<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/font><\/p>\n <\/font><\/strong><\/div>\n <\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/b><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Amnesty International urges the National Constituent Assembly (NCA), as it meets today for the first time to draft the new constitution of Tunisia, to ensure that theshortcomings of the old constitution are addressed and that fundamental human rights guarantees are incorporated.<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n The NCA must, above all, reflect Tunisia\u2019s international human rights obligations in the new constitution, in particular with regard to the supremacy of international human rights law over domestic law; the principle of non-discrimination; the protection of the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly; the independence of the judiciary; judicial guarantees in the criminal justice system; protection from torture and other forms of ill-treatment; the right to life; and the protection of economic, social and cultural rights. <\/font><\/p>\n Provisions in the old Tunisian constitution – suspended on 23 March 2011 – failed to protect Tunisians\u2019basic human rights and essential freedoms. Members of the political opposition, activists, human rights defenders and in effect any dissenting voices were ruthlessly repressed and faced arbitrary arrest and detention. The security forces and the judiciary were part of the repressive machinery of the authorities rather than institutions protecting the rights of people. Prison conditions and the treatment of prisoners were notoriously poor; laws were passed to further repress rather than protect Tunisians. Torture was widespread and impunity pervasive and counter-terrorism rhetoric was used to justify abuses. Tunisia\u2019s \u201ceconomic miracle\u201d was celebrated while trade unionists faced imprisonment and large sectors of Tunisia\u2019s population have been denied minimum essential levels of economic, social and cultural rights.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n \u00b7 <\/font>First and foremost, the new constitution must maintain the supremacy of international law over domestic law and ensure that the human rights enshrined in international treaties to which Tunisia is a party are enforceable in a court of law.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n \u00b7 <\/font>The independence of the judiciary, particularly from the executive, needs to be guaranteed, as do the safeguards protecting judges from pressures and influence. The principle of security of tenure (inamovibilite<\/i>) must be included. Furthermore, the constitution should clearly stipulate the appointment of judges based on their abilities and qualifications without resort to any form of adverse discrimination. <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n \u00b7 <\/font>The NCA should uphold the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly and ensure that any restrictions to these rights are limited only to those allowed in international law and standards. <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n \u00b7 <\/font>Discrimination needs to be prohibited and the grounds for prohibition clearly identified in line with international law, that is, on the basis of race, colour, sex, language, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Amnesty International also recommends that the NCA include a provision in the new constitution which clearly states that women and men have equal rights in law and in practice and equal opportunities in the political, economic, cultural and social sphere.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n \u00b7 <\/font>To ensure fair trial and to end impunity, existing judicial guarantees must be further developed and defined in the new constitution to ensure that the necessary safeguards are put into place. In light of the legacy of impunity which prevailed in Tunisia, the constitution should state that no member of the security apparatus is allowed to act above the law; Other safeguards should include the presumption of innocence, the right to have a lawyer, the conformity ofconditions of detention with international standards, the right to be immediately informed of the reason of arrest, the right to promptly challenge the lawfulness of one’s detention, the exclusive use of civilian courts to try civilians, the right to have ample time to prepare a defence, the exclusion of evidence extracted under torture or other forms of ill-treatment, the right to appeal and compensation for unlawful arrest. Furthermore, the new constitution must provide guarantees that end impunity and ensure the accountability of perpetrators of human rights violations.