Tunisia: equation changes when civilians assault security forces

Tunisia has witnessed repeated attacks by citizens on security forces that reached murder and defamation through videos widely circulated on social media.

Last week, eight attacks on security officers were recorded, ranging from murder to assault using severe violence and verbal abuse, according to the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior.

One of the most horrific cases of violence against security forces took place last week, when a young man murdered his father, a member of the security services, and got rid of the body in one of the capital’s valleys, following a dispute between them, the Ministry reported.

Social media activists also circled a video showing a young man beating an elderly police officer in Bizerte, which sparked a wave of anger among Tunisians.

The controversy that the video sparked prompted Tunisian Interior Minister, Hicham Fourati, to intervene through a private radio station to confirm that the attacker would be held accountable by law.

The aggressor was referred to the Trial Chamber of the Court of First Instance in Bizerte on charges of “violent assault against a government employee on duty,” according to local media.

In the Tunisian capital, a municipal police officer was attacked by a young man who was selling Indian fig on the street, using a sharp weapon. The officer was hospitalised after being severely injured.

Information about the reasons behind the assault on the security officer in this area is contradictory. Some assert that the aggressor violated the law and that the officer was duty-bound to prevent unauthorised commercial activities in the capital. Others say that the municipal police officer tried to force the merchant to give him Indian figs for free.

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On the same day, security forces in Sousse, a Tunisian coastal governorate, arrested six Algerian citizens who violently assaulted a policeman. The Algerians were accused of verbally abusing a government employee while being on duty.

In the same context, the security forces of the city of Hammam Sousse arrested, last week, two girls, one of them assaulted some police officers.

On 3 September, a group of young men forced a security officer to stop his vehicle, and they assaulted him with the intention of robbery.  The police officer was hospitalised to receive the necessary treatment.

Day of wrath

After a series of attacks on security forces, security unions in Tunisia called for protests to stop violent assaults against security officers on duty.

The security union in Kairouan governorate called for a day of wrath, in addition to an open sit-in in front of the headquarters of the parliament. The security union considered that such attacks are not targeting the security officers only, but can weaken the state’s respectability too.

Mourad ben Saleh, member of the National Union of Internal Security Forces, highlighted the need to provide legal frameworks for the protection of security officers and pass the law on assaulting security guards. Such regulation will preserve human rights and end the violence exerted upon security officers.

In an interview with Al-Khaleej Online, ben Saleh blamed the political elite for the repeated attacks on the security forces because of what he called their “failure” to pass the law, after they pledged to put the bill into motion before 25 July 2017.

He added:  “There are a bunch of delinquents and enemies of the state working to create chaos in the country by attacking the security forces.”

In 2015, the security unions demanded the enactment of a law that would protect law enforcement personnel and submitted a bill to that effect. However, all Tunisian human rights organisations opposed the bill and warned of it as a threat to the freedom of expression and access to information. The law has been controversial since then.

Violations committed by the security apparatuses

On the other hand, in its August 2018 report issued on 4 September, the Tunisian Organization against Torture documented several violations committed by the security apparatuses against citizens during August, through a sample of five cases.

The organisation stated in its report: “There are no deterrent actions taken against perpetrators of abuses who take the time to exercise their brutality and then determine the fate of their victims, either by fabricating charges against them or by releasing them.”

The report stated that some of the attacks had caused severe bodily harm to the victims, yet the State had not assumed the slightest responsibility for their treatment and compensation.

The report accused the security forces of prosecuting women and children, who were insulted, by taking away their identity papers and keeping them waiting, without any legal justification.

Amna Guellali, the director of Human Rights Watch in Tunisia, was dissatisfied with the demands to pass the law on assaulting security officers whenever a security problem occurs in the country. She wondered: “As if it were the magical solution to eliminate the attacks and to achieve security stability.”

Guellali said in an interview with Al-Khaleej Online that the draft law would not protect security officers as much as it would oppress citizens. Such legislation, if passed, will restrict the freedom of expression and access to information because of its repressive dimensions.