The law provides workers the right to organize and form unions, but this right was not always respected in practice. The UGTT was the country’s only labor federation. Approximately 10 percent of the work force belonged to the UGTT, including civil servants and employees of state\u2011owned enterprises, and a considerably larger proportion of the work force was covered by union contracts. A union may be dissolved only by court order.<\/span><\/div>\n

The UGTT and its member unions were legally independent of the government and the ruling party; however, they operated under regulations that limited their freedom of action. The UGTT included persons associated with all political tendencies. UGTT funding came from modest union dues, revenue from an insurance company, and a percentage of annual contributions into the National Social Security Fund. The government provided the UGTT with land for its new headquarters and support for its construction. Central UGTT leadership generally cooperated with the government regarding its economic reform program. During the year the UGTT again refused to submit a list of candidates for 14 UGTT-designated seats for elections to the newly created Chamber of Advisors, citing a lack of independence and democracy in the selection process and an unfair distribution of seats. The UGTT supported the LTDH and agreed to let LTDH regional chapters use UGTT facilities for conferences and meetings.<\/span><\/div>\n

Unions, including those representing civil servants, have the right to strike, provided that they give 10 days’ advance notice to the UGTT, and it grants approval. The International Trade Union Conference characterized the requirement for prior UGTT approval of strikes as a violation of worker rights, but such advance approval rarely was sought in practice. The law prohibited retribution against strikers, and the government generally respected this provision. Labor disputes were settled through conciliation panels in which labor and management were represented equally. Tripartite regional arbitration commissions settle industrial disputes when conciliation fails.<\/span><\/div>\n

On January 16 and 17, the Tunisian General Union of Secondary School Teachers went on strike, to protest the severance of three teachers reportedly due to their union activities.<\/span><\/div>\n

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
The law protects the right to organize and bargain collectively, and the government protected this right in practice. Wages and working conditions are set in triennial negotiations between the UGTT member unions, the government, and employers. Numerous collective bargaining agreements set standards for industries in the private sector and covered 80 percent of the private sector.<\/span><\/div>\n
The law prohibits anti-union discrimination by employers, although the UGTT claimed that there was anti-union activity among private sector employers, such as firing union activists and using of temporary workers to avoid unionization. In certain industries, such as textiles, hotels, and construction, temporary workers accounted for a strong majority of the work force. The labor code protects temporary workers, but enforcement was more difficult than for permanent workers. A committee chaired by an officer from the Labor Division of the Office of the Inspector General approved all worker dismissals. The committee was composed of representatives from the Ministry of Social Affairs, Solidarity, and Tunisians Abroad, the UGTT, and the company dismissing the worker. Legally, workers have the right to reinstatement, but in practice this was not enforced.<\/span><\/div>\n
Export processing zones were subject to labor laws.<\/span><\/div>\n
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
The law prohibits forced and compulsory labor, including by children, and there were no reports that such practices occurred. However, some parents placed their teenage daughters as domestic servants and collected their wages.<\/span><\/div>\n
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
The law prohibits the employment of children under 18 in jobs that present serious threats to their health, security, and morality, and the UGTT and the National Social Security Fund conducted inspection tours of factories and industrial sites to ensure compliance.<\/span><\/div>\n
The law generally prohibits the employment of children under the age of 16 years, which is consistent with the age for completing educational requirements, and inspectors of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Solidarity, and Tunisians Abroad examined the records of employees to verify that employers complied with the minimum age law. There were no reports of sanctions against offending employers.<\/span><\/div>\n
The minimum age for light work in the non-industrial and agricultural sectors during non-school hours was 13 years. Workers between the ages of 14 and 18 must have 12 hours of rest per day, which must include the hours between 10 p.m. and 6 a .m. In nonagricultural sectors children between the ages of 14 and 16 years may work no more than two hours per day. The total time that children spend in school and work may not exceed seven hours per day. Nonetheless, young children sometimes performed agricultural work in rural areas and worked as vendors in towns, primarily during their summer vacation from school. Child labor also existed in the informal sector disguised as apprenticeship, particularly in the handicraft industry.<\/span><\/div>\n
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
The labor code provides for a range of administratively determined minimum wages. On May 2, the government raised the industrial minimum wage to 252 dinars (approximately $194) per month for a 48\u2011hour workweek and to 218 dinars ($168) per month for a 40\u2011hour workweek. The agricultural daily minimum wage was seven-eight dinars (six dollars) per day. With the addition of transportation and family allowances, the minimum wage provided a decent standard of living for a worker and family, although that income was only enough to cover essential costs. More than 500,000 workers were employed in the informal sector, which was not covered by labor laws.<\/span><\/div>\n
