Tunisia begins to reconcile itself with its grim past

The Truth and Dignity Commission might be the best way for the Tunisian government to entrench its historic march towards democracy, writes Joseph Dana

Tunisia needs to come to terms with its past under former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali . (Fethi Belaid / AFP)

Reconciliation is a process, not an event, according to Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He should know. South Africa’s dramatic reconciliation process after the fall of apartheid in the mid-1990s has come to represent a blueprint for similar processes around the world.

As part of its transition towards democracy, Tunisia is following South Africa’s approach to healing the wounds of the past with its own Truth and Dignity Commission. Created in 2013 by constitutional mandate to investigate decades of torture suffered by Tunisians at the hands of Habib Bourguiba and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s regimes, the Truth and Dignity Commission could revitalise the justice process far beyond Tunisia’s borders.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in South Africa was profoundly different from the types of trials that preceded it, namely the Nuremberg Trials, which were designed to bring major war criminals from Nazi Germany to justice.

Instead, the TRC attempted to create an atmosphere in which the perpetrators of the apartheid regime’s worst crimes would take responsibility for their actions, and their victims would speak openly about their experiences. This type of restorative justice was crucial to South Africa’s goal of becoming a rainbow nation after decades of violent racial segregation.

Additionally, the TRC was established to grant amnesty to those who committed political crimes as long as they were willing to come forward with their testimonies and face the nation. Given the fragile state of Tunisian democracy and the regional threats that surround it, the Truth and Dignity Commission faces an uphill challenge in carrying out a similar mandate.

Many still criticise how the TRC was handled on a case-by-case basis, particularly the failure of South Africa’s political establishment to hear all victims and a litany of other delays because of slow government response to the commission. The fact is, however, that it represented a crucial defence against the threat of vigilante and localised retributive justice in the years after apartheid ended.

This month, Tunisia’s Truth and Dignity Commission is set to begin public testimonies. If South Africa’s experience can offer any lesson, the reaction to these testimonies will prove critical to the success of the commission and its ability to heal Tunisia’s fresh wounds. What exactly can Tunisia learn from the recent history of South Africa’s TRC?

A majority of white South Africans claimed they were unaware of the horrors the apartheid regime inflicted on their black and coloured countrymen.

While this claim is debated, part of the TRC’s mandate was to educate the public through first-hand testimonies to establish an accepted understanding of the nature of the apartheid regime. One must know the past to begin the process of healing.

Unlike South Africa, a large majority of Tunisians are fully aware of the torture the regime carried out against political dissenters and opposition voices over its six decades of rule.

For Tunisians sitting in cafes in Tunis, it is said that they could hear the screams of victims being tortured in the dank basements of government buildings, such as the interior ministry.

After its revolution in 2011, it is hard to find many Tunisians who are unaware of the brutality of the former regimes. While the Truth and Dignity Commission will need to tread lightly concerning the endemic abuse of women in the torture chambers of the last regime, it will not have to overcome the same barriers that existed in South Africa.

There is a bigger obstacle to overcome in Tunisia. That the regime crumbled so quickly compared to the slow unravelling of apartheid, many corrupt remnants that benefited from the Ben Ali era remain in positions of influence and power. These elements, found in the business and political establishment, pose the greatest risk to the Truth and Dignity Commission’s ability to carry out its mandate. There are already signals that these elements are resisting the commission by attempting to slow the pace of its work at the governmental level. If the Truth and Dignity Commission is able to weed these people out and force them to begin the process of repentance, then the commission will have started a regional revolution of its own.

The process will be difficult but the Truth and Dignity Commission’s work carries with it the last hopes for the 2011 Arab uprisings. The commission might be the best way for the Tunisian government to entrench its historic march towards democracy, where accountability and justice are protected. The results for the region could be equally historic if the commission is allowed to continue its brave work unimpeded.

The process of healing starts and ends with the Tunisian people. They will be well served to learn from the South African model and ensure that Tunisia’s politicians swiftly follow through with the commission’s recommendations.

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