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n \u00b7 <\/font>An absolute and clear prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment must be included. The provisions also need to stipulate that the right to be free from torture and other ill-treatment is absolute and non-derogable and that evidence extracted under torture or other forms of ill-treatment can never be admissible.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n \u00b7 <\/font>The right to life should also be guaranteed in the new Constitution and the death penalty prohibited as a punishment for any crime. Amnesty International believes that the death penalty should be abolished as it violates the right to life and is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and that it is not possible for a country to fully respect human rights and sentence people to death at the same time. <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n \u00b7 <\/font>Economic, social and cultural rights must be guaranteed, including by ensuring the minimum essential levels of these rights and ensuring non-discrimination in access to essential public services. It is also necessary to uphold the right of workers and trade unions and to ensure that victims of violations of economic, cultural and social rights have the ability to access effective remedies. <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n Although it will take more than a new constitution to fully prevent human rights violations, a constitution that enshrines human rights and freedoms is a powerful tool for preventing them. The constitution can be the guiding instrument for institutions and officials in Tunisia and an ultimate guarantor of rights for Tunisians.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n —————————————————————————————————————–<\/font><\/p>\n Background information<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n The Tunisian interim president passed a decree on 23 March 2011 suspending the 1959 Constitution until the election of a national constituent assembly that was tasked with creating a new constitution and appointing a new government. The decree stated:<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n \u201cConsidering that the current situation of the State after the final vacancy of the Presidency of the Republic on 14 January 2011\u2026does no longer allow the regular operation of the public authorities and that the full implementation of the constitution provisions has become impossible.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n Article one – The public authorities in the Republic of Tunisia shall be provisionally organized in accordance with the provisions of the decree-law herein, until a national constituent assembly elected with universal, free, direct and secret vote according to an electoral system chosen for this purpose, takes its functions.\u201d<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n Members of the NCA were elected in nationwide elections that were held on 23 October 2011.<\/font> <\/p>\n Since former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was ousted, the caretaker government has ratified a number of international human right including the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court All were published in the Official Gazette on 22 February 2011. <\/font><\/p>\n The caretaker government has also withdrawn its reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Amendments have also been made to national laws including the laws governing the press and audiovisual material, the law on associations and the law on torture. Amnesty International welcomes these as steps in the right direction although more work needs to be done to ensure human rights are the cornerstone of Tunisia\u2019s future.<\/font><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/b><\/p>\n Houcine Ghali,<\/font> Gen\u00e8ve<\/font><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Les bourgeois de Carthage, la Marsa, Sidi Bousa\u00efd, Gammmarth et le reste de la banlieue du Grand-Tunis ont d\u00e9barqu\u00e9 sans pr\u00e9venir dans la r\u00e9volution du 14 janvier 2011. <\/font><\/p>\n Ils ont pris le train du changement en marche sans avoir particip\u00e9 en quoique ce soit au le processus de la r\u00e9volte qui est partie du sud du pays avec l’ immolation par le feu de Mohamed Bouazizi, la f\u00e9roce r\u00e9pression qui a touch\u00e9 un grand nombre des villes o\u00f9 la mis\u00e8re r\u00e8gne depuis des de\u00e9cennies.<\/font><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Pour se d\u00e9faire de leur poids du pass\u00e9, des traumatismes et de leur culpabilit\u00e9 en exc\u00e9dent de m\u00e9moire, les bourgeois tunisois ont enfin pens\u00e9 \u00e0 la n\u00e9cessit\u00e9 de l’ instauration de la d\u00e9mocratie, \u00e0 participer aux processus qui am\u00e8nent les droits humains et la libert\u00e9, et se sont tout \u00e0 coup r\u00e9veill\u00e9s avec une \u00e2me r\u00e9volutionnaire qu’ il faut concr\u00e9tiser.