Regional labor inspectors enforced standards related to hourly wage regulations. They inspected most firms approximately once every two years. The government often had difficulty enforcing the minimum wage law, particularly in non-unionized sectors of the economy. The labor code sets a standard 48\u2011hour workweek for most sectors; requires one 24\u2011hour rest period per week and 125 percent premium pay for overtime; and prohibits excessive compulsory overtime, although this prohibition is not always enforced.<\/span><\/div>\n
Special government regulations governed employment in hazardous occupations like mining, petroleum engineering, and construction, and the Ministry of Social Affairs, Solidarity, and Tunisians Abroad had responsibility for enforcing health and safety standards in the workplace. Working conditions and standards generally were better in export-oriented firms than in those firms producing exclusively for the domestic market. Workers were free to remove themselves from dangerous situations without jeopardizing their employment, and they could take legal action against employers who retaliated against them for exercising this right. <\/span><\/div>\n
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(<\/font>Source\u00a0: US Department of state le 25 fevrier 2009)<\/font><\/strong><\/div>\nLien: <\/font><\/strong>http:\/\/www.state.gov\/g\/drl\/rls\/hrrpt\/2008\/nea\/119128.htm<\/strong><\/font><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n
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Camps de r\u00e9tention \u00e0 Malte et Lampedusa\u00a0: les r\u00e9voltes du d\u00e9sespoir<\/font><\/h2>\n<\/h2>\n
comuniqu\u00e9 presse migreurop<\/font><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
par r\u00e9seau migreurop <\/strong><\/font>|\u00a023 f\u00e9vrier 2009\u00a0| Traductions\u00a0: [italiano<\/a>]<\/span><\/strong><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n
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Le mouvement de r\u00e9volte qui a \u00e9clat\u00e9 le 18 f\u00e9vrier dans le centre d\u2019internement pour \u00e9trangers surpeupl\u00e9 de la petite \u00eele de Lampedusa, \u00e0 l\u2019extr\u00eame sud de l\u2019Europe, n\u2019est pas seulement d\u00fb aux conditions inacceptables dans lesquelles y sont d\u00e9tenus ses occupants.<\/font><\/p>\n
Il s\u2019inscrit dans un contexte d\u2019instrumentalisation de la question migratoire par un gouvernement italien qui, depuis qu\u2019il est au pouvoir, flatte les r\u00e9flexes x\u00e9nophobes d\u2019une partie de la population pour justifier l\u2019adoption de mesures s\u00e9curitaires. En entassant plusieurs centaines de migrants dans un centre initialement con\u00e7u pour un transit de courte dur\u00e9e\u00a0; en portant quotidiennement atteinte \u00e0 leur dignit\u00e9\u00a0; en violant ouvertement les droits que leur reconna\u00eet la loi, notamment \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9gard des candidats r\u00e9fugi\u00e9s\u00a0; en renvoyant de force des personnes qui pourraient subir des violences ou des actes de torture \u00e0 leur arriv\u00e9e, les autorit\u00e9s alimentent sciemment la d\u00e9tresse et l\u2019exasp\u00e9ration des d\u00e9tenus, dont t\u00e9moignent de nombreuses tentatives de suicide. Dans le m\u00eame temps, elles cherchent \u00e0 attiser le m\u00e9contentement de la population locale. A ce jour, les habitants de Lampedusa ont su r\u00e9sister \u00e0 cette provocation.<\/font><\/p>\n
A Malte, autre \u00eele de la M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e, le d\u00e9tention center pour \u00e9trangers de Hal Far a pris feu lors d\u2019une r\u00e9bellion le 19 f\u00e9vrier. Tout comme \u00e0 Lampedusa, les mauvais traitements dans des centres d\u2019internement surpeupl\u00e9s sont la r\u00e8gle dans ce pays, comme les dur\u00e9es interminables de d\u00e9tention et le m\u00e9pris des lois et des conventions relatives aux droits fondamentaux. Mais \u00e0 Malte, l\u2019incendie du centre a pris sur un fond d\u2019hostilit\u00e9 exacerb\u00e9e \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9gard des \u00e9trangers, hostilit\u00e9 soigneusement entretenue, sinon encourag\u00e9e, par les autorit\u00e9s maltaises.<\/font><\/p>\n
Ces manifestations de d\u00e9sespoir sont aussi le fruit de la complicit\u00e9 des pays d\u2019origine et de transit des exil\u00e9s qui, au nom de la \u00ab\u00a0cogestion\u00a0\u00bb des flux migratoires, monnayent leur collaboration \u00e0 la politique meurtri\u00e8re de protection des fronti\u00e8res de l\u2019Union europ\u00e9enne (UE). Apr\u00e8s le Maroc ou le S\u00e9n\u00e9gal, c\u2019est aujourd\u2019hui le cas de la Tunisie, qui a sign\u00e9 fin janvier un accord avec l\u2019Italie pour accepter le rapatriement, d\u2019ici le mois de mars, de 500 Tunisiens parmi ceux qui se trouvent \u00e0 Lampedusa. Et qu\u2019importe s\u2019ils sont renvoy\u00e9s dans la r\u00e9gion de Gafsa, o\u00f9 les mouvements de protestation populaire contre l\u2019injustice sociale ont r\u00e9cemment subi une r\u00e9pression violente, faite d\u2019arrestations et d\u2019actes de torture. C\u2019est aussi le cas de la Libye, qui vient de se voir offrir 20 millions d\u2019euros par l\u2019UE pour aider \u00e0 la lutte contre les migrants en provenance d\u2019Afrique sub-saharienne, en participant notamment \u00e0 des patrouilles d\u2019interception maritime de boat people. Tant pis pour les r\u00e9fugi\u00e9s qui esp\u00e9raient trouver protection en Europe.<\/font><\/p>\n
