Introduction to a snapshot diary
The revolution in Tunisia is seen as bloodless, but not when you reach small towns where almost everyone knows someone who died, or was injured, or mentally traumatised. This was a war zone.
In Sidi Bouzid, Nejib Beyoui, a member of the teacher's union told us what had happened when teachers, lawyers and doctors formed a Support Committee after Mohamed Bouazizi set fire to himself, at first just to get him to a proper hospital, and then, “to ask for work and dignity”. The trade unionists stood in the streets for thirteen days being teargassed and beaten up, while the town's young people stayed up all night and were shot at with live ammunition.
Mohamed Salah Abidi, a schools inspector from nearby Regueb, told us about his son Chady:
“My son is 20, a university student in computer sciences and maths. One of the revolutionary tools in Tunisia, as you know, is Information technology. The revolution started here in the neglected interior part of Tunisia; here we belong and want to have an equal share in the wealth of our country.
My son, like all his generation, went out to express himself. They had no weapons but the voice. And then the dictator faced them with sophisticated weapons, and the result was a serious injury for my son. I'm very proud of him.
Months after these events, we are still wondering what steps we need to take to defend our rights from the people responsible for these crimes: first, lawyers must pursue these cases through the courts. Second, there must be access to the necessary specialist treatment for the wounded. Third, the courses for this year must be renewed, so that students can gain some recognition for their sacrifices and not lose their chance of a degree.”
Mr Abidi and I have resolved to work together on bringing reports to Britain and solidarity back to Tunisia.
Memorial of six people shot dead in Regueb. They are: Raouf Kaddoussi, Mohamed Jaballi, Mouadh Khelifi, Nizar Slimi, Manal Bouallegui, Imene Bouallegui. Credit: Fawzi Chihaoui.
The uprising spread from Sidi Bou Zid and Regueb to Kasserine, where a local factory owner posted snipers on the roof of his building: fifty-two people were killed and six hundred wounded, bringing Kasserine the title 'capital of martyrs'. Hunger strikes and self-immolation have continued, alongside some tremendous achievements in self-organisation.
Unemployed graduates were on hunger-strike in Kasserine town square when we arrived in April, their PhDs, MAs and college diplomas laid out beside them. Lawyer Salma Abassi explained that not one government minister had visited their town since January.
"We invented the first political slogan of the Arab revolutions: 'Ben Ali, degage!' ('Ben Ali, get out!'). We chose non-violence; 34 were killed right here in the square. Now we have no more fear.
We're aware that political parties are out to reap the fruits of the revolution, coming down here from Tunis to see what's happening. We're just beginning our political education. I have three children and I take them on all the demonstrations.”
A young man stepped out form the crowd in the square to tell us: 'We are vigilant, we have great historical responsibilities, we've got a lot on our plate. Women of all ages came onto the streets with their families.”
A woman close by agreed : "The Tunisian people of today are not the people of yesterday."
The young man, Nasri Charfeddine, concluded: "We used to be forced to celebrate November 7 as our national day, the anniversary of Ben Ali's taking power. Everyone had to go. Now we have our new national festival: 14 January! When Ben Ali fled.”
Nasri Charfeddine
Nasri, founder member of the new unemployed graduates' association, Karama, was to become my most faithful correspondent from the region. He began by translating for me in the trade union hall of Kasserine, where the bereaved and injured stood to tell their stories from a region which feels it has always been overlooked, economically, politically and socially.
Munira Thibia, a young homeless woman who became famous for her bravery in the uprising, asked us: "Please let our stories be known". And I can tell you a little more about Munira – because in June, Nasri sent me the news that she has been given a cleaning job in the courthouse at Kasserine. Nasri Charfeddine wants to start up community radio so that the region can speak for itself. These towns need twinning, solidarity actions, and as many other ways as we can think of to keep communications open. It is a crime that people who overthrew a dictator and "fought only with their voices” are being left disabled and without redress against the police who killed their friends. To join the appeal to bring specialist medical and legal help to the survivors and activists, contact: med.saha@gmail.com or amseb@blueyonder.co.uk
From April until the Libyan opposition entered Tripoli, I have been lucky enough to be in constant correspondence with these actors in Tunisia's democratic revolution as they strive to hold open their new political space, besieged by vengeful survivors from the old regime and manipulative religious conservatives. In addition to my reporters from the interior, Nasri Charfeddine of Kasserine and Mohamed Salah Abidi of Regueb, there are my new contacts from the capital, Tunis: Mohamed Sghaier, member of the League of Human Rights and travelling organiser for the teachers' union; Wissal Jaidi, the brilliant militante who gave me a compelling interview as she accompanied our solidarity tour; Rafika Fehri of the Femmes Democrates from Tunis.
In June my efforts to record and amplify the activists' voices received a huge boost from Arabic and Arabic-French translations by Agnes Reeve from St Andrews University, whose summer placement working at a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria had just been cancelled. (The issue of UK universities' contracts with Arab regimes does not begin and end with Libya). In August new voices entered, when some of the Facebook militants started posting their debates on cover pages accessible by email to selected friends.
Greatly shortened, here is a snapshot diary of those months, through the words of these Tunisian revolutionaries. Their work, their reports, their appeals I hope will find a response from those who share their goals of international social justice and - in their own words - 'work, freedom, dignity'.
Diary from Tunisie Profonde
April.
April 5, Kasserine, from Nasri Charfeddine
Hello, how is your health and your work, what are you thinking now after a journey to Kasserine, the city of martyrs and dignity? I am young Nasri Charfeddine, who wrote at your request in your notebook all about our economic and cultural conditions; the thoughts of the demonstrators, the unemployed graduates; bereaved parents and families; young people hunger striking in the park at the centre of town. I'll be proud to be your friend and open a Facebook page for you. Good night.
Hunger strike of unemployed graduates in Kasserine. Credit: Nicolas Haeringer.
