A group of seven civil society organisations (CSOs) in Tunisia has urged President Kais Saied to effect the 237 committal warrants issued by courts in the country.
Development Diaries reports that courts in the North African nation had issued committal warrants against people who have escaped justice and are involved in human rights violations and financial crimes.
The seven CSOs, in a statement, urged the country’s leader to implement transitional justice in accordance with Article 148 of the constitution and the 2013 Law 53 on Transitional Justice.
They however welcomed the ‘exceptional’ measures announced by the president on 25 July, as well as his statements about penal reconciliation with businessmen involved in the embezzlement of public funds, in return for the creation of development projects.
Saied, on 25 July, assumed executive authority of the Maghreb nation and suspended parliament after violent protests broke out in several Tunisian cities over the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the economy.
The move was condemned by his rivals as an attack on democracy. However, some Tunisians responded to the announcement with street celebrations.
In their joint statement, the CSOs, including Association of Tunisian Magistrates, the National Union of Tunisian Journalists, and Lawyers Without Borders, also proposed that an investigation be initiated into the lack of follow-up to the report prepared by the Truth and Dignity Commission (TDC) concerning significant funds that could be forfeited to the treasury.
The TDC is an official truth-seeking body mandated by the 2013 Law on Transitional Justice, to investigate gross human rights violations committed by the Tunisian government since 1955 and to provide compensation and rehabilitation to victims.
The CSOs also called for the urgent application of the constitutional principles relating to regional development through a community reparation programme for regions that have long suffered from marginalisation.
Other CSOs that signed the statement included the Organisation Against Torture in Tunisia, the Tunisian Coalition Dignity and Rehabilitation, the Tunisian Association for the Defense of Individual Rights, and the Tunisian Network for Transitional Justice.
Source: TAP
Photo source: Aljazeera
