Righting Wrongs in Tunisia

It was very hard to be a human rights activist under Tunisia's old regime. If we spoke out about abuses, or if we wrote and distributed reports, we would run into problems with the police.

The only area where we did not face obstruction was conducting training in human rights issues. For some reason, there was little sensitivity attached to teaching people about the culture of human rights, its importance, and how to disseminate its principles. So in recent years we did a lot of training of this kind with the help of various United Nations agencies.

We worked in schools and other institutions, and with the wider public. But that was where it stopped - if we moved on to the next stage of actually reporting abuses, we would be harassed. However, at least there is a good understanding of human rights in society, even though it has yet to be embedded in institutions.

The human rights situation in Tunisia was very bad. There was little freedom of expression or of assembly, and political parties and civil society groups had very few opportunities to organise, meet or use public resources.

There were terrible abuses within the prison system and police torture in custody was common, with no way of monitoring what went on in detention facilities.

The Tunisian League for Human Rights, the only such group that was legally allowed to function, and on whose board I served between 1994 and 2000, tried to produce a guide on ways of monitoring the prison system for abuses, but we were not permitted to do even that.

Now we have an opportunity to address what is a huge problem and to learn from the mistakes of the past. The three main priorities must be reforming the police, the prison system, and building the capacity of human rights groups. The advent of democracy means not only that people cannot be jailed for their opinions, but also that those who are in prison for committing real crimes cannot be abused.

The Tunisian revolution has offered a great chance to create a new system of checks and balances and a legal framework that makes human rights part of the mainstream both in daily life and in the relationship between state and society.

We also have an opportunity to help civil-society organisations emerge that provide people with a voice. Many existing groups will win official recognition, like the Tunisian League for Human Rights and the Association Against Torture, and many others will shortly be founded. People want to be part of this process and there are many initiatives already under way. The only problem is that there are lots of ideas that are not backed with clear ways of achieving their aims.

I see no thirst for revenge against representatives of the previous regime, nor signs that such a desire will emerge. What does exist is a desire for truth and justice.

The government has tasked an official commission with investigating the deaths that happened during the revolution - some 147 people were killed and around 78 wounded. However, I fear its capacity to investigate people and bring them to justice will be weak. The commission will need more support, perhaps from international experts. We should learn from other countries that have experienced this kind of transition.

It is going to be a difficult process, as we have no tradition of strong political or social organisations here - the only non-state institutions we had were trade unions. But at least now we can gather and hold meetings.

Freedom of expression is now a reality, and it is very liberating.

Fethi Touzri is a doctor and a veteran human rights activist in Tunisia.