April 11-12, Sidi Bouzid from Mohamed Salah Abidi
I'm happy that you e-mailed as soon as you returned home. It is proof that you care about the Tunisian revolution and the weaponless people who faced criminal dictatorship and sacrificed their lives and were injured so that we could raise our voices today and say what we think should be said. I'm grateful for the effort you are making to help the wounded young people here in Tunisia.
The ministers for Regional Development and Culture will meet the inhabitants of the region of Kasserine for the first time today. It has just been announced that 80 per cent of the next regional development budget will go to the poor areas of the interior. But no minister has visited the region of Sidi Bouzid, yet.
12 April from Rafika Fehri
I hope that your stay has given you an understanding of the realities here so that you can pass on messages of social justice to your governments.
Today a new political party was launched. The Tunisian Party of Labour was announced by Mustapha Abdeljalil (president of Tunisia's Transitional Council). The founding principles are: 1 - Democracy, 2 - Socialism, 3 - Enlightenment, contemporaneity and Modernity. Amicalement, Rafika
15 April from Mohamed Sghaier
Hope you've had a safe journey back home and that you've had an idea of the hardships we underwent before we made our dream a reality and achieved the revolution that freed us from dictatorship. With lots respect. More soon.
16 April, Nasri
Today Kasserine is without any security. The army which was doing a good job cleaning up the streets from 15 March to 15 April is now totally absent; I have no idea why.
In the last week of May, the public posts in Tunisia are awarded, but the quota for Kasserine is held under special criteria only known to officials. Most unemployed graduates are upset because there will only be 166 posts for Kasserine itself. Well, I hope that luck will be with me, please god.
16 April, Sghaier
Two ministers came to Kasserine last Thursday and announced many promising plans to somehow solve the problem of unemployment and poverty. Unemployed graduates holding a sit-in at the town centre spoke with one of the ministers and apparently were promised jobs in the coming weeks.
The country needs a lot of time, work, funds and above all wide debate. I'm planning for a regional branch of the World Social Forum: working with youth to immunise them against the imminent danger of fanaticism and religious extremism. Can you help?
19 April, Nasri
Hallo, thank you for your solidarity. 19 April was a day without any policing all across Tunisia. Police went on strike, declaring themselves innocent of all the killings of local inhabitants that took place between 4-12 this January.
On Saturday evening the public prosecutor for Kasserine, M Lotfi Ben Jeddou, sent an urgent arrest warrant for the Ennour district chief of police Ouissem Ertani, who is charged with arming his forces to shoot mercilessly on the townspeople from the very start; and also Ertani's collaborators, agents Yassine Sadaoui and Roeffi.
The Kasserine 'street' is waiting patiently for the moment when a new state will begin. We live for that moment. For now there is stagnation, unemployment everywhere and poverty too.
The landlord of the block where I live has evicted me because I was slow to pay a rent which had just gone up by 150 dinars a month. These bad things are already happening in other towns and other blocks. The standard of living has changed a lot for the worse since we lost our general store and large shops. The market at Ben Guerdane on the Libyan border has also closed. Traders can charge swindling prices, while most people in Kasserine are not even able to pay their rising electricity bill from STEG [Societe Tunisien d' Electricite et de Gaz].
20 April, Abidi
On Monday 18, migrants returning from Libya attacked the governor's palace in Sidi Bouzid (because their promised 200 dinar compensation was not paid), and the military wounded some of them. In the region of Sned, near Gafsa, tribal conflicts resulted in two deaths and 43 people injured. Policemen are still refusing to do their job and calling for their 'dignity' to be restored.
The examining magistrate is going to hear the testimony of my son and other injured people from Sidi Bouzid. In Regueb, the city where I live, a number of unemployed young people demonstrated in the streets asking those in charge to provide jobs so that they can live in dignity.
21 April, Sghaier
Yesterday the Maghreb Social Forum came to Kasserine with El Taller International ( a Tunis-based NGO founded by Corinne Kumar and linked to John Berger: www.eltaller.org ). We did good work together with the young, and the bereaved mothers of the martyrs. We held a big public hearing and collected testimonies, living through moments of great emotion. We are launching an open university in Kasserine.
24 April, Nasri
Now a look at my personal life: father 77 years old, has spent his life working here and there, always travelling to Algeria and France, Syria and finally Libya, as a migrant market gardener for 20 years or more; my mother of 73, a woman of tradition, has never been taught to read or write, and is ill with a throat abscess. My older sister of 47, lives separately with her own family; a second sister of 43, single, has a blood condition; third sister of 40, divorced, a secretary in a private company, has a beautiful child of five; a brother of 37 educated to baccalaureate level, is now unemployed having like my father, fled the war in Tripoli this year.
I'm the youngest in my family, unmarried, unemployed, with qualifications and manners, but always looking for work in vain. I love life and peace; I love my parents and my family to death; I have a personal responsibility to commitment and integrity.
24 April, Nasri
Recent days in Kasserine have been grey, nothing new except the visit from Minister of Labour Said Elaadi, a Franco-Tunisian. It was a disappointment; more empty promises without practical or useful measures. At the moment the only plan is for a tomato-canning factory next year which would bring 1000 jobs.
I'd like to make a programme for TV through the Social Forum, a short 15 minute report from Kasserine and its martyrs. We would interview the surviving demonstrators from the public park (where many were killed by police snipers), and also a new organisation for unemployed graduates called the Karama Association for the Revolution and Dignity.
25 April, Abidi
Here in Regueb, last week, the unemployed in the area protested for their right to work.
On Sunday, the citizens agreed on a temporary town council to run Regueb till the elections. Political parties, civil society associations and the local trade unions all agreed on the members.
The examining magistrate heard my son last Tuesday and is expected to hear eye-witnesses tomorrow.
