Civil Society and Democratization in the Arab World. Annual Report. 2004
Published July 2005

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Tunisia

Capital : Tunisia

Date of Independence : 20/3/1956

Area : 163,610 Km

Population (in millions) : 10.1 (est. 2005)

Rate of Population Increase : 0.99% (est. 2005)

Ethnic Groups : 93% Arabs, 5% Berbers, 1% Europeans, 1% Jews & others

Religious Groups : 98% Muslims, 1% Christians, 1% Jews & others

Illiteracy : 25.8%

No. of Provinces : 23 governorates

Polity : Republic

Head of State : Zein El-Abedeen Ben Ali

No. of Political Parties : 7

GDP (in millions)ppp : $70,880 (2004)

GDP per Capitappp : $7,100 (2004)
 

Overview
 

Tunis gained its independence from French colonial rule in 1956, under the leadership of the charismatic Habib Bourguiba, who became the country’s first president. Bourguiba was a far-sighted politician with a strong developmental bent. In contrast to his other Arab neighbors, he eschewed heavy military expenditures and devoted all his energies and most of his budget to the building of a strong social infrastructure. One third of the budget went to education, the cornerstone of sustained development, and women were granted rights unequalled, at the time, in any other Arab country. Political and civil liberties, however, were limited. In 1987, the incumbent Prime Minister, Zein El-Abedeen Ben Ali removed the aging Bourguiba in a bloodless coup and installed himself as president, promising reforms and the opening of the political system. But with time his rule became increasingly autocratic and repressive, and the liberties he promised failed to materialize; instead, political dissidents were intimidated and harassed, and Islamist groups in particular were treated with considerable harshness.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

1. The Executive, Political Parties and Elections. The Constitution mandates that the President and the members of the Chamber of Deputies (Parliament) be selected by popular vote. However, in practice the right of citizens to change their President or their government is very restricted. However, 2004 witnessed an expansion in Parliament’s power which would enable it to censor the government and even force its resignation. That same year also the previous Consultative body was made info an upper legislative house. Although there are seven legal political parties, the political arena is dominated by a single partythe Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD). In the latest municipality elections held in May 2000, RCD won 94% of the seats after running unopposed in 75% of the municipalities. In the national elections of 1999, the ruling party won all the seats save the 20% (34 seats) reserved by law for the opposition parties. All elections are characterized by marked irregularities including voter intimidation and the absence of secret ballot. The presidential elections of 1999, did not witness even a semblance of a contest; Ben Ali claimed the expected sweeping victory of 99.4% of the vote. The RCD has ruled the country since its independence in 1956, dominating both the cabinet, the Parliament, as well as the regional and local councils of the 24 governorates. All Governors are appointed by the President. In May 2002 a referendum to remove the constitutional limit of two terms for a president in office was approved by 99.5% of the voters, thus permitting Ben Aliunless forcibly removedto rule for life should he so chose. And indeed in 2004 Ben Ali ran and won by overwhelming margin a third term in office. Article 41 of the Constitution was also amended to grant the President upon leaving office, immunity from prosecution for any acts he may have done in the course of exercising his duties. In the national election of 2004 the ruling Constitutional Democratic Party won 87.5% of the 189 parliamentary seats, leaving only 37 seats to be competed for by independents and the opposition, as mandated by law. Those surreal vote totals with which the President and his party win elections call into question the legitimacy of the entire electoral process, and are a measure of the authoritarianism of the regime and its severe suppression of all political dissent.

To mitigate the built-in advantages given to the ruling party and maintain some semblance of a legislature, the Electoral Code reserves 20% of the parliamentary seats for opposition parties. The government also partially funded the campaigns of opposition parties which are poor in resources, and provided an annual subsidy for all. It also gave opposition parties air and TV time to present their programs.

2. The Judiciary, Trials, and Detention. The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary, however the President and the executive branch strongly influence court decisions, especially in political cases. Judges are appointed, tenured, transferred and dismissed by the executive branch thus making the judicial system vulnerable to executive pressures. Although a special administrative court reviews cases brought by citizens against the government, its rulings if not agreeable to the government are usually ignored. Political cases are usually tried in military courts, the rulings of which are often rendered after a few minutes of deliberation, and are not subject to appeal. It is estimated that there are about 1000 political prisoners, mostly members of outlawed Islamist groups. Trials in the regular civil and criminal courts are open to the public, but procedural safeguards are not always observed. Lawyers and human rights organizations have complained that courts systematically ignore the investigation of allegations of mistreatment and torture to extract confessions. Defendants may be detained for extensive periods of time before trial; some have claimed that their pre-trial detention lasted years. The new law passed in 2004 to combat terrorism expanded the definition of subversive activities and enlarged the powers of security forces to arrest and detain suspects without trial for indefinite periods.