Les \u00e9v\u00e9nements de Malte et de Lampedusa sont, enfin, le r\u00e9sultat de l\u2019hypocrisie de l\u2019UE, qui assiste sans broncher aux ill\u00e9galit\u00e9s manifestes, notoires et r\u00e9currentes qui sont commises sur son territoire. Alors qu\u2019elle s\u2019est dot\u00e9e de lois qui s\u2019imposent \u00e0 tous les Etats membres en mati\u00e8re d\u2019accueil des demandeurs d\u2019asile, alors que son Parlement vient, dans deux r\u00e9solutions r\u00e9centes, de dire sa pr\u00e9occupation devant la multiplication des centres de r\u00e9tention pour \u00e9trangers et les violations des droits qui y sont commises, alors que les Etats membres sont engag\u00e9s par les normes internationales en mati\u00e8re de protection des droits humains, comme la Convention europ\u00e9enne de 1950 qui prohibe les traitements inhumains et d\u00e9gradants et les expulsions collectives, l\u2019UE laisse bafouer ces principes sans intervenir.<\/font><\/p>\n
Plut\u00f4t que d\u2019anticiper les causes de d\u00e9part, qui jettent en M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e des milliers de victimes de l\u2019oppression et de la mis\u00e8re, l\u2019Europe pr\u00e9f\u00e8re confier \u00e0 ces territoires tampons que sont les \u00eeles de la M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e le soin de dissuader les arriv\u00e9es, de la mani\u00e8re la plus violente. Comme la sinistre \u00ab\u00a0directive retour\u00a0\u00bb, les camps d\u2019\u00e9trangers t\u00e9moignent de l\u2019incapacit\u00e9 de l\u2019Europe \u00e0 affronter la r\u00e9alit\u00e9 incontournable de la migration. Ce faisant elle prend le risque, non seulement de renier ses principes, mais aussi de pr\u00e9parer les prochaines r\u00e9voltes du d\u00e9sespoir\u00a0: elles \u00e9clatent d\u00e9j\u00e0 \u00e0 Milan et \u00e0 Turin, comme \u00e0 Bordeaux et \u00e0 Vincennes il y a quelques mois.<\/font><\/p>\n
Il est plus qu\u2019urgent d\u2019en finir avec les conditions inhumaines de d\u00e9tention de migrants, \u00e0 Malte, \u00e0 Lampedusa et dans tous les lieux d\u2019internement o\u00f9 les droits des personnes sont bafou\u00e9s. <\/font><\/p>\n\n
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La Tunisie pr\u00f4ne un syst\u00e8me pour organiser la migration dans la M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e<\/font><\/h2>\n
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\u00a02009-02-25 08:29:14\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 TUNIS, 24 f\u00e9vrier (Xinhua) — La Tunisie a affirm\u00e9 la n\u00e9cessit\u00e9 d’un syst\u00e8me conventionnel pour organiser la migration dans la\u00a0 M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e, qui tient compte de la r\u00e9alit\u00e9, des sp\u00e9cificit\u00e9s et\u00a0 des int\u00e9r\u00eats de chaque pays.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dans une allocution prononc\u00e9e lors des travaux d’une r\u00e9union\u00a0 m\u00e9diterran\u00e9enne sur la migration circulaire qui se sont ouverts\u00a0 mardi \u00e0 Tunis, le ministre tunisien des affaires sociales, Ali\u00a0 Chaouch, a soulign\u00e9 l’int\u00e9r\u00eat majeur que la Tunisie accorde au\u00a0 ph\u00e9nom\u00e8ne de l’\u00e9migration, et \u00e0 l’action euro-m\u00e9diterran\u00e9enne\u00a0 commune, pour traiter ce ph\u00e9nom\u00e8ne sur un fond de dialogue et de\u00a0 concertation.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Le ministre tunisien a soulign\u00e9 l’imp\u00e9ratif de conf\u00e9rer \u00e0 la\u00a0 migration circulaire la cr\u00e9dibilit\u00e9 requise, \u00e0 travers\u00a0 l’institution de garanties et de droits sociaux et la mise sur\u00a0 pied d’un cadre l\u00e9gislatif en ad\u00e9quation avec une r \u00e9alit\u00e9 socio- \u00e9conomique en perp\u00e9tuelle mutation.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Il a aussi appel\u00e9 \u00e0 parfaire la coordination entre les parties concern\u00e9es et \u00e0 la cr\u00e9ation d’une base de donn\u00e9es sur le march\u00e9 du travail dans les pays d’accueil et les comp\u00e9 tences disponibles\u00a0 dans les pays d’origine.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 De son cot\u00e9, Manuel Palos, directeur national du service des\u00a0 \u00e9trangers et des fronti\u00e8res au minist\u00e8re portugais de l’int\u00e9rieur, a soulign\u00e9 la contribution du dialogue 5+5 \u00e0 l’ approfondissement\u00a0 de la coop\u00e9ration entre les pays de l’espace euro-m\u00e9diterran\u00e9en\u00a0 dans le domaine de la circulation des \u00e9migrants et leur\u00a0 int\u00e9gration dans les pays de destination.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Il a mis l’accent sur l’importance majeure accord\u00e9e \u00e0 la\u00a0 migration circulaire, en tant que lien unissant les pays de la\u00a0 M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e et facteur de croissance socio-\u00e9conomique \u00e9quilibr \u00e9e.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 La r\u00e9union s’inscrit dans le cadre de la concr\u00e9tisation des\u00a0 recommandations issues de la 6\u00e8me conf\u00e9rence minist\u00e9rielle du\u00a0 dialogue 5+5 sur la migration dans la M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e occidentale,\u00a0 tenue en mai 2008 au Portugal.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 La migration circulaire consiste en l’affectation, \u00e0 la\u00a0 demande du pays int\u00e9ress\u00e9, d’une main-d’oeuvre \u00e9trang\u00e8re dans des\u00a0 secteurs prioritaires pour une p\u00e9riode d\u00e9termin\u00e9e. Elle est r\u00e9gie\u00a0 par des conventions entre pays de destination et pays d’origine et doit servir les int\u00e9r\u00eats mutuels des deux parties.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Au programme de cette r\u00e9union de deux jours, une r\u00e9flexion\u00a0 approfondie sur la th\u00e9matique de la migration circulaire, ses\u00a0 contenus, ses m\u00e9canismes et ses proc\u00e9dures et comme \u00e9tant un outil de r\u00e9gulation des march\u00e9s du travail dans les pays des r\u00e9gions.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Les participants examineront, dans ce cadre, les moyens\u00a0 d’assurer une meilleure compl\u00e9mentarit \u00e9 avec les modes\u00a0 traditionnels de l’\u00e9migration et de combattre l’\u00e9migration\u00a0 clandestine. <\/div>\n
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Droits de l’homme: Washington \u00e9pingle plusieurs pays, promet de donner l’exemple<\/font><\/h2>\n