26 April, Abidi
I liked the article you sent me and am gald to be put in touch with Random Pottins. I hope those who read this will discover that Tunisian people are brave enough to evict a dictator and defend their revolution. I'm also quite sure that they will see how beautiful our country is. I'd like to try to provide copies of your reports for the teachers of English in my area and see how we can use them in our schools.
Youcif Salhi is the representative for Sidi Bouzid in "la haute instance" (the High Commission writing the new constitution). He is a trade unionist from Regueb and the coordinator of the local Council for the Protection of the Revolution. If ever you are interested in asking him questions, send them to me and I'll translate them to him and send you the reply.
Yesterday I took my son and another wounded young boy to Elkassab Hospital in Tunis to seek better treatment.
29 April, Nasri
I wrote this to go into a report from Kasserine for international lawyers:
I am a young Tunisian man born and bred in the town of Kasserine. Our injured are divided in two; mentally and physically injured.
In terms of mental injury, I have two examples close at hand. My sister, 43 years old, was damaged by the bombing and sounds of live ammunition when police agents fired continuously against unarmed demonstrators. The firing took place on Rue de Aine Elkgaied, exactly the street where we live, with snipers criss-crossing the street with their weapons, attacking anyone who looked at them or opened a door: a landscape like Gaza in Palestine. Her 5 year old kid has changed his behaviour since these events and is always scared, having nightmares and insomnia.
Nasri's nephew.
There are many young people in Ennour with different physical injuries, including amputations and paralysis. If any investigator, lawyer, doctor or reporter would like to come to Kasserine, I would be honoured to be at your service.
30 April and a really miserable day for me. My computer is bust. I'm writing from an internet cafe far from the district where I live. This is miserable, because the thing I rely on in Kasserine is my computer, thanks to which I can make contact with the outside world and good people; thanks to which I can resist unemployment.
May
1 May, Nasri
Kasserine is calm today, in contrast to last Friday when the prison in Kasserine was set on fire and more than 522 prisoners escaped and ran away, though 124 fugitives were rearrested.
2 May
The day of return for many Tunisian migrant workers from Europe with second hand goods, among them people from Kasserine. Now I've made contact with two young men with a good quality half-price computer. I'm using the computer to make a 15-minute dvd film together with the Karama (Dignity) Association. The film contains photos and voices of our martyrs and wounded in the districts of Cite Ennour and Cite Ezzouhour, and all that happened in the conflict with the snipers; it shows the women, the mothers and fathers at the hospital; it records so many events.
All the music is original from the region of Kasserine, the melody is very tragic because the events are tragic. The group who helped me make this beautiful and personal gift are unemployed graduates like me from my close family. Long live the press, long live freedom, long live co-operation, vive l'humanite, vive la solidarite.
your brother Nasri
2 -3 May, Abidi
A great number of prisoners, about 800 people, fled from the prisons of Kasserine and Gafsa, while other attempts in Kairouan were unsuccessful. This seems not to be an innocent event ... anti-revolutionary forces may be involved in facilitating the mass break-out and adding terror to the instability of the country.
Court cases for the wounded and the families of the martyrs of the revolution are a priority for us in Tunisia. Nevertheless, the process is so slow and we are not informed of its progress. This leads us to doubt the steps which have been taken so far by the Tunisian government, if any. Elkassab hospital and other hospitals throughout Tunisia can do a lot in the field of orthopaedic surgery and prosthetic limbs, but they need the expertise of staff and advanced equipment, and this may be provided through the aid of international associations and governments in the developed world.
I do believe that international lawyers can exercise pressure on the Tunisian authorities to accelerate the process. What matters for us is a fair trial of those responsible for the shootings, and compensation for the victims.
6 May
You must have got the news.Former interior minister Farhat Rajhi declared that Prime Minister Caid Essebsi was a liar and that commander-in-chief Rachid Ammar would seize power if the Ennahdha [religious] party wins the elections. Because of these assertions, a wave of violence and setting fire to police stations swept the country.
8 May, Sghaier
We had a bad weekend with troubles and riots again throughout the whole country. The former home minister gave an interview in which he revealed a cabal linked to the RCD (the former ruling party ) which nominates or sacks ministers. He also accused the PM and army chief of keeping in touch with the exiled dictator. These declarations incited rioters to demonstrate for the government to resign.
We are fed up with plundering and violence. We look forward to seeing our country rebuilt, to thrive and prosper, to see people choosing their rulers in a democracy with no fear, no hatred. We shall overcome, I do believe.
9 May, Nasri
Tunisia has just passed through three horrible days, with fights between the cops and the people at their worst in Tunis. In Kasserine on Saturday night the big avenue in the centre of town was set on fire and is all burnt black now. This is a tragedy; all these events began with a dangerous video clip where [ex-] Minister of the Interior Farhat Rajhi called on the Tunisian people to wake up to a plot against the country by General Ammar and the interim PM, involving a businessman called Kamel Itaief. This information has made people protest all over again...
The national competitions for official posts begin on May 2 (they were postponed to May 9) but then alas, information was not forthcoming from the new ministry of education. Tunisia is in a mess these days: police violence, lack of trust in decision makers, anxiety among public sector workers - will they get their salaries this month or not? - and unemployment is hugely on the rise.
11 May, Abidi
Broadcasting on all 3 TV channels, the interim PM accused certain political parties of stirring up violence following Farhat Rajhi's declarations on Facebook. Spokesmen for the Tunisian Communist Labour Party and the Patriotic and Democratic movement organised a press conference and disclaimed any involvement in the abovementioned violent acts, strongly criticizing any such barbaric behaviour.
I too think that the old regime's supporters are behind the violence, wanting the world to see Tunisians as irresponsible and undeserving of democracy and social justice.
In Regueb, most people condemned the burning of police stations, and we agreed on a group of respected people in the town to refer to whenever the young people want to protest. Many counter-revolutionary acts have occurred in Tunisia, but we are working hard so that they do not freeze the spring of our revolution.