<\/font><\/p>\n Ils ont aussi pens\u00e9 aux pauvres et se sont engag\u00e9s \u00e0 les aider en cr\u00e9ant des associations qui oeuvreront \u00e0 soulager la grande mis\u00e8re du quart de la population tunisienne.<\/font><\/p>\n En effet, c’ est seulement apr\u00e8s le 14 janvier dernier que nos bourgeois du Grand – Tunis, bien nantis et ayant largement profit\u00e9 du pouvoir r\u00e9pressif de Ben Ali durant 23 ans, ont d\u00e9couvert qu’ il y a 25% de pauvres dans leur pays dont chacun vit avec seulemnt deux dinars par jour, sans compter le million de ch\u00f4meurs et les nombreuses familles qui subissent la pr\u00e9carit\u00e9. Ils se sont \u00e9mus en regardant \u00e0 la t\u00e9l\u00e9vision Tunis 1 les taudits o\u00f9 s’ entassent dans la promiscuit\u00e9 des familles sans eau, sans \u00e9lectricit\u00e9 et dont les enfants font plus de dix kms \u00e0 pieds pour rejoindre leurs \u00e9coles.<\/font><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Quand la vie devant soi nous tire par derri\u00e8re, quand il est difficile de s’ \u00e9manciper des maux qu’ on a cr\u00e9\u00e9s et de s’ affranchir de sa propre participation \u00e0 l’ appauvrissement d’ une grande tranche de la population tunisienne, alors on prend le train de la r\u00e9volution en marche en cr\u00e9ant une association humanitaire pour venir en aide aux pauvres et ainsi soulager sa conscience et s’ extraire de sa propre responsabilit\u00e9. Ou en s’ inscrivant dans un parti ou une organisation pour participer \u00e0 la bonne marche des \u00e9tapes de la r\u00e9volution.<\/font><\/p>\n Ainsi le riche demeure riche, le pauvre reste pauvre mais b\u00e9n\u00e9ficie de quelques miettes des ais\u00e9s pour lui faire oublier sa v\u00e9ritable condition d’ exploit\u00e9, de marginal, d’ oubli\u00e9, et ainsi faire \u00e9vacuer de sa pens\u00e9e toute id\u00e9e de r\u00e9volte et de mise en cause du syst\u00e8me de classe \u00e9tabli et de l’ exploitation de la majorit\u00e9 par une minorit\u00e9, but supr\u00eame de tout pouvoir lib\u00e9ral, aussi d\u00e9mocratique soit-il.<\/font><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Car durant ces 23 ans de r\u00e8gne de la dictature de Ben Ali, les bourgeois tunisois se sont tus dans leur aisance, n’ ont exprim\u00e9 aucune critique \u00e0 l’ \u00e9gard du pouvoir, se sont enrichis encore plus en profitant du lib\u00e9ralisme sauvage,de la corruption et du laisser faire du r\u00e9gime. Il rechignaient \u00e0 cr\u00e9er des associations caritatives et \u00e0 aider m\u00eame les partis de l’ opposition sociale-d\u00e9mocrate et s’ adonnaient \u00e0 une vie luxueuse dans l’ ignorance totale de la mis\u00e8re qui ronge une grande partie de la population de l’ int\u00e9rieur de leur pays.<\/font><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n La r\u00e9volution tunisienne s’ est faite stopper apr\u00e8s l’ ,\u00e9chec de l’ occupation Kasbah 2. Sa r\u00e9cup\u00e9ration s’ est ensuite mise en place gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 l’ installation \u00e0 la t\u00eate de l’ Etat d’ un pr\u00e9sident ( Fouad Mbazzaa ) et d’ un Premier ministre ( Beji Ka\u00efed Essebsi ), tous deux grands serviteurs de Bourguiba et de Ben Ali. La pr\u00e9sence dans la grande Administration et surtout au minist\u00e8re de l’ Int\u00e9rieur de barrons aguerris par la pratique de la r\u00e9pression et de l’ opportunisme durant ces derni\u00e8res 23 ann\u00e9es a fait le reste.<\/font><\/p>\n Enfin, la collaboration des divers partis de l’ opposition sociale-d\u00e9mocrate, au seul but d’ acc\u00e9der au pouvoir, a port\u00e9 le coup de gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 une quelconque r\u00e9volution digne de ce nom.<\/font><\/p>\n La coalition Ennahdha, CPR et Ettakattoul a fait d\u00e9vier la r\u00e9volution de sa v\u00e9ritable voie pour longtemps et nos bourgeois tunisois se mettent \u00e0 trembler de nouveau car avec des islamistes d\u00e9tenteurs du v\u00e9ritable pouvoir politique, leur mode de vie \u00e0 la fran\u00e7aise risque fort de prendre un sale coup et leur m\u00e9pris pour les pauvres gens se voir r\u00e9prim\u00e9.