3. Civil Society and the Freedom of Association. Freedom of association is very limited. The government banned a number of opposition groups, notably the Islamist al-Nahda and the Tunisian Workers Communist Party; and human rights groups have been subjected to harassment, intimidation and arrest. In 2003 and during 2004, the government resorted to a novel method of attacking prominent dissidents in civil society by ways of publishing virulent character assassination articles against them in several papers simultaneously. On the other hand, the number of NGOs has tripled since Ben Ali assumed power in 1987, bringing their number in 2003 to 7321. However, several human rights organizations are still denied license to practice, for no apparent reason. There is also a governmental organization charged with supervising human rights and basic liberties, but this organization is much more concerned with monitoring the human rights groups in society than with safeguarding the guarantees of human rights.

Public gatherings require prior permission. Workers have the right to form unions, to bargain collectively and to strike. About 15% of the work force are union members. Unions are legally independent of the government, and cannot be dissolved except by court order. The Tunisian General Federation of Labor (UGTT) has shown some independence regarding economic and social issues, and has spoken out in support of a greater measure of democracy.

4. Freedom of Speech and the Media. Freedom of expression is severely restricted. Numerous independent newspapers and magazines, including several opposition party journals, are in circulation, but the entire press is censored directly via a governmental central office in addition to other indirect controls, including self-censorship. Several newspapers and magazinessuch as El-Makassed, El-Kalema, and Bada’il Wateniyyaare still denied license without any reason given. The Press Code contains broad vaguely defined provisions prohibiting “subversion” and “defamation,” that are used to prosecute political dissidents. In a speech in 2001 President Ben Ali stated that while freedom of expression is a basic right, yet those citizens who criticize the government in the foreign media are “traitors” and shall be prosecuted accordingly. Many journalists are serving sentences in prison, some since the early 1990s. At years end the Tunisian Newspapers Association remained expelled from the World Associations of Newspapers for its failure to oppose the repression of freedom of the press in its own country. In 2003, the government pursued a policy of extensive intimidation and harassment of dissident voices in the press, through a variety of means including threats, arbitrary arrests and detention, suspension of publications, the interruption of telephone lines, and cancellation of governmental advertising contracts. All year round the government controlled press and media conduct a running campaign extolling the achievements of the government.

The broadcast media is state-owned. While it is strongly biased in favor of the government’s views, it has of late been forced to upgrade its programs by permitting, to some degree, the expression of different points of view on international issues. Internet access is highly monitored and access to opposition web sites are regularly blocked. The government also immobilized the communication capacity of prominent opposition figures by flooding their email accounts with hundreds of bogus messages.

5. Freedom of Religion. Islam is the state religion. Other religionsto which belong only 2% of the populationare free to practice their faith, except the Bahai’s, who are considered a heretical sect of Islam and are not permitted to worship publicly. The government does not permit proselytizing or the formation of political parties based on religion. Christian literature may be distributed if in English but not if in Arabic. The government subsidizes mosques and some Jewish synagogues and pays the salaries of Muslim prayer leaders as well as that of the country’s Grand Rabbi. Islamic religious education is mandatory in public schools which, however, also teach something of Jewish and Christian histories. The government, however, does not permit the building of new churches. The traditional Muslim headscarf (hijab) worn by women is forbidden in government offices. Muslims who convert to another faith face social ostracism as well as some governmental retributive measures, such as denial of passports, in order to discourage such conversions.

6. Women and the Marginalized. The rights of women in Tunisia are far more advanced than in any other Arab country. The National Union of Tunisian Women which extends assistance and help to women is sponsored and subsidized by the government. The government has also advanced the rights of women by providing support to divorced women, and helping eradicate women’s illiteracy which is 20% above that of men. Women comprise about 30% of the entire work force, 31% of lawyers, 40% of teachers, and 34% of journalists. Women serve in the higher echelons of the government as cabinet ministers (one) and secretaries of state (5), and occupy more than 13% of the top positions. Two women also serve in the 15-member Higher Judicial Council. They also constitute 37% of the civil service, 33% of the nation’s jurists, and occupy 22.7% of the 184 seats of the 2004 Parliament, and about 21.6% of seats in municipal committees. Lately, the ruling party announced a minimum representation of 25% for women in both the national legislature and municipal committees. Despite these impressive achievements women are still victims of some societal and economic discrimination in certain areas. Also Shari’a law, which discriminates against women, is applied in cases of inheritance and family concerns.

   
    

The Berbers: The Berbers in Tunis do not constitute an ethnic problem since most have become assimilated within the Arab community, though some of their cultural features still persist.

Prospects for Democratic Change

While the present state of political rights and civil liberties in Tunisia remain far below the international standards for human rights, yet the socio-economic foundations for a modern democracy are robust and promising. Tunisia’s recent strong concern with strengthening its relations with the West, in particular with the United States, will no doubt prod it to liberalize its system and improve its human rights record vis--vis political dissidents and critics of the regime. So far, however, it is not expected that the regime will undertake in the near future any major step to change the status quo in the direction of democratization.