Another event causes us concern: the plight of refugees on the borders with Libya. A primary school teacher in Medennine in Southern Tunisia, is asking for help for about 400 Libyan refugees he is taking care of. His name is Mohamed Ali Daghari.
11 May, Sghaier
What happened in many regions of Tunisia in these last few days was not a general mobilisation or organised action. It was rather a spontaneous reaction provoked by the declarations of Mr Rajhi, the former home affairs minister. People thought he was honest and should not have been dismissed. But I think he committed a grave error of judgment by revealing things at this time which led the country into a wave of violence, adding petrol to the flames. We all have to work to establish social and political stability so that the coming elections can be a success for our new-born democracy. Mr Rajhi ran his campaign too early. He may be dreaming of becoming a president, but he showed he didn't care what damage he might cause to the country after giving such an inflammatory interview.
14 May, Nasri
I've seen all your reports; I feel elated satisfaction; I will do everything possible to fight on the same side, all together against tyranny, war, racism and everything that harms humanity. I tried to send the cd by MSN message but it was illegible so the only solution is to send it by post, I hope it will get to you soon.
15 May, Abidi
The doctors don't agree yet on whether we should wait for Chady's sciatic nerve to regenerate or opt for the grafting solution. It may be better to try abroad in a country where such cases are more familiar to the medical staff. But we are waiting to see what the doctors in Sfax and Tunis say about it.
This morning a public meeting was held in Regueb. We talked about the local and national situation. The speakers focused on the absence of security, and said this was a deliberate choice made by the transitional government. They also emphasised the scarcity of jobs, and they see one possible solution as launching industrial plants in the area.
The mother of a martyr reproached the audience with forgetting the meaning of the revolution: those who sacrificed their lives and shed their blood in the cause of change. Everybody liked her speech.
18 -19 May, Nasri
I wanted to contact you so much this morning, to know more about what's happening to your reports on Kasserine, the tsunami of the Tunisian revolution. I'ld be honoured to read the magazines and share the pages. In this horrible world with so much fierce barbarity, where big fish eat little fish and everyone is attacking everyone else, the way of the jungle, where only the strongest survive; tyranny, horror, fear, deceit, treachery, corruption, harassment of all kinds, bravo bravo .....
22 May/ 20, 29, 30 June, Nasri
The Karama Association acts as an agency for unemployed graduates in Kasserine. We have nine officers and started on February 1. Our needs: 3 desks, 3 computers; a filing cupboard; an air conditioner; wrapping paper and printing paper, 2 printers.
During the days of rage, when young people in Kasserine were angry and in pain from the misery and poverty that caused the revolution; in all-out confrontation with the police and snipers; when people were killed every day on the slightest pretext, our days were spent in combat and our nights at the cemetery; the population rebelled in all kinds of ways.
There was just one employment bureau in town and for 23 years it has never produced any results, even for postgraduates or qualified professionals. On the night of January 10 that office was burned down, coinciding with the funeral procession of the first martyr in Kasserine, a young man of 18 called Slahdine Tarchi.
Into this void came the birth of our small association, a candle in the dark. A group of 4 or 5 local intellectuals found an old building with 3 rooms in central Kasserine, the property of the state and formerly used by the RCD party. During the revolution the place was burned down. So we decided to try something different, to make a positive change in our social situation to tackle our unemployment. We contacted the regional governor, the ministry of development, the civil service and everyone in charge of the region including the MP for Kasserine Central, for permission. At last the association was born out of boundless hope, organisation and love; a passion to do the most we can for the region of Kasserine, that poor, unknown, ill-treated town!
We have to wait till July to get official registration in Tunis and open our bank account. No one has been able to give us material support or funds to buy desks and paper. Even when we painted the walls white, we had to buy the paint ourselves, and get locks for the doors; thank you for your interest and collaboration.
Our goals and objectives:
- Organise and present unemployed graduates to regional and national authorities.
- Contribute our work to the development programme of the region
- Mentor young graduates positively, both socially and culturally
- Monitor regional hiring records
We now have 1123 members who have joined. Over half the unemployed graduates in Kasserine are registered with us.
23 May, Abidi
People from Regueb would like you to write something in London about recent events in their town. On Tuesday morning a group of representatives of the inhabitants of Regueb attended a meeting at the local government seat in Sidi Bouzid. Several ministers oversaw the meeting but no development, health or industrial projects were announced for the town of Regueb. So the Regueb representatives called for a popular peaceful demonstration followed by an information meeting. Regueb’s inhabitants decided to declare their town independent from the governorate of Sidi Bouzid till the government satisfies the urgent demands of the area:
- A regional hospital for the population of 73,000;
- A local covered market square for the fruits and vegetables produced in Regueb;
- No dealings with people connected to the regime of Ben Ali.
Memorial poster in Regueb.
27 May, Nasri
Fantastic, today I read your report of our revolution and saw my name very clearly, thank you very much; and I've sent a long message to blogger Monsieur Charlie Pottins and I'm delighted to be his Facebook friend. With his principles of resisting the tyranny and corruption of presidents and dictators, our principles are the same so thank you for introducing me.
At present I don't have a definite idea about which to choose from among the sixty parties which want to stand for election either on 24 July or 16 October (the original and altered election dates). We are only familiar with the PDP led by Najib Echhabbi and Maia Jribi, and the Ennahda party of Rached Ghannouchi. These two parties have well-known propaganda profiles in Tunisia, especially in the interior of the country; but there are other parties which don't have the same chance at the moment, so it's important to get to know more of their plans and intentions as well.
Any winning party must be close to the problems of the Tunisian people from North to South, Bizerte to Ben Guerdane; and put the interests of the country above everything, because our recent experience of the failed president has given us terrible nightmares and a mistrust of all politicians.