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AFP | 25.02.2009 | 21:06 WASHINGTON | Les Etats-Unis ont promis mercredi de donner l’exemple dans le monde en mati\u00e8re de droits de l’homme, tout en \u00e9pinglant l’Egypte et la Chine pour leurs violations des libert\u00e9s individuelles, au m\u00eame titre que l’Iran, Cuba ou le Venezuela. Dans son rapport annuel sur les droits de l’homme, publi\u00e9 par le d\u00e9partement d’Etat, Washington cite onze pays dans lesquels la situation s’est d\u00e9t\u00e9rior\u00e9e en 2008 : la R\u00e9publique d\u00e9mocratique du Congo (RDC), l’Eritr\u00e9e, la Mauritanie, le Zimbabwe, la Chine, l’Arm\u00e9nie, l’Egypte, l’Iran, le Sri Lanka, Cuba et le Venezuela. \u00ab\u00a0La promotion des droits de l’homme est un \u00e9l\u00e9ment essentiel de notre politique \u00e9trang\u00e8re\u00a0\u00bb, a assur\u00e9 la secr\u00e9taire d’Etat am\u00e9ricaine, Hillary Clinton, en pr\u00e9sentant ce rapport \u00e0 la presse. \u00ab\u00a0Mais nous ne nous limiterons pas \u00e0 une seule approche pour vaincre la tyrannie et l’asservissement qui affaiblissent l’esprit humain, limitent les possibilit\u00e9s humaines et menacent le progr\u00e8s humain\u00a0\u00bb, a ajout\u00e9 la chef de la diplomatie am\u00e9ricaine. Mme Clinton avait \u00e9t\u00e9 critiqu\u00e9e lors de son r\u00e9cent voyage en Asie pour avoir voulu \u00e9viter que les droits de l’homme n’occultent de grandes questions telles les crises \u00e9conomique et climatique. Sur la quarantaine de pays mentionn\u00e9s dans l’introduction du rapport, seuls la Tha\u00eflande, le Bengladesh, l’Irak, la Colombie et le Guatemala sont mentionn\u00e9s pour les progr\u00e8s effectu\u00e9s dans l’ann\u00e9e en mati\u00e8re de droits de l’homme. Les autres restent des pays o\u00f9 les droits restent viol\u00e9s syst\u00e9matiquement, comme la Birmanie, le B\u00e9larus, la Cor\u00e9e, la Tunisie ou l’Ouzb\u00e9kistan. Bien que ce rapport concerne une p\u00e9riode pendant laquelle l’administration Bush \u00e9tait au pouvoir, il porte la marque du nouveau pr\u00e9sident Barack Obama qui s’est engag\u00e9 \u00e0 respecter les \u00ab\u00a0valeurs\u00a0\u00bb des Etats-unis. Le minist\u00e8re am\u00e9ricain des Affaires \u00e9trang\u00e8res se dit \u00ab\u00a0conscient de l’int\u00e9r\u00eat que suscite le bilan des Etats-Unis aussi bien dans le pays qu’\u00e0 l’\u00e9tranger\u00a0\u00bb et note que les opinions \u00e9mises par divers acteurs de la communaut\u00e9 internationale sur les respect des droits de l’homme aux Etats-Unis \u00ab\u00a0ne sont pas des ing\u00e9rences dans nos affaires internes\u00a0\u00bb. \u00ab\u00a0De m\u00eame que tous les autres Etats souverains, nous avons des obligations internationales en mati\u00e8re de respect des droits de l’homme et des libert\u00e9s de nos citoyens et il en va de la responsabilit\u00e9 des autres de s’exprimer lorsqu’ils pensent que ces obligations ne sont pas respect\u00e9es\u00a0\u00bb, ajoute le rapport. Le document mentionne notamment le camp de d\u00e9tention de Guantanamo, o\u00f9 245 d\u00e9tenus soup\u00e7onn\u00e9s de terrorisme sont emprisonn\u00e9s depuis des ann\u00e9es sans jugement, pour noter que M. Obama en a d\u00e9cid\u00e9 la fermeture d’ici un an. Dans sa courte allocution de pr\u00e9sentation du rapport, Mme Clinton a d’ailleurs not\u00e9 que les Etats-Unis devaient se montrer \u00ab\u00a0exemplaires\u00a0\u00bb en mati\u00e8re de droits de l’homme.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n
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Le Syst\u00e8me Ben Ali<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
Mansoor Maclil<\/font><\/strong><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0La nouvelle \u00e8re inaugur\u00e9e le 7 Novembre 1987 par Ben Ali a introduit des changements drastiques dans le mode de fonctionnement des pouvoirs et des institutions. <\/span><\/p>\n
Bourguiba pr\u00e9sident autoritaire d\u00e9tenait constitutionnellement la quasi-totalit\u00e9 des pouvoirs. Il en d\u00e9l\u00e9guait quelques uns. A partir des ann\u00e9es soixante Wassila son \u00e9pouse s’est arrog\u00e9 quelques pr\u00e9rogatives qui devaient par la suite peser sur la politique ainsi que sur les \u00e9quilibres internes des forces. Quelques fortes personnalit\u00e9s ou barons historiques manifestaient des vell\u00e9it\u00e9s d\u00e9cisionnelles et le faisaient savoir gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 un jeu subtil d’alliances qui se faisaient ou se d\u00e9faisaient\u00a0 au hasard des affinit\u00e9s de couloirs et d\u2019int\u00e9r\u00eats.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n
Les Premiers Ministres successifs de la Tunisie ind\u00e9pendante disposaient d’un champ r\u00e9el d’action, ce qui leur permettait de prendre des initiatives politiques. Il leur arrivait d’affirmer leur visibilit\u00e9 m\u00e9diatique selon les codes et les moyens de l’\u00e9poque en accordant par exemple des interviews y compris \u00e0 la presse \u00e9trang\u00e8re ou en improvisant leur discours. Ils g\u00e9raient un ordre du jour d’une mani\u00e8re relativement autonome sans la b\u00e9n\u00e9diction de Carthage devenue depuis 1987 l’\u00e9p\u00e9e de Damocl\u00e8s hantise de toute la classe politique actuelle \u00a0quel que soit son degr\u00e9 d’all\u00e9geance ou de d\u00e9vouement. <\/span><\/p>\n
Il est m\u00eame arriv\u00e9 que des Ministres \u00e0 forte personnalit\u00e9 impriment un caract\u00e8re personnel \u00e0 leur action et marquent leur implication dans des d\u00e9cisions et des mises en \u0153uvre majeures de certains choix fondamentaux politiques, \u00e9conomiques et sociaux, ce fut le cas entre autre de Taieb Mhiri, A. Ben Salah, Driss Guigua, Tahar Belkhodja, Abdallah Farhat, Mansour Moalla etc\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n
L\u2019arbre mafieux<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n
