Debating Transitional Justice in Tunisia

Panelists of the second day of the conference organized by UNDP, ICTJ, and HCDH to discuss Transitional Justice in Tunisia

The popular uprisings of January 2011, which led to the collapse of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali’s despotic regime, raised new questions in Tunisia on how to redress the infringements of the past. Post-January 14^th Tunisia found itself with a legacy of human rights violations, political and financial corruption.

Many measures towards implementing transitional justice were taken in the wake of the fall of the regime. Representatives of civil society, national figures and the interim government unified their efforts and initiated a spontaneous approach to transitional justice. They created investigative commissions to look into abuses that took place prior to, and during, the uprising.

In February 2011, a law granting amnesty to former political prisoners of the Ben Ali regime was passed.

Article 24 of the mini constitution, the provisional law regulating public authorities passed by the NCA in late December 2011, is also seen as one of the major achievements in the field of transitional justice in Tunisia. The article states that the NCA must create a law regulating and organizing the process of transitional justice.

However, according to Howard Varney, an expert from the International Center for Transitional Justice, “Transitional justice is not an event and it is not a series of trials or laws. It is a process that might take a decade or longer.”

Tunisia’s current government – led by the moderate Islamist party Ennahda, many of whose leaders were persecuted under the Ben Ali regime – has put in place a Ministry of Human Rights and Transitional Justice that aims to preserve human rights and avoid regression toward old practices.

“Transitional justice started in the early days of the revolution thanks to the efforts of the Tunisian civil society…Our ministry reflects a political will and we will follow a participatory approach in reinforcing transitional justice in Tunisia,” stated Samir Dilou, minister of human rights and transitional justice. Dilou issued his statement yesterday at the start of a three-day conference, entitled, “Promotion of National Dialogue – Transitional Justice in Tunisia: Toward a Consensual and Participatory process.”

The event was organized by the International Center of Transitional Justice (ICTJ), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the High Commissariat of Human Rights (HCDH), and a number of other organizations.

Dilou announced that his ministry would be holding a series of meetings with political parties and civil society organizations to examine the most suitable approach the implementation of transitional justice in Tunisia.

“The path towards transitional justice will be independent. The role of the ministry will mainly comprise of coordinating and facilitating communication between the different stakeholders,” asserted Dilou.

Experts and academics of the field seem to agree on four, overlapping categories of transitional justice: a maximalist approach imposing political, legal and moral prosecutions on the perpetrators; a minimalist approach promoting amnesties; a moderate approach consisting of the creation of truth commissions; and a hybrid approach combining and bringing together all different approaches.

There is a consensus between the different components of Tunisian society that a national debate will be essential in finding the most appropriate approach to deal with past violations.

At present, Tunisian public opinion is torn between two stances: those calling for accountability and reconciliation, and those calling for accountability and maximal prosecution of the perpetrators.

Slaheddine Jourchi, an Islamic scholar and independent candidate in the Constituent Assembly elections, argued that the process of enforcing justice should not be turned into vengeance. However, Jourchi stressed the importance of accountability and pointed out that rebuilding Tunisia without an effective transitional justice would yield a fragile system likely to collapse.

Mounir Ghazouani, president of the Tunisian non-profit Justice and Rehabilitation, which advocates for the rights of Tunisian political prisoners, argued that no reconciliation could be reached without first unveiling the truth and prosecuting wrongdoers. Ghazouani pointed out that the participatory approach that the government intends to follow in settling the cases of the victims of the previous regime should not exclude the victims themselves, as they are directly affected.