By Nykoel Dinardo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
GAFSA, Tunisia – Tunisian trade leader, Annan Hajji, and 37 other activists are being tried before Tunisian courts for their involvement in protests in the Gafsa Region of Tunisia earlier this year. Hajji is the Secretary-General of the local office of the General Union of Tunisian Workers (UGTT). They have been charged with “forming a criminal group with the aim of destroying public and private property.” If convicted, they could each face up to more than ten years in prison. At least six of those convicted are being tried not in their presence.
The Gafsa Region of Tunisia is a phosphate-rich area; protests sparked after the Gafsa Phosphate Company, the major employer in the city of Redeyef, announced the results of a recruitment competition. The results were denounced as fraudulent by several people and organizations, including the UGTT. Following this incident, protests were held about the high unemployment in the region and other labor related issues. The protests spread to several neighboring cities and police forces were deployed to break up the groups. Protesters and other groups have claimed that the protests were entirely peaceful but that police forces used violence to force dispersement.
A video of the protests that was posted on YouTube.
Amnesty International and several other human rights organizations have criticized these trials. According to Amnesty International (AI), there have been allegations of torture and the misuse of force by law enforcement officials that bring the events into question. One of those arrested in the protests, Ms. Zakia Dhifaoui claims that she was sexually harassed and threatened with rape by police officials if she did not sign a statement whose contents she did not know. Several other protesters say that they were detained for questions and released, then re-arrested.
According to French media sources, the Tunisian government has ordered the local media not to cover the incidents. According to Tunisian journalist Rachid Khéchana, “Tunisian authorities do not want the scandal to be known to the outside world; authorities believe that if information is dispersed that they will lose control of the situation.” Those who have provided information to foreign media risk imprisonment.
AI has asked the Tunisian government to do an independent investigation into the allegations and protests. They also request that the government release the findings of an investigation into a death at one of the protests, which resulted from police gunfire into a crowd of protesters.
For more information, please see:
Amnesty International – Tunisian Trade Leader on Trial for Role in Protests – 4 December 2008
Le Monde – Les Leaders des Émeutes de Gafsa devant La Justice Tunisienne [The Leaders of the Riots of Gafsa Face Tunisian Justice] – 4 December 2008 [In French]
Nouvelorbs – Gafsa : 38 Syndicalistes Jugés Pour S’être Révoltés [Gafta : 38 Union Leaders Judged for Revolting] – 4 December 2008 [In French]
Rojo y Negro – Tunéz : La Dictatura al sur de Lampedusa [Tunisia : The Dictatorship South of Lampedusa] – 14 November 2008 [In Spanish]
Frontline Defenders – Tunisia : Arrest and Restricted Movement of Human Rights Defenders – 6 August 2008
