Tunisia, victims of tyranny and the need to account

The testimonies delivered publicly for the first time by victims of the regime of tyranny in Tunisia reveal an “underworld” in the Arab world that is not spoken of and is known to few. It also reveals the magnitude of organised crime that some Arab regimes practice against their peoples, which begs the question of what after tyranny, which relates to, who punishes those responsible for these crimes? And can the revolution(s) forgive and pardon the figures of crime after bringing down their systems of rule?

The testimony given by former prisoners in Tunisia and survivors of the Ben Ali regime are only part of violations that occur in the Arab world from the (Atlantic) Ocean to the (Arabian) Gulf. For, if the lucky few in Tunisia have been given the chance to speak about what they experienced in Ben Ali’s prisons, still thousands and maybe millions of others in misery in the Arab world have not been able to narrate their suffering, and have not found those willing to listen to them.

In the testimonies given by Tunisian prisoners to Arab presidents, there are men and women who were raped, stripped naked, tortured, deprived of sleep, food and water, as well as made to commit a bevy of acts depriving them of dignity. Many prisoners died under the whip of their jailers. These violations show that change in the Arab world must be complete and radical. They also call for a second look at the standards of “transitional justice” that include what amounts to allowing criminals to escape punishment. A female survivor said that the bastards forced her, after raping her, to clean a bed soaked in blood that belonged to a prisoner who had died under torture. Then they forced her to walk among naked male prisoners, including one who begged her for a drink of water before he died of thirst, one she did not dare to give him. She said that she sees the blood that she washed on her hands every day, and that the spirit of the thirsty prisoner chases her wherever she goes.

What is terrifying is that the violations that occurred in Tunisia may still be occurring elsewhere in the Arab world. Not punishing those guilty in Tunisia for the sake of “preserving the state”, “transitional justice” and “reconciliation” could encourage many figures of tyranny in other countries to continue their actions, for even the fall of the regime – in any country – does not mean holding to account its figures of tyranny, which allows them to rest at ease that they will not be punished.

Tunisia is the first and paramount revolutionary model in the Arab world, therefore not punishing the figures of tyranny means that the former regime’s deep roots continue to exist. It also means that other tyrannical regimes’ figures can escape punishment. This is why the Tunisian people must hold the perpetrators to account. The victims must get justice from those who violated their rights, and all victims should receive the necessary psychological and material compensation for the dark period of tyranny. After the heart wrenching testimonies that Tunisians and the world heard about the breadth of the terror to which these innocents were exposed during tyrannical rule, it is no longer possible to accept not punishing the perpetrators of these crimes. It is not expected that people will accept that the figures of that period be left without trail and without punishment. Their trial and punishment also necessities their removal from government, to guarantee that the events will not reoccur, even with the passage of time. This applies to the Arab world as it applies to Tunisia, for real change must be radical.

Translated from Al-Quds Al-Arabi, 22 November 2016

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