Sunday, February 6, 2011

In Tunis, a commission investigating victims of the revolution

Tunis Special Envoy - The complaints office is at two levels: on the third floor is home to the families of "martyrs" of the revolution Tunisia; second, victims of corruption. Above, the fourth, there are those who think, around the jurist Yadh Ben Achour, a former member of the Constitutional Council, the electoral reforms needed for future presidential and parliamentary elections.

Kheireddine Pasha Street, near Tunis Montplaisir, the three commissions of inquiry set up after the fall of former President Zine El-Ali AbidineBen settled in the same building that still bears all white on its front the sign Bank habitat. Outside, the crowd became impatient. In recent days, from 8 o'clock in the morning, Tunisians rushing the doors of the building entrance.

This is to give warning its neighbor. "My land, they took my land!" Shouted a man waving the papers. A young irritated, leg resting on a crutch: "Beaten by police" on January 13, he swears. The small lobby is full of women and men standing or sitting, waiting to be received. But nothing is ready yet.

The offices are just to be unpacked, telephone lines are not all connected. On the third floor, room bears the stigmata of early intervention designed to install a security door. "This is where we will store all the files, we expect five chests," said, going around the owner, Taoufik Bouderbala, president of the national commission of inquiry on police violence.

The mission of the latter is to investigate the deaths, injuries and property damage caused by security forces during the days that preceded the collapse of the former regime. "Since December 17, 2010 (the date of self-immolation of Mohammed Bouazizi, signaling the beginning of Tunisian uprising) until the total appeasement of the situation, that is to say today" , says Bouderbala, a lawyer, former president of the Tunisian League of Human Rights.

The first files are stored on a single shelf in a room naked. January 31, Khaled's family came to file his own. Born in July 1985, the young man was killed Jan. 14 by three bullets on the square known as the "18-January" in the district Ettadhamen, the most populous suburb of Tunis. The manila envelope contains a statement, the burial permit, the coroner's report from the hospital, a list written in ballpoint pen witnesses and several photos.

It clearly shows the bullet holes in his head, arm and shoulder. Below this is the record of a man aged 30, died Jan. 16 in the governorate of Ben Arous, near Tunis, a gunshot wound. A brief report states that he is a prisoner who escaped from prison in Bizerte. And then others again. According to Habiba EzzahiBen Romdhane, Health Minister of the Provisional Government, the outcome - even partial - amounts to 166 people killed by bullets, more than 72 inmates, between December 17 and January 25.

"These figures only record those who were admitted to a hospital," said the minister. Tunis has paid the heaviest price with 47 people killed by gunfire in front Bizerte (29 dead), Sousse (15), Kasserine (12) and Sidi Bouzid (6). During the same period, about 1207 people received serious injuries in hospitals, 693 had been shot.

The largest number of firearm injuries was recorded in Sousse (144), before Tunis (94) and Kasserine (81). Other education provided by the balance sheet reported in the world: the majority of deaths by gunfire took place between 9 and 17 January. Only on January 14, the day of the flight of Mr.

Ben Ali, 31 people killed have been identified, including 18 in the Tunis region alone. "The police fired point blank," sighs Mr. Bouderbala, who says he determined to summon the suspects "to climb the ladder of responsibility to the outsourcer." Among the victims on which the Committee intends to consider are also the case of Lucas Mebrouk Dolega, the French photographer who died Jan.

14 after a tear gas canister in the head, and one of three soldiers targeted by snipers. The complaints are only the first step. The Committee of Inquiry, composed of fifteen members - representatives of associations defending human rights, lawyers, doctors, judges - will then move to conduct formal hearings and recorded.

"We will not less than one year," said its chairman. This work, which means rigorous, despite the risk of lead as the impatience of Tunisians is obvious. The commission investigating corruption is already flooded with small and large files. In the queue, an employee of the national electricity company, STEG, came to denounce the "commissions" affected by management, alongside a student received in the competition, but was never able to obtain a position in the administration, lack of "piston".

Isabelle Mandraud Article published in the edition of 05.02.11

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