Or de nos jours, on constate que \u00ab\u00a0Ben Ali pr\u00e9sident\u00a0\u00bb d\u00e9tient encore plus de pouvoirs que Bourguiba. La R\u00e9vision constitutionnelle de 1988<\/span> lui a conf\u00e9r\u00e9 en plus de ses pouvoirs ceux que d\u00e9tenait constitutionnellement le Premier Ministre avec cette diff\u00e9rence par rapport \u00e0 la pratique \u00ab\u00a0bourguibienne\u00a0\u00bb que Ben Ali ne d\u00e9l\u00e8gue aucun pouvoir \u00e0 son Premier Ministre encore moins \u00e0 un quelconque titulaire d’un portefeuille minist\u00e9riel. Il g\u00e8re tout lui-m\u00eame. Il approuve le recrutement d’un simple technicien dans une Municipalit\u00e9 et il supervise la cr\u00e9ation d’un microprojet de d\u00e9veloppement agricole.<\/span><\/p>\n
Autre innovation par rapport \u00e0 la pratique bourguibienne du pouvoir et non des moindres c’est la propension de Ben Ali \u00e0 investir les membres de son clan\/famille sans cesse \u00e9largi de pouvoirs parall\u00e8les mais n\u00e9anmoins r\u00e9els. Parmi les plus influents citons les membres du premier cercle c’est-\u00e0-dire les seigneurs de l’anneau majeur des affaires les plus lucratives et des privil\u00e8ges les plus absolus \u00e0 savoir les Ben Ali, les Trabelsi, les Chiboub, les Zarrouk, les Mabrouk, et last but not least les Materi. A cette camarilla il convient d’ajouter les complices, les hommes de confiance, les copains et les coquins de tout acabit\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n
Ainsi comble de la perversion de l’Etat et de ses rouages et pratiques dans la Tunisie d’aujourd’hui, Leila Ben Ali dispose de plus de pouvoirs r\u00e9els que le Premier Ministre. Elle peut faire et d\u00e9faire le gouvernement, nommer ou limoger Ministres, Ambassadeurs, PDG quand bon lui semble. Elle peut enrichir, appauvrir, faire emprisonner ou lib\u00e9rer qui elle veut\u00a0 quand elle le d\u00e9cide. Ces \u00ab\u00a0surpouvoirs\u00a0\u00bb peuvent \u00e9choir pratiquement \u00e0 tous les membres du clan en fonction de la position de chacun dans la hi\u00e9rarchie clanique \u00e9tablie par Ben Ali.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n
Belhassen Trabelsi fr\u00e8re de sa s\u0153ur d\u00e9tient plus de pouvoirs que n’importe quel ministre. Il d\u00e9cide \u00e0 qui sera adjug\u00e9 tel march\u00e9 (si ce n’est pas \u00e0 lui \u2026), quel titre foncier est \u00e0 d\u00e9classer, par quelle banque tel portefeuille devra \u00eatre g\u00e9r\u00e9, ainsi de suite\u2026 <\/span><\/p>\n
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Imed fils de sa tante et\/ou neveu de sa m\u00e8re d\u00e9tient plus de pouvoirs que le Directeur G\u00e9n\u00e9ral des Douanes. Hayet s\u0153ur cadette de Ben Ali a plus de pouvoirs \u00e0 Sousse que le Gouverneur et le maire r\u00e9unis. La liste pourrait s’allonger encore. En fait le nombre et les identit\u00e9s de ces d\u00e9tenteurs de pouvoirs r\u00e9els sont connus de tous. Ils seraient environ deux cent cinquante\u00a0 auxquels il faut ajouter les complices, les pr\u00eate-noms, les associ\u00e9s comme les H\u00e9di Jilani, les Aziz Miled, Hamadi Touil, Lazhar Sta, Hakim Hmila soit une bonne centaine de courtiers\/interm\u00e9diaires\/n\u00e9gociants en tout genre.<\/span><\/p>\n
Tout ce \u00ab\u00a0beau monde\u00a0\u00bb habite palais ostentatoires\u00a0 et roule en Jaguar et Audi 7, dispose bien \u00e9videmment d’un solide r\u00e9seau de limaces au sein de l’appareil d’Etat pour ex\u00e9cuter les desiderata. Il s’agit g\u00e9n\u00e9ralement de Conseillers \u00e0 la Pr\u00e9sidence, un quarteron de Ministres aux ordres, une poign\u00e9e d’Ambassadeurs en poste dans les capitales n\u00e9vralgiques ainsi que des Responsables d’entreprises publiques et d’institutions financi\u00e8res nationales. Le plus embl\u00e9matique de ces personnages est bien entendu Abdelawahab Abdallah\u00a0 Majordome de la famille Trabelsi et\u00a0 Ministre de l\u2019information et des Affaires Etrang\u00e8res \u00e0 ses heures perdues. Il agit en duo avec son \u00e9pouse n\u00e9e Gorgob qui porte une double casquette de \u00ab\u00a0Bonne en Chef\u00a0\u00bb du m\u00eame clan et \u00a0PDG de la Banque de Tunisie suite \u00e0 un hold-up m\u00e9morable que seule la sc\u00e8ne financi\u00e8re tunisienne est capable de produire.<\/span><\/p>\n
Le \u00ab\u00a0Majordome\u00a0\u00bb est en conflit ouvert avec Abdelaziz Ben Dhia le \u00ab\u00a0Valet Senior\u00a0\u00bb du clan des Materi. Mais qu’on ne s’y trompe pas, ces rivalit\u00e9s entres domestiques ne font que traduire des conflits de pouvoirs et d’int\u00e9r\u00eats qui secouent de temps \u00e0 autre le s\u00e9rail \u00ab\u00a0BenAlien\u00a0\u00bb g\u00e9n\u00e9ralement sans grande cons\u00e9quence pour la p\u00e9rennit\u00e9 du syst\u00e8me d’autant que le Parrain veille de pr\u00e8s \u00e0 la bonne marche du march\u00e9 et \u00e0 la coexistence pacifique entre les pillards.<\/span><\/p>\n
Une nouvelle branche mafieuse<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n
Comme si cela ne suffisait pas voila qu’un nouvel acteur d\u00e9barque dans ce lupanar. En effet depuis quelques ann\u00e9es l’opinion h\u00e9b\u00e9t\u00e9e s’est presque habitu\u00e9e \u00e0 l’image de ce jouvenceau gomin\u00e9 dont le seul titre de gloire est d’avoir pris pour \u00e9pouse l’a\u00een\u00e9e du deuxi\u00e8me lit. Son CV r\u00e9el mentionne un QI \u00e0 peine testable ainsi qu’un tapis de pri\u00e8re sous le bras. Aussi analphab\u00e8te que ses a\u00een\u00e9s et accessoirement acolytes mais tout aussi affam\u00e9. On sait qu’il s’est nourri au sein de la tra\u00eetrise (le p\u00e8re ex-conspirateur galonn\u00e9 a souill\u00e9 l’honneur et l’int\u00e9grit\u00e9 de toute la famille Materi lors de la tentative de putsch de 1962). Wassila ayant intrigu\u00e9 pour lui \u00e9viter l’escadron, Ben Ali en a fait un S\u00e9nateur d’op\u00e9rette. D\u00e9j\u00e0 le tableau de chasse prend du volume : pillage et d\u00e9tournements de deniers publics ne se comptent plus. En effet \u00e0 l’actif du gendre quelques troph\u00e9es de poids, d\u00e9lits d’initi\u00e9s dans l’affaire de la privatisation de la Banque du Sud, prise de concession de 600 m\u00e8tres de quai au port de la Goulette, acquisition frauduleuse de la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Ennakl, appropriation d’un p\u00e9rim\u00e8tre de la Sonede (Ch\u00e2teau d’eau de Sidi Bousaid) pour ne citer que cet \u00e9chantillon de performances.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n
