Ennahda Party Commemorates Martyrs’ Day As Tension Mounts in Downtown Tunis

While violent clashes were occurring in the streets of downtown Tunis, a ceremony organized by Tunisia’s largest party, Ennahda, to celebrate Martyrs Day was taking place in a different part of the city. About 2,000 people gathered in the vacant site of the former prison of 9 Avril in Tunis to celebrate the event.

The day commemorates the events of April 9, 1938 when security forces opened fire on a crowd of protesters calling for Tunisian independence from France. More than 20 people were killed on that occasion. The day has come to symbolize the sacrifice of all of those who have died in the struggle for Tunisian independence, most recently during the 2011 Revolution.

Some family members of martyred Tunisians were also present at the event. Fatma Khemira is the sister of Ismail Khemira, a martyr who was killed by government forces under the Ben Ali regime at the old prison in 1994. “He died under torture in this prison, because of his affiliation with the Ennahda party,” she explained.

Ilhem Najar, whose uncle Saleh Najar was killed in 1959 because of his affiliation with an opposition party during Bourguiba’s regime, was also present. “[Saleh] was sentenced to death during former president Bourguiba’s rule. He was hanged in Bardo on October 13. We still do not know where he was buried. We demand to know where the ashes are now,” she asked.

The peaceful commemoration was held while clubs and tear gas were used in downtown Tunis to break up an unauthorized demonstration. Protesters were blocked from reaching Habib Bourguiba Avenue, Tunis’s main thoroughfare, by police, and running clashes erupted for several hours in the side streets leading to the avenue. The demonstration comes 10 days after the government announced a ban on protests on Habib Bourguiba Avenue.