Ben Moncef Ben Ammar on June 8, allegedly while in police custody, has prompted several days of protests and clashes with police forces in the working class neighborhood of Sidi Hassine. Several people have been wounded, including a 15-year-old who was stripped naked and beaten in a widely-shared video that has prompted outrage. Sidi Hassine is also the neighborhood where 19-year-old Aymen Othman was killed when customs officials opened fire in 2018.

Tunisia. Anti-Vax Hospital Workers and Line Jumpers Complicate Vaccine Rollout

As a new wave of Covid-19 infections hits Tunisia, health workers say that the vaccine roll out is beginning to overcome some initial hesitancy and skepticism. Some of this skepticism has been of the vaccine itself -even among health workers- but also of governing institutions and their communication.