June
17 June, Abidi
Any international legal advisors on Chady's case need to know that we don't have paper documents to accuse individuals, and we don't know the names of those who shot my son and other victims. We are charging ex-president Ben Ali and those responsible at the interior ministry at that time with these crimes.
Soon, I will take Chady back to El Kassab Hospital, specialising in orthopaedic surgery, where the doctors have given us some hope of him making a recovery.
The elections in Tunisia have been postponed till October 23, for objective reasons given by the national independent elections board with the agreement of most political groupings. I hope Tunisia will prove to be a country to emulate in insuring transparent and fair elections.
18 June, Nasri
I'm looking for a job as usual in Kasserine or any region of Tunisia; the essential thing is to get work. Our new Minister of Labour, M Said Elaabdi, has created a new website for the national contests for posts, giving favourable criteria for the interior regions of Tunisia. This is more transparent than the previous one, so unemployed graduates are more hopeful; please god the future will be good.
Tunisia Telecom is closed down by strike action against corruption; a sit-in from 9 May to 17 June has blocked all communication services including the internet to people's houses.
For my family this is a very difficult period. My father has a cataract in his left eye; the operation costs 550 dinars with help from his health insurance if the national savings bank agrees to grant it to us. But this year we took out 230 dinars for dental care and the upper limit is only 300 dinars a year.
The Karama association has only been holding one meeting a day since the start of June because Kasserine in summer is so hot. All of us are well, our president had a meeting with the regional governor this week about new jobs at the cellulose factory. It's the biggest local business and almost all the unemployed would like to work there.
But the governor decided to halt all recruitment at this time. He wants to keep things calm until the new governor arrives and can start his term by announcing new jobs. One good piece of news for us is the replacement of the old managing director with a new one who comes from Kasserine and is only 36 years old.
Before leaving, our governor gave several instances of exploitation and corruption during the revolution. In Cite Ezzohour, it seems people who worked in the governor's palace were given little jobs at 210 dinars a month. Nine managers have been arrested and charged with graft and financial corruption.
In Kasserine all the people wounded injured in the Tunisian revolution should get 3000 dinars each, and a monthly pension of 216 dinars.
Munira Thibia has been given a cleaning job at the courthouse in Kasserine. That's all the news from people who were around me in the days of the revolution.
29 June, Nasri
It is Wednesday, just after 5:00 p.m. Youth and adults of different ages gathered together at the Governor's Palace. They all want to sack the governor because of bad implementation of the aims of the revolution in this region, as a town of 68 martyrs killed in the uprising. Most citizens are angry because of the irregular way that posts have been awarded. Everyone is talking about only one thing – wages.
30 June
It's the day when employees collect their wages. Everybody is together at the door of the Governor's Palace, with the largest number from the Ezzouhour quarter of the city. Girls, boys, women and men and also the elderly wait, but in vain. There is no money because of such bad management of the budget in the first six months of 2011 all over Tunisia. So the situation is very tense.
Police weapons displayed at a memorial meeting in Regueb.
July
1 July, Nasri
Minister Kamel Laabidi has just announced licences for 12 new FM radio stations. Kasserine now has FM Chaanbi, named after our local mountain, the highest peak in Tunisia. Chaanbi's director is a journalist from the Kasserine press called Mokhtar Tlili, and we hope he will be good.
4 July, Amanda Sebestyen/ translated by Agnes Reeve
Dear Friends,
As you may know I was deeply moved by the testimony of the wounded and bereaved people at Sidi Bouzid, Kasserine and Regueb. I have been speaking for some months with several of the internationally known human rights lawyers based in the UK. Some of them have offered to act as Amicus Curiae. This means that they may be able to assist individual cases by giving advice from their wide knowledge of international law. All their help is offered free of charge. I am now in a position to get documents and cases translated and then sent to the lawyers. If you would like to have this additional help, please let me know.
Several of the leading lawyers are also interested in taking class actions/group cases to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on behalf of the martyrs and victims in Tunisia. If you would like to follow up this opportunity, I shall be happy to forward your cases and establish a firm contact between you and the lawyers.
Yours in solidarity, Amanda Sebestyen
4 July, Wissal Jaidi
Dear Amanda
I am moved by your sincerity and your activist spirit. I hope to hear more of what you are doing. I am not a lawyer but if I can be if any help I will get involved, especially if I can contact the families of the bereaved and the wounded. Hoping to see you again, my best regards till next time
14 July, Nasri
We are waiting and hoping for a Karama Association bank account in time for us to apply for funding with your help. In Kasserine all the new associations are in direct competition with one another, each association wants to be the first, better than the others. On Facebook there is another battle between the organisations, like the one that has emerged between the political parties. So unfortunately we can't make an alliance or share a bank account in the meantime with another association: but I hope before August we will be registered and everything will turn out well.
7 July, Abidi
Chady is a bit better now and under the care of experienced doctors in the hospital near Tunis. They will see him again in August and September, and hope that the sciatic nerve will still wake up and restart the normal muscle signal. This is a great relief for Chady and all the family.
State compensation for the injured is 3000 Tunisian Dinars per person. It can't pay for the costly expenses of medical care they need, but personally I can get by since the hospital treatment itself is free now. The transitional government and political parties here are not taking this issue seriously because their present priority is the election on October 23.
7 July, Nasri
Report: incidents at Kasserine prison.
Eight injured people are in surgery in the Regional Hospital, after a fire at the gaol. Two people are in intensive care. The incident left two prisoners dead, one from Kef and the other from Jandouba. A prison guard, a police officer and six soldiers were wounded. This event is the main talking point in Kasserine this week.
8 July, Abidi
Official information says that an Algerian imprisoned in Kasserine burned a mattress and set fire to the prison - this has become a technique used by prisoners to escape in Tunisia. The firemen, police and military authorities didn't give the prisoners a chance to run away: two prisoners died and 19 were injured. Some of them are in a dangerous condition.