Jusque l\u00e0 Sakhr El Materi nage dans l’affairisme profane, il fallait donc donner un habillage spirituel \u00e0 la fortune si \u00ab\u00a0durement\u00a0\u00bb acquise. La mode \u00e9tant au \u00ab\u00a0t\u00e9l\u00e9salafisme\u00a0\u00bb il lance une radio \u00ab\u00a0Zeitouna\u00a0\u00bb dans le \u00ab\u00a0droit fil de la diversification du paysage m\u00e9diatique et du pluralisme d\u00e9cid\u00e9 par le Pr\u00e9sident Ben Ali.\u00a0\u00bb Cette initiative s’av\u00e8re en fait g\u00e9n\u00e9rique et annonciatrice d’autres du m\u00eame go\u00fbt. Un projet de mosqu\u00e9e \u00e0 Carthage, une Banque Islamique. Les agissements et les gesticulations tout terrain de notre super manager baptis\u00e9 par les journaleux sous la botte \u00ab\u00a0l’homme d’affaires M.S. El Materi\u00a0\u00bb au cas o\u00f9 on ne le saurait pas, suscitent quelques interrogations sur le sens r\u00e9el de ce mariage de d\u00e9raison entre affairisme d\u00e9linquant et religiosit\u00e9 surexpos\u00e9e. Certains pensent que le pouvoir en l’occurrence son unique d\u00e9tenteur l’instrumentalise pour exhiber la carte de visite \u00ab\u00a0Islam\u00a0\u00bb \u00e0\u00a0 l\u2019opinion. Les islamistes toute tendances confondues se frottent les mains et constatent\u00a0 la mine r\u00e9jouie que le pouvoir qui les a brutalis\u00e9 ne fait en r\u00e9alit\u00e9 qu’appliquer leur projet\u2026 Ces initiatives apr\u00e8s tout n’aboutissent-elles pas \u00e0 l’\u00e9largissement de leur influence au sein de la soci\u00e9t\u00e9 ? On croit m\u00eame percevoir les contours clairs obscurs de possibles alliances qui leur permettraient de prendre le pouvoir ? Ce n’est pas un hasard si lors du lancement de la Radio Zeitouna,\u00a0 R. Ghannouchi et quelques autres figures de proue de la Nahdha se sont empress\u00e9s pour f\u00e9liciter S. El Materi et exprimer leur satisfaction de voir la Tunisie se remettre sur le droit chemin\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n
Il s’av\u00e8re donc que des liaisons dangereuses et des connivences douteuses sont entrain de se nouer et de se d\u00e9velopper dans l’ombre. Mafieux, limaces, Cheikhs, tartuffes en tout genre cherchent co\u00fbte que co\u00fbte \u00e0 dominer la soci\u00e9t\u00e9 et le pays avec pour ultime objectif richesse et pouvoir ou plus exactement le pouvoir pour plus de richesses. <\/span><\/p>\n
Les citoyens indiff\u00e9rents, m\u00e9prisants, r\u00e9sign\u00e9s ou r\u00e9volt\u00e9s sont convaincus qu\u2019ils vivent \u00a0sous la botte d\u2019une bande d\u2019individus au profil somme toute homog\u00e8ne. Ils savent qu\u2019ils ont affaire sans exception \u00e0 des affam\u00e9s voraces, des ignorants arrogants, des parvenus ind\u00e9cents, des illettr\u00e9s obsc\u00e8nes<\/b> qui ne cessent par leurs agissements de diffuser dans le pays la culture des lupanars et des bas-fonds o\u00f9 rapines, coups bas, coups fourr\u00e9s et larcins petits et grands alimentent col\u00e8re et d\u00e9rision.<\/span><\/p>\n
Touansa Makhourin<\/span><\/p>\n
D\u00e9s maintenant, et jusqu\u2019aux \u00e9lections \u00ab\u00a0grossi\u00e8re farce\u00a0\u00bb de 2009, les droits et libert\u00e9s d\u2019expression et d\u2019information seront encore plus f\u00e9rocement r\u00e9prim\u00e9s. Afin de briser la loi du silence, nous vous prions fraternellement, amicalement et patriotiquement de diffuser ce texte sur tous les sites couvrant la Tunisie, de le transmettre \u00e0 toutes vos relations afin de participer \u00e0 la d\u00e9nonciation du syst\u00e8me ben Ali.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n
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Existe-t- il encore un pouvoir intellectuel en Fran\u00e7e<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
OUNISSI MUSTAPHA\/ PARIS<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
Les intellectuels maghr\u00e9bins, notamment, ceux qui vivent en France sont cens\u00e9s \u00a0connaitre parfaitement l’\u00e9tat de lieu du pouvoir intellectuel fran\u00e7ais pour de multiples raisons .Dans un monde en crise, \u00a0nous savons, d\u00e9j\u00e0, que les grands camps id\u00e9ologiques des ann\u00e9es Sartre et Aron ont vol\u00e9 en \u00e9clats depuis longtemps. Mais malgr\u00e9 cette crise nous devons connaitre les vraies stars \u00a0de cette \u00a0pens\u00e9e pour mesurer leur \u00a0influence \u00a0en France et dans le monde. Cependant\u00a0 selon le nouvel Observateur n\u00b02292 du 9 au 15 Octobre2008 ces maitres sont au nombre de 6 cat\u00e9gories : Les incontournables, Les m\u00e9diatiques, Les r\u00e9formistes\u00a0 tendances,\u00a0 Les conservateurs assum\u00e9s, Les radicaux chics, et La jeune garde.<\/span><\/p>\n
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Les Stars les plus connues de la pens\u00e9e fran\u00e7aise:<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
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_ <\/span>Les incontournables:<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
CLAUDE LEVIS-STRAUSS,<\/span><\/b>100 ans, est le p\u00e8re fondateur de la th\u00e9orie structuraliste qui a domin\u00e9 la vie intellectuelle fran\u00e7aise dans les ann\u00e9es 1960. Et c’est \u00e0 lui que l’ont doit l’av\u00e8nement de l’anthropologie dans le champ des sciences humaines. Philosophe de formation devenu anthropologue\u00a0 au Br\u00e9sil dans les ann\u00e9es 1930, l’auteur ( Race et Histoire ) a inscrit tout son travail dans une d\u00e9marche de rupture avec l’ethnocentrisme\u00a0 occidental.<\/span><\/p>\n
Elisabeth de Fontenay,\u00a0 <\/span><\/b>philosophe, ancien professeur \u00e0 la Sorbonne, s’int\u00e9resse longtemps aux mat\u00e9rialistes comme Diderot ou Marx avant de travailler sur le rapport entre homme et animaux. <\/span><\/p>\n
Fran\u00e7oise H\u00e9ritier, <\/span><\/b>anthropologue, enseigne au coll\u00e8ge de France. Son travail sur la parent\u00e9\u00a0 a permis de nourrir les d\u00e9bats publics sur la filiation, l’adoption ou encore la parit\u00e9. <\/span><\/p>\n
Pierre Nora, <\/span><\/b>historien et \u00e9diteur, est le ma\u00eetre d’\u0153uvre des ( Lieux de m\u00e9moire). Acad\u00e9micien, il joue un r\u00f4le important chez\u00a0 Gallimard, ou il dirige la revue ( Le D\u00e9bat).<\/span><\/p>\n
