海角大神

Why police violence proves a stubborn problem for democratic Tunisia

Abdallah Raddadi聽says he聽didn鈥檛 know what hit him.

The 30-year-old聽was walking down the street in his working-class Tunis neighborhood of Sidi Hassine when everything went black. He woke up in the hospital four days later.

But he says he is certain聽who聽hit him.

鈥淭he police,鈥� says Mr. Raddadi, whose family obtained video footage of the attack.

鈥淧olicemen are hostile to young men and they are now beating us in public,鈥澛爃e says.聽鈥淲e thought we would prosper with the revolution, but the police state never changed.鈥�

Mr. Raddadi鈥檚 beating is one episode聽in a summer of discontent聽in聽Tunisia. As it navigates the COVID-19 pandemic,聽the young democracy in North Africa聽is having a public reckoning with a feature of its past and present:聽police violence in marginalized communities.

Facing聽political deadlock, powerful police unions obstructing reforms, and a court system聽that upholds聽a culture of impunity, working-class youths and activists are tapping into the spirit of protest movements in聽the United States聽and France to keep the issue at the forefront of the public debate.

In the process, Tunisians are reevaluating police聽officers鈥櫬爎elationship with working-class聽citizens,聽who say they have long suffered in silence.

鈥淚t is true that impunity exists,鈥� says Yamina Zoghlami, who represents Sidi Hassine in parliament and is a member of the largest parliamentary bloc, Ennahda. 鈥淚mpunity is making people lose confidence in policemen and authorities, particularly youth who believed in the revolution.鈥�

鈥淏oth the judiciary and the security and police need to be reformed and democratized.鈥�

Spark of protests

The聽protests in Sidi Hassine first erupted in聽early June with viral footage of the police killing of Ahmed ben Ammar,聽a 30-something neighborhood resident聽who was detained for a drug search while walking with his fianc茅e.

When Mr. ben Ammar refused to be searched, the police beat him until his body lay motionless. He later was pronounced dead in police custody.

Protests spread more broadly across Tunis after another incident聽just聽24 hours later, when police detained a 15-year-old boy in the same neighborhood.

In a video captured by passersby, police stripped the boy naked and brutally beat him on the side of the road in broad daylight, parading him naked and placing him in a squad car.

The victim鈥檚 age, the public humiliation, and the sheer brazenness outraged Tunisians across the political spectrum and聽from all聽economic classes.

Prime Minister and acting Interior Minister Hichem Mechichi,聽pressured聽to provide answers under聽threat of a no-confidence vote聽in parliament, said the officers involved in the incident聽had been聽suspended and聽would聽be referred to the courts.

Yet聽public trust and expectations of accountability are聽at聽rock bottom.

Tunisia鈥檚 politicians refer to what they describe as 鈥渋solated鈥� incidents, a few bad apples in the ranks聽who are聽ill-equipped to deal with protesters and rioters in the hardscrabble neighborhood.

But residents and advocates say it is part of a deep-seated culture of abuse and police impunity that leaves working-class residents fearful of police, worried that they may not make it home alive, simply for being in the wrong ZIP code.

鈥淚鈥檓 really concerned when I walk in the street. I ask myself: Will police attack me because I spoke out? Will they beat me, too?鈥澛爏ays聽Zakia Ayari, mother of the abused聽15-year-old.聽鈥淲ho can guarantee my safety and prevent them from threatening me?鈥�

Tallying attacks

Since January,聽the Tunisian League of Human Rights聽has registered 2,000 complaints of police abuse nationwide,聽one-third of聽them聽from minors.

Families of seven people killed in alleged police violence have filed lawsuits over the last four years, yet courts have failed to bring a case forward or issue a single indictment or verdict, according to the聽rights group.

The lack of聽legal聽action聽is at odds with Tunisia鈥檚聽vibrant civil society, which documents abuses and provides legal counsel. The constitutionally mandated National Authority for the Prevention of Torture details abuses in annual reports to parliament.