In Haidara local inhabitants protested and set fire to the police station and public offices because one of the prisoners who died came from that area.
13-14 July, Abidi
Chady and the injured people from Regueb have been heard by the examining magistrate at the military court in Sfax. Lawyers in Tunisia are not happy using military tribunals rather than civil courts. In military law, Article 22 says the tribunal's judgment is final and cannot be taken on appeal to the supreme court. Chady is contacting lawyers in Tunis to find out how the expertise of the leading international human rights lawyers can be effective in the Tunisian cases.
The wounded then travelled to Tunis for the first meeting of the Association of Families of the Martyrs and Wounded of the Revolution (AWFIA - the word means to keep faith). A local branch is being launched in Regueb on 16 July.
'Young people like these have joined the new Association of Families of the Martyrs and Wounded of the Revolution'.
"AWFIA held its first meeting on July 12 at the Golden Tulip hotel in Tunis. It debated "the legitimacy of the military court in the cases of the martyrs and the wounded...for and against." A number of legal organisations, law practitioners and national personalities were present.
Many people talked of their emotional, psychological and material suffering and anxiety. They noted that the press ignores them and the mass media doesn't focus on them. They fear this will lessen public interest in their case for justice. The debate concluded by agreeing these demands:
1- Rescind Article 22 of the law of October 1982 in cases involving the security forces.
2- Pass a new law to refund the expenses of the victims.
3- Allow victims access to the mass media to shed light on their situation.
4- Name some of our public squares and streets after those who died for the revolution."
Received by post, from Nasri Charfeddine:
A detailed report concerning the revolution - Kasserine.
1) Wounded: there are a high number of wounded, 600 with different levels of injury.
a) Less serious wounds vary according to whether the blows were inflicted by truncheons, handcuffs or boots, and how weapons were used. There were a many such cases in Kasserine.
b) Serious injuries: frontal wounds to the head and eyes, from being pushed up against the gendarmes and civil police, government agents or snipers. Both men and women are affected.
c) Critically injured: There are many people in this category in the Ennour Ezzouhour and Oriental districts. I have sent you two examples of people with abdominal wounds from bullets and cartridges: medical certificates for Karoui Abdelkader, date of birth 1/1/1985, who had to be sent to Sousse regional hospital, and also for another young man, Mansouri Jamel born in 1987. These two cases remain in a critical state.
Others who played a big role in the Revolution at Kasserine.
2) The Neighbourhood Protection Committee:
At the height of the revolution Ben Ali's thugs were dispersed all around Tunisia, sent into Kasserine and Sidi Bouzid where the spark of our great resistance and conflict had begun. Young people of different ages, girls and boys and also adults, formed citizens' groups which protected houses and cars and looked after the general welfare of the neighbourhood. Each group of ten looked after its own corner of the district, to protect women, children and old people from the bullies. I have mentioned one example of those people who really did the most in this noble revolution: my personal photo of a young man from Kasserine called Bassem Nasri, a dedicated revolutionary. High visibility vests like Bassem's were worn by our stewards, our 'revolutionary protectorate'. Thanks to the committee, old people and children could feel safe.
3) Parents of the victims in Kasserine:
I had a conversation with the father of a wounded victim, Abdelkader Karoui – a 26 year old wounded in the Tunisian revolution on January 14, by police fire. Mohammed Karoui. His father asked you to make a special appeal for his son to travel to hospital in Paris or even London.The bullet pierced Abdelkader's pelvis just below the stomach. He was very seriously injured; since January he has not mended and has to use sticks to walk. Educated to primary level, he is unemployed and needs the 216 dinar monthly pension-for-life which has already been announced for all those wounded in the Tunisian revolution. But Abdelkader has not received this benefit because of the errors of those in charge of the Kasserine region. Habitual negligence, mess and chaos, with every kind of corruption, still face us now after the revolution. Abdelkader is appealing to international civil society to help him get treatment.
21 July, Nasri
The truth is, during the Tunisian revolution in Kasserine, I too was wounded on January 10, 2011 in the field of battle against the cops. Thanks to the Crymogene tear gas, as well as an injured left foot, a cut scalp, and a ribcage injury, I had difficulty breathing. My medical certificate said that I must rest for three weeks. I did not claim any compensation for myself, because I feel ashamed before all the sacrifices of those who died. I wanted to be a martyr too, but this was my fate.
13 July, Sghaier
I've been on the move all the time and couldn't get access to my email. These last three months things have seemed to settle down and the political parties are getting their skates on. But almost all over the country there are sporadic strikes and sit-ins for better wages or for jobs. In Gafsa we witnessed cruel scenes of tribal fighting, and felt the shame of this deeply, as Tunisia has never suffered from this throughout its history.
24-25 July, Sghaier
I met Wissal in Tunis and we urgently discussed how to bring help to our people. We decided to found an association to work on political emancipation, and we've launched a big campaign urging people in the rural areas to register as voters and take part in the coming elections. There are more than 100 political parties – astonishingly, most born since January 14 - and we fear that Ennahdha (the islamist party) may benefit from the resulting confusion, which would in my view be a real fiasco. The work is a real challenge, to make people understand the fundamental changes Tunisia has seen after the revolution, and how clearly these changes must not be allowed to lead us back into another dictatorship.
We are determined to carry out this battle for democracy. We're not afraid of having foreign support. On the contrary we will be so grateful for any help, and delighted if you publicise the work we are doing. Our main aim is to convince Tunisians that they have a crucial role to play in building democracy and also to convince them that Ennahdha is not the best alternative to the old regime.
Our target audience is men and women in the countryside, who have had no chance to gather enough information to form political opinions and who consequently feel that the coming elections have nothing to do with them. Wissal and I believe that a low turnout of voters would profit reactionary forces and especially the Ennahda [fundamentalists]. That's why we have already initiated an awareness-raising movement for voters in the most distant rural areas, in the interior of the country.