Edgar Morin, <\/span><\/b>sociologue traduit dans le monde entier. Inventeur de( la pens\u00e9e complexe). Son concept de ( politique de civilisation) a r\u00e9cemment inspir\u00e9 Nicolas Sarkozy.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
Jacqueline de Romilly,<\/span><\/b> a \u00e9t\u00e9 la deuxi\u00e8me femme \u00e0 entrer dans \u00e0 l’Acad\u00e9mie fran\u00e7aise.<\/span><\/p>\n
Ren\u00e9 Girard<\/span>, et aussi <\/span>Jacques Le Goff.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
Ces ma\u00eetres sont des r\u00e9f\u00e9rences dans leurs disciplines.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
Massy le 25\/02\/08<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
OUNISSI MUSTAPHA<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
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INTERVIEW-Bouteflika set for hollow victory-historian<\/font><\/h2>\n
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REUTERS
Reuters North American News Service<\/p>\n
Feb 24, 2009 07:05 EST<\/p>\n
* Bouteflika will win, but struggle on unemployment, economy<\/strong><\/p>\n
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* Country has \u00ab\u00a0a certain stability\u00a0\u00bb, government not weak<\/strong><\/p>\n
* Bouteflika has imposed his authority on army top brass<\/strong><\/p>\n
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By William Maclean<\/p>\n
LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) – President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is heading for a hollow victory in an election in Algeria in April because he is ill-suited to the task of tackling enormous youth unemployment, a prominent historian said.<\/p>\n
Benjamin Stora, one of the world’s leading authorities on the OPEC member country, said many Algerians sensed it would take a new generation of leaders to modernise the oil-dependent state and give hope to a population impatient for a better life.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0It could be a Pyrrhic victory without real competition,\u00a0\u00bb Stora said of the 71-year-old’s bid to extend a decade in power with a third five-year term in the April 9 election.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0The widespread suspicion is that the current president wants to be president-for-life,\u00a0\u00bb the Algerian-born French historian of the Maghreb told Reuters.<\/p>\n
Bouteflika confirmed last week he would seek re-election yet again, a move made possible after lawmakers changed the constitution to lift a limit on presidential terms.<\/p>\n
But Algerians wanted change, not continuity, Stora said, and his likely victory could be weakened by the fact that the opposition is marginalised and there is no Islamist challenger.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Bouteflika’s first term was built on the theme of civil peace. But today, 10 years later, what can a third candidacy stand for except to achieve modernisation and generation change?<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Yet Bouteflika is nearly 72. Everyone in Algeria sees that Barack Obama is 47 years old. Yet when you look at Mubarak, Gaddafi, Ben Ali and Bouteflika, even Sarkozy looks young by comparison,\u00a0\u00bb he said, comparing the U.S. and French presidents to the ageing leaders of Egypt, Libya and Tunisia.<\/p>\n
Stora is one of the most influential voices in Algerian affairs because his prolific output over many years has wide respect among politicians, teachers, diplomats, investors and fellow experts.<\/p>\n
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NO FUTURE, NO SOLUTION<\/p>\n
Bouteflika has promised a national development programme worth $150 billion if re-elected, and allies say the plan should focus on giving young Algerians jobs and a feeling of security.<\/p>\n
But social problems remain profound and the government is still struggling to restore hope to a population scarred by a 1990s war in which the army quelled an Islamist insurgency.<\/p>\n
Analysts say Bouteflika’s colleagues, most aged over 60, are out of touch with the young, a big failing when official figures show 70 percent unemployment among under adults under 30.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0The first problem is the young. We see it in explosions of violence in soccer stadiums, in urban violence and ‘harragas’, the boat-people trying desperately to reach France,\u00a0\u00bb Stora said.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0These young see no future, no solution. The unemployment level is very high, and enormous among young people,\u00a0\u00bb said Stora, Professor of Maghreb History at Paris IX University.<\/p>\n
Weak oil prices had hit the statist economy and lack of a big private sector meant society was much more vulnerable than in Morocco, he said, referring to Morocco’s mixed economy.<\/p>\n
Bureaucratic hurdles and vested interests in an import-dominated economy have stifled local non-energy industries.<\/p>\n
A sidelined opposition meant a low turnout was likely, Stora said, referring to the dominance of political life by Bouteflika’s National Liberation Front and a group of loyalist parties. Parties based on overtly religious or ethnic lines are banned.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0He is going to get 90 percent on a very low turnout. The fact that he is the sole candidate with state support risks weakening and casting doubt on his election.\u00a0\u00bb <\/p>\n
On the positive side, Stora said Algeria had rebuilt international support and \u00ab\u00a0a certain stability\u00a0\u00bb during Bouteflika’s rule, and the head of state had managed to wrest more power from the army, traditionally influential in politics.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0The regime has very strong international support from everyone — Europe, the United States, the Arab world, Russia, China, Iran. Their diplomatic strength is having united all these extremes, from Raoul Castro (of Cuba) to Hu Jintao (of CHina) to Nicolas Sarkozy (of France),\u00a0\u00bb Stora said.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0There is a certain stability, it’s illusory to think this regime is unstable or weak.\u00a0\u00bb (Editing by Angus MacSwan) <\/p>\n