<\/font><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Houcine.ghali@bluewin.ch<\/font><\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/font><\/b><\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n En Tunisie, l’Assembl\u00e9e constituante a pris officiellement ses fonctions ce mardi 22 novembre 2011. Elle devra donner au pays une nouvelle Constitution et valider l’accord sign\u00e9 entre les trois principaux partis : les islamistes d’Ennahda, le Congr\u00e8s pour la R\u00e9publique (CPR) et Ettakatol qui se sont partag\u00e9s les postes-cl\u00e9s du pouvoir. \u00a0<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n Il \u00e9tait 11 heures et quart lorsque les travaux de l’Assembl\u00e9e constituante ont \u00e9t\u00e9 ouverts \u00e0 Tunis. Cette Assembl\u00e9e a \u00e9t\u00e9 \u00e9lue le 23 octobre dernier lors des premi\u00e8res \u00e9lections libres dans le pays, moins d’un an apr\u00e8s la chute et la fuite de l’ancien pr\u00e9sident Ben Ali. Il y a eu beaucoup d\u2019\u00e9motion lors de cette premi\u00e8re s\u00e9ance au palais du Bardo, malgr\u00e9 quelques centaines de manifestants hostiles aux islamistes devant l\u2019entr\u00e9e du Parlement. La c\u00e9r\u00e9monie d\u2019inauguration a commenc\u00e9 tr\u00e8s solennellement par une passation de pouvoirs, avec un discours du pr\u00e9sident par int\u00e9rim Fouad Mebazaa, venu passer la main symboliquement aux 217 \u00e9lus de cette Assembl\u00e9e constituante.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n Dans l\u2019h\u00e9micycle, se sont r\u00e9unies toutes les grandes personnalit\u00e9s de la nouvelle Tunisie post-Ben Ali, du Premier ministre de transition Beji Ca\u00efd Essebsi, au chef du parti islamiste Rached Ghannouchi, jusqu\u2019au chef d\u2019Etat major de l\u2019arm\u00e9e, le fameux g\u00e9n\u00e9ral Rachid Ammar, connu pour avoir refus\u00e9 de tirer sur la foule pendant la r\u00e9volution. N\u2019\u00e9tant pas \u00e9lu, il est venu encourager les 217 \u00e9lus de cette nouvelle assembl\u00e9e. On a vu Rachid Ammar donner chaleureusement l\u2019accolade au chef du parti islamiste Ennahda et bien-s\u00fbr au nouveau pr\u00e9sident tunisien, l\u2019ancien opposant de centre-gauche Moncef Marzouki, ainsi qu\u2019au futur pr\u00e9sident de la Constituante, le chef du parti Ettakatol Mustapha Ben Jaafar.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n L\u2019une de premi\u00e8res d\u00e9cisions de cette Assembl\u00e9e constituante sera de valider par le vote la nomination de ses deux pr\u00e9sidents et du Premier ministre propos\u00e9s par la coalition islamiste de centre-gauche. <\/font><\/span>Les \u00e9lus ont tous fait part de leur grande \u00e9motion en prenant place dans l\u2019h\u00e9micycle. \u00ab<\/span>Imaginez le chemin parcouru<\/em>, nous disait l\u2019un d\u2019eux.<\/span>Il y a un an, jour pour jour, Ben Ali \u00e9tait encore l\u00e0. Notre part islamiste Ennahda \u00e9tait interdit. Et, aujourd\u2019hui, nous voila au c\u0153ur du pouvoir tunisien<\/em> <\/i><\/span>\u00bb<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n Reste la question du partage du pouvoir entre le parti islamiste arriv\u00e9 en t\u00eate \u00e0 l’\u00e9lection du 23 octobre et les deux partis de gauche avec lesquels Ennahda a conclu un accord de coalition. Selon cet accord, annonc\u00e9 lundi \u00e0 Tunis, Moncef Marzouki, du Congr\u00e8s pour la R\u00e9publique (CPR), va devenir le nouveau pr\u00e9sident tunisien. L\u2019ancien opposant farouche au r\u00e9gime Ben Ali \u00e9tait tr\u00e8s \u00e9mu, en d\u00e9clarant : \u00ab <\/span>C\u2019est le plus beau jour de ma vie. C\u2019est le jour de la lib\u00e9ration. C\u2019est le jour le plus long, aussi, pour nous tous<\/em><\/i><\/span>\u00bb. <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n Source: \u201cRFI\u201d Le 22-11-2011<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n Lien: <\/font><\/span>http:\/\/www.rfi.fr\/afrique\/20111122-moment-historique-tunisie-premiere-seance-assemblee-constituante<\/font><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n <\/p>\nAmnesty International: Human rights must be cornerstone of new Tunisian constitution<\/strong><\/font><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
Le Nouvel Observateur: TUNISIE. Mustapha Ben Jaafar \u00e9lu pr\u00e9sident de l’Assembl\u00e9e constituante<\/strong><\/font><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
Gnet: Tunisie, la constituante ouvre ses travaux dans une ambiance solennelle<\/strong><\/font><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
Slate Afrique: Islamisme: l\u2019\u00e9trange jeu am\u00e9ricain en Tunisie<\/strong><\/font><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
Investir en Tunisie: Tunisie : les erreurs de Hamadi Jebali, selon Afek Tounes<\/strong><\/font><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
Liberte \u2013 Algerie: Les conseils des islamistes alg\u00e9riens \u00e0 El-Ghannouchi<\/strong><\/font><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
Human rights must be cornerstone of new Tunisian constitution<\/font><\/h2>\n
TUNISIE : REVEIL TARDIF ET OPPORTUNISTE DES BOURGEOIS TUNISOIS<\/font><\/h2>\n
TUNISIE. Mustapha Ben Jaafar \u00e9lu pr\u00e9sident de l’Assembl\u00e9e constituante<\/font><\/h2>\n
Tunisie : premi\u00e8re s\u00e9ance de l\u2019Assembl\u00e9e constituante<\/font><\/h2>\n