At this stage we are going on organising with our own modest resources. Wissal is also in the process of delivering an enormous piece of work about street children (homeless and orphaned).
The unemployed graduates of Kasserine are holding a sit-in at the local UGTT union branch. Some of them are on hunger strike.
30 July, Nasri
The families of martyrs in Kasserine were presented with a cheque for 20,000 dinars in March at the Governor's Palace. But what they still want is a fair trial and to see the faces of the snipers who killed their sons, brought to court. The military tribunal is undertaking further investigations into the cops who took part in the conflicts at Kasserine and Thala.
30 July, Nasri
Our regional governor Omar Belhaj Slimaine has tendered his resignation, and left Kasserine City in the hands of another governor for an unknown period of time.
Last night M Lotfi ben Jeddou was confirmed as State Attorney at Kasserine's main tribunal court. This news has brought joy to the hearts of the people of Kasserine; he is very honest, brave and honourable, and has clean hands. His record of work for justice is excellent, and he comes originally from Kasserine.
August
2 August, Nasri
I'm now sending you a list of the names of police agents of Kasserine who committed brutal and ruthless acts of terrorism against the people of Kasserine. These are all secret agents who have played a conclusive role in the bloodshed, devoid of a professional conscience, and with no respect for legitimacy or morality. These people are evil and always looking out for money and their own interests. Corruption and graft are their only objective. I ask you to dedicate a page to this subject because it is the wish of many young people in the region of Kasserine. The list is based on our personal testimony - I must pass it on.
LinkedIn, 8 October, 2011
Mohamed Salah Abidi has sent you a message.
Chady is getting a little better. Yesterday we met his doctors in Tunis. We also saw the lawyer - Lamya Farhani. She is the sister of one of the revolution's martyrs and in charge of the Association, AWFYIA . They have action plans and want to reach out to public opinion to make the transitional government assume its responsibilities, and guarantee rights for the injured and the families of those killed in the revolution.
11 August
The Awfia association thinks the Hague International Tribunal will be far better than the military court in Tunisia (an unsatisfactory legal institution as the lawyers here say). Human rights lawyers can also play an important role in making the transitional government assume their responsibilities vis-à - vis the victims of the revolution. Please, feel free to publish the words you think will fit well into openDemocracy.
14 August
Counter-revolution is getting stronger here. Ministers and officials from the Ben Ali regime have been set free. Many people are calling for an independent magistrature, among them the Association of Tunisian Judges, the lawyers and the UGTT trade union, which has called a national protest on Monday,
FACEBOOK POSTINGS
3 August, We must be vigilant. Our country is definitely the only place in the world which celebrates two Women's Days every year...
12 August, Zeineb Essaddam Ben Cheikh calling all women to fight against fundamentalism and obscurantism.
Street memorial of two women killed in Regueb.
8 August, Moncef Souissi writes for the Association pour la Liberté et la Citoyenneté Active (ALICA)
“Colonised IRAQ is about as DEMOCRATIC as IRAN and ISRAEL! Our Tunisian REVOLUTION is: 1. AGAINST ALL DICTATORSHIP, 2 For WORK, 3 For FREEDOM, 4 For DIGNITY. The body politic, including opportunist political parties hiding behind religion, must respect our martyrs (at least 300 people who were killed in the revolution) even if they have no respect for LIFE and we the LIVING.
Is it conceivable that the Tunisian REVOLUTION has been exported to ISRAEL? The fundamentalist-ZIONIST government is being shaken by a revolt from 300,000 secular Israelis and students which started in August 2011. They were demanding:
1. Social justice, 2. Free education, 3. Healthcare for all, 4. Social housing."
13 August, Moncef Souissi.
Colonialism has always divided and ruled. We need to learn lessons from ten years of civil war in Algeria, which cost the lives of 200,000 on each side. I'm a natural optimist, but I feel the makings of a Tunisian civil war is on the horizon, beginning with an absence of dialogue and stubborn narrowmindedness with respect to ‘others.’
29 August
The 1959 Constitution was ahead of its time. Specialists in constitutional law have to write a new one - or several - constitutions to be submitted to the Tunisian people in a referendum. The Constituent Assembly wants to waste our time, above all with fifty parties coming out of the old RCD and their collaborators the takfirin bigots (Tafkfir: to accuse other muslims of apostasy) who have infiltrated the body politic like a cancer. The revolution has its own dynamic. Respond to the calls from its 300 martyrs for work, freedom and dignity! We can permit no dictatorship, even from an elected assembly.
16 August, Nasri
Good evening. I've spent ten weary days between setting out for Tunis and coming back to Kasserine; but in the end everything went well and we can relax, now we have a bank account for Karama with the Banque International Arabe de Tunisie - BIAT for short.
27 August, Nasri
I'm posting you a report about the generous support from Tunisians living alongside their brothers from Libya: offering our private homes for them to stay here for five months; giving material assistance, food and clothes; donating blood; and during this month of Ramadan, at each call to prayer the Libyans staying among us have been specially invited to raise their voices. There is a house for helping exiled Libyan families at Avenue de Houssine Zarroug, Cite Ennour.
The future of Libya: in my opinion this breach with the past is also a revolution about oil and is also about breaking away from ignorance. Everyone wants to change and achieve economic and social development. Goodbye to everything dictatorial, no more old green flags, no more violence and decadence, above all there must be advances in the level of education. The educational system has to be changed at all levels in the country to make a great Libyan republic. The revolutionaries have also changed the national anthem, combining new words from Tunisian poetry and an Egyptian melody by the famous musician, Mohammed Abdelwaheb. Generally, the desire to change their bad situation is very clear in the eyes of the Libyan citizens, young people, adults, kids. All of them want to respond to the treacherous attacks on them by the Kataeb El-Gaddafi security units. The first priority is open trials in front of everyone, and a parallel return to work and organising the country, saving their homeland, which is very dear to them.