Source:<\/b><\/font>Reuters<\/font> North American News Service<\/font><\/a> <\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n
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<\/p>\nRare Shiite protests in eastern Saudi Arabia<\/font><\/h2>\n
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Associated Press, le 25 f\u00e9vrier 2009 \u00e0 16h19 By DONNA ABU-NASR, Associated Press Writer RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) _\u00a0 Members of Saudi Arabia’s Shiite minority shouted anti-government slogans and demanded more freedoms and rights in rare protests that were part of the worst confrontations in years between their community and the authorities in the overwhelmingly Sunni country. Prominent Shiite clerics and intellectuals called on the government Wednesday to launch an objective investigation into the dispute that triggered the tensions. It began with an argument Friday night near al-Baqee Cemetery in Medina, Islam’s second holiest city. The cemetery contains the graves of revered imams. Shiites say members of the religious police who maintain an office at the cemetery filmed female pilgrims and refused to hand over the tapes or destroy them. A Saudi official, however, blamed the Shiite pilgrims for the trouble, accusing them of performing religious rituals offensive to other worshippers and authorities at the cemetery. Shiites say riot police were heavy handed in dealing with the pilgrims, beating them with batons and arresting some of them. That, they say, has added to a general feeling of Shiite disenchantment over being marginalized by the government. The tensions began a week after King Abdullah ordered the most significant changes in government, the armed forces, the judiciary and the religious establishment since he became king in 2005. The Shiites had hoped for appointments as ministers or that they would be represented in the council of senior scholars that had been restructured to include all schools of Sunni Islam. But no Shiites were chosen for those positions. \u00ab\u00a0There’s a feeling that the Shiites’ ambitions have not been realized as hoped and that could have played an indirect role in inflaming emotions,\u00a0\u00bb said Najib al-Khonaizi, a Shiite columnist. \u00ab\u00a0We have to admit that there’s tension in the Shiite street.\u00a0\u00bb Relations have long been tense between Saudi Arabia’s majority Sunnis and the Shiites, who make up a small minority of the country’s 22 million Saudi population. Shiites, who are considered infidels under the Wahhabi interpretation of Islam widely followed in the kingdom, routinely complain of discrimination. Outspoken Shiite critics have been jailed, and many Shiites claim to have been banned from such jobs as the religious police and teaching religion classes. Many Shiites say the government started the latest dispute deliberately. \u00ab\u00a0There was a flagrant aggression on women’s rights and the Shiite visitors,\u00a0\u00bb Sheik Hussein al-Mustapha, a prominent cleric, told the AP. \u00ab\u00a0It was a premeditated action by extremist men who want to put an end to visits by Shiites visitors.\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0We demand an investigation into the incident in order to put an end to these ugly practices,\u00a0\u00bb he added. A Saudi official, however, said the Shiite pilgrims triggered the dispute by practicing rituals deemed by others to be \u00ab\u00a0religious infractions.\u00a0\u00bb Shiite pilgrims to al-Baqee Cemetery usually grab a handful of dust as a blessing and pray at the graves of the imams, actions rejected as inappropriate \u00ab\u00a0innovations\u00a0\u00bb by the puritanical Wahhabi interpretation of Islam. The official said such \u00ab\u00a0infractions\u00a0\u00bb always take place at al-Baqee and are dealt with quietly by asking the pilgrims to refrain from performing the rituals. But, the official added, in the most recent incident, there was a large crowd of people bent on provoking the worshippers and authorities at the cemetery. Asked if members of the religious police had filmed Shiite female pilgrims, the official said if any filming had taken place it would have been to take evidence of the infractions and not for voyeurism. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. The official said nine of the Shiite visitors to the Medina cemetery have been arrested. He said the government is keen to find out the truth and the reasons for the escalation to ensure that such incidents do not happen again. He said the perpetrators will be held responsible. He did not elaborate. On Tuesday, the dispute erupted into two protests involving several hundred people in an eastern town, and Shiite leaders differed over whether demonstrations and shouting slogans would resolve the issue better than quiet dialogue with the government. Two witnesses who took part in Tuesday’s protests in the poor Shiite town of Awwamiya told The Associated Press that demonstrators shouted anti-government slogans rarely heard in public. They also carried banners using similar language, such as: \u00ab\u00a0Down with the Wahhabi domination\u00a0\u00bb and \u00ab\u00a0Down with the government,\u00a0\u00bb according to the witnesses. One of them said that as riot police filmed a protest in the town, youths hurled stones at a police outpost. He said police fired in the air to disperse the crowds. No casualties were reported. A prominent Shiite figure in the more affluent Shiite city of Qatif said such protests will not resolve the issue. He said there are high-level talks between members of the Shiite community and the government to put an end to the tension. \u00ab\u00a0This is the best path,\u00a0\u00bb he told the AP. He spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern that his views against the protests could cause him trouble in his community.<\/font><\/p>\n
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