Country Introduction: Tunisia

Tunisia is located in northeastern Africa, previously a colony of France, and a single man named President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali governed the country for the better part of the last 20 years. While containing an infrastructure for democracy like a court system and regular elections, Tunisian politics are far from it. On January 14, 2011, Ben Ali dissolved his government after the Jasmine Revolution, which started in December 2010 with the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi on December 17th. The Jasmine Revolution is a good place to start with regards to human rights in Tunisia because its causes sum up the majority of the violations and grievances.

In times prior to his forced leave from government, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali did not allow for fair elections, freedom of speech, did little to improve high unemployment, and was highly corrupt with regards to his personal spending habits. In the 2009 election, Ben Ali won the popular vote with 89.6% (Human Rights Watch, 2009 Report). Margins of victory this high in elections can either mean the elected official is extremely popular or that there has been foul play (usually the second). In Tunisia, it was most assuredly the second because opposing candidates were not allowed the freedom of speech to speak out against Ben Ali’s party, the Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD), in their campaigns (Human Rights Watch, 2009 Report). Similarly, “none of the domestic print and broadcast media offers critical coverage of government policies, apart from a few low-circulation magazines such as al-Mawkif, an opposition party outlet, that are subject to occasional confiscation” (Human Rights Watch, 2010 Report). Opponents are not given a fair election because they effectively are not allowed to promote themselves. Human rights are also violated with the fact that no human rights promotion groups were allowed in Tunisia by Ben Ali. After denying any form of recognition for the groups, authorities enforce the human rights groups’ lack of presence because of their illegal status in Tunisia (Human Rigths Watch, 2010 Report).

Ultimately all of these causes have lead to the dissolution of the modern Tunisian government. There is a power vacuum in the country as of now and hopefully a power arises that will promote and allow for better human rights in the future for Tunisia.

"Country Report: Tunisia 2010 | Human Rights Watch." Home | Human Rights Watch. 2010. Web. January 2011.

"Country Report: Tunisia 2009 | Human Rights Watch." Home | Human Rights Watch. 2009. Web. January 2010.