31 August
All the Libyan migrants are up and ready to return to their birthplace. The crossing between the two countries at Ras Ajdir is now a safe path for the migrants with their families in cars, all wanting to get back to their country after the flight of Gaddafi and his family towards Algeria.
Wael Karrafi, one young man disabled during the revolution, went to Tunis last month to complete his application to the national Customs office for a new kind of vehicle donated by a Tunisian businessman now living in Switzerland. But in vain. Wael couldn't get his vehicle although he had a legitimate right to one.
September
3 September, Abidi. Heads up:
- Doctors are programming another operation for my son Chady .
- Steps are slow to help the injured get their legal rights.
- Some acts of violence in several parts of the country.
- The major preocupation of the political groups now is the October 23 elections.
4 September, Nasri
There’s a return to chaos here in Sbeitla, one of the biggest of the twelve townlets around Kasserine. We are under a curfew. On Thursday night Sbeitla endured hours of confrontation between people and the army leaving damaged people and property in its wake. A 17 year old girl was shot and later died from her bullet wound. The police station again came under an arson attack, the railway station also, together with four buses. Now the judge of the military tribunal in Kef has had to summon the army colonel who authorised firing live ammunition into the crowd of Sbeitla inhabitants. The colonel remains under arrest.
5 September, Abidi
Today there was a big meeting in front of the military court in Sfax. Protesters have come there from all corners of Tunisia, mainly the families of the martyrs and those injured in the revolution. They want the court to observe the rules of equity and justice. They also want the government to assume its responsibilities towards the victims of Ben Ali's officials during the revolution.
6 September, Nasri
In the town of Kasserine, at the western interior of Tunisia close to the border with Algeria, there have always been many migrant workers who had to emigrate to Libya. Now, because of the war, they have come back to Kasserine. The returnees are given a good reception, welcomed, given all kinds of assistance. Humanitarian aid is well organised in Kasserine, the town where so many honest people have died.
Between May and June, this year, the people of Kasserine have sent aid convoys of food, and got together to give donations. In June, shelter and housing was given in a six-story building belonging to a Kasserine businessman. Libyan families sheltered safely there with their cars in the basement. In the Ramadan month of August, there was a new purpose for a special place in Cite Ennour, which commemorates our local martyrs. This took on a new significance as a meeting spot for Libyans, where they could be given a meal after the end of a long day fasting.
Report sent by post from Nasri Charfeddine:
Kasserine 25/8/11 - Generous Tunisians.
For five months - April, May. June, July, August - people from Libya have headed for shelter in their sister country Tunisia. At Ras Jdir all sorts of nationalities from Egypt, Somalia, Niger, Chad and Asia, all manual labourers in the Libyan People's Arab Republic, have crossed over the frontier. Add to this over 60,000 returning Tunisians. The stretch from Ras Jdir to the town of Ben Guerdane was unbearably crowded as a result. The UN made a clear intervention to give assistance and solidarity. The Red Cross, Red Crescent, Medecins Sans Frontieres and Tunisian civil society, all strove together to avert a disaster. This was an action for humanity, and new migrants poured into Tunisia to be treated like brothers and family members from across the whole world. We had to rise to the challenge and accept the responsibility; the Tunisian people are generous and open. Helping others, taking the role of rescuer, this has become the start of a new chapter for the generous Tunisians alongside their Libyan brothers.
7 September, Sghaier
Riots and violence between tribes have emerged causing too much damage; two young people were killed in Metlaoui, in the south. Today the prime minister made a speech accusing the police of conspiracy. Many of them reacted violently to this and have started a protest demanding that he resign. This worsening situation may hamper the election process, but up to that time we'll do our best to make a new dawn rise in Tunisia.
8 September, Facebook entry, Zeineb Essaddam Ben Cheikh of the Association Martyrs de Liberté (AMAL):
URGENT WARNING! DON'T FALL INTO THE REFERENDUM TRAP. Without the slightest doubt this is sabotage of the elections, in the judgment of the vast majority of jurists.
16 September, Nasri
Today, five people continue a desperate hunger strike in front of the regional education office in Kasserine. The cause was the result of the national contest for teaching posts. There were twelve thousand candidates. Across Tunisia 2000 candidates were admitted; in Kasserine, only thirty-five. The admission criteria included age, social situation, civil status, and graduation date.
In Kasserine, the staff members at the regional education office have five posts; they are aged from 36 to 40; their educational level is Baccaulaureat + 1; their exam score was 55 points.
Five people immediately reacted to what they see as this insult by refusing water or food for what is now three days.Today all five have been hospitalised under guard at the regional hospital.
17 September, Sghaier
Once again bad news from Kasserine, indeed. Three days ago the ministry of education announced the results of a national contest. Many unemployed graduates were not accepted, so they started protesting by organising a sit-in. Then they prevented the staff of the regional education authority from reaching their offices. Yesterday five people threatened to commit suicide if their demands were not considered. All efforts have so far failed to make them change their minds. Fortunately the emergency services were there to avert a catastrophe. Nobody has died. But this sad event has created a feeling of general anxiety throughout the region.
I hope that this problem will be solved in a few coming days so that we can focus on the elections.
18 September, Nasri
Facebook is full of unconfirmed rumours today about the film maker Nadia Elfani, who has been receiving death threats.
In Kasserine today, the regional governor held a meeting with the political parties and civil society organisations at his office in the Kasserine governorate on the continuing lack of grip of the provisional government in this region, even after our January 14, 2011; and the fact that the local people of Kasserine have no confidence that they can trust this interim government. Add, the disappointing results of the national contests for government-funded posts; and the clear indifference towards developing centres of employment in this region.
All these causes have forced the local people into confrontation once more, and we have decided that from tomorrow Monday September 19, there will be a general strike in Kasserine. All work will stop, both in public bodies and private business.
This was the decision of the meeting at 5pm today.
