Brussels, 30/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) expressed their “grave concern”, on 30 July, upon observing the way the security situation in Tunisia has deteriorated.
The two associations condemn the “excessive use of force and repression” against demonstrators, including nearly 70 members of parliament, involved in a protest sit-in before the National Constituent Assembly of Tunisia (ANC). Protesters want for the government to stand down and for a “non-partisan” team to be set in place to manage current affairs and organise the next elections. Furthermore, the demonstrators, including the 70 deputies that have suspended their mandate, demand the dissolution of the Assembly, and call for the drafting of the constitution to be entrusted to experts in law.
The movement came about in the wake of an upsurge of violence and further to the recent assassination - the third in just one year - of a political leader who was in favour of a civilian, secular constitution. On Monday evening there was also an attack against soldiers in Jebel Chaambi, on the border with Algeria. According to figures available, eight or ten military were killed and many others wounded in the ranks of the patrol under attack, in an ambush that took place in an area that has seen violent fighting between the army and Al-Qaeda members, officials say.
The movement, it is reported, is not ready to calm down despite what has been said by three leading members of the country's institutions (the president of the republic, the prime minister and the parliament speaker). Their “concessions” (fixing a firm date for elections, 17 December, and a tighter parliamentary timetable) have not brought the hoped-for response, given the total lack of confidence in the country, which opens the way to an “Egyptian scenario”. In Tunis, as in Cairo, the “Islamist” party is threatening to bring its troops down into the streets if the sit-in before the Assembly continues.
The EMHRN and FIDH state that “on several occasions, the security forces have made disproportionate use of force leaving people wounded. Thus, several deputies gathered before the seat of the ANC at Place Bardo, after having suspended their participation at the ANC, are reported to have been brutally attacked on the morning of 29 July while the law enforcement forces were dispersing the sit-in” (our translation). The two associations call on the Tunisian authorities, calling on them to ensure the right to demonstrate and to gather peacefully, and saying that the security forces have “the responsibility of ensuring all demonstrators are protected, whether they are for or against the authorities”. (FB/transl.jl)