鈥淭hese abuses were documented, but with the ongoing impunity a kind of normalization of gratuitous police violence has set in,鈥� says Romdhane Ben Amor, director at the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights.

鈥淲hen the incident in Sidi Hassine happened, the policemen felt they were above the law,鈥� he says, calling for 鈥渞eal reform鈥� to 鈥減revent a return to the practices of the old regime.鈥�

Blue wall

Tunisians have a complicated history with the police.

The police and secret police were a separate arm of the state answering only to the former dictator,聽Zine el-Abidine聽Ben Ali, who used security services to cement his grip on power, eliminate political rivals, and intimidate critics.

In the months following the 2011 revolution, the interim government dissolved the secret police and sacked dozens of high-ranking officials. But the reforms stopped there.

Without the protection of the ousted strongman, security forces took advantage of Tunisia鈥檚 new civil society freedoms and formed police unions 鈥撀�100 different unions in 2011 alone.

Although their stated intent was to advocate for better wages and pensions, the national unions in recent years have flexed their muscle, mobilizing and threatening work stoppages to prevent attempts to reform the police, to keep Ben Ali-era officials in place, and protect colleagues from prosecution 鈥� forming a blue wall running across Tunisia.

With Tunisia鈥檚 political factions wary of going up against the police unions, a culture of impunity has grown.

鈥淲e see the Interior Ministry as increasingly powerless in front of these unions, which are becoming stronger and more independent each year,鈥澛爏ays H茅l猫ne Legeay, legal director at World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) Tunisia.

This comes amid frequent interactions between police and youths in low-income neighborhoods, who are increasingly protesting over high unemployment, rising prices, and the revolution鈥檚 unfulfilled promises.聽

Activists say聽the聽increasingly emboldened police, facing anti-police chants and fearing any further democratization in Tunisia as a threat to their remaining power, are meting out violence to young Tunisians and threatening activists and families of victims to ensure their silence.

鈥淚 have witnesses who saw the whole attack on my brother, who have recorded it on video,鈥� says Rawdha Raddadi,聽Abdallah鈥檚 sister. 鈥淏ut they are afraid to give testimony. They are afraid of police revenge.鈥�

Colonial legacy

Many victims refuse to lodge complaints for fear of cooked-up criminal charges or a lifetime of harassment from police unions.

Activists point to articles in Tunisia鈥檚 penal code聽that聽date to the French colonial occupation and contradict its post-revolution 2014 constitution, which enshrines individual and human rights.

One vaguely worded article allows police to charge people for 鈥渁ggression towards an officer鈥� 鈥� increasingly used by some officers to intimidate victims. The definition of torture is restricted to 鈥渧iolence used to extract a confession.鈥�

As attempts to reform stall in parliament, the judiciary聽appears intimidated, hesitant to act聽against聽a聽police force they rely on, with multiple cases of union-organized police officers storming courthouses and releasing officers facing trial.

But protests and activism continue, inspired by the George Floyd protests in the United States and聽Adama Traor茅聽demonstrations聽in France, to keep a spotlight on the issue and attract the attention of the international community and countries that Tunisia relies on for financial and military support.

OMCT is working with members of parliament to expand the definition of torture in the Tunisian legal code.聽

Lawmakers like Ms. Zoghlami say they are also pushing the government to 鈥渇ocus on what type of daily relationships and interactions police have with the ordinary people of Sidi Hassine鈥� and other working-class neighborhoods.

The National Union of Tunisian Journalists, which are at the forefront of documenting abuse and activism, sees hope for change.

鈥淎lthough some policemen abuse people, we are not in the same situation as the Ben Ali era,鈥� says Amira Mohamed, a journalist union deputy. 鈥淭here is progress that simply needs more support, laws, and training to make police familiar with the culture of human rights.鈥�

鈥淭丑别谤别听is聽change. But it is still incomplete.鈥