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INTERVIEW WITH SHEIKH RACHED GHANNOUSHI " There is Still Hope for the Future of Tunisia"ALBAYRAK -The West has a nice picture of Tunisia: Wonderful tourist places, growing economy, political stability... What is behind that picture?GHANNOUSHI - It is indeed true that the Tunisian government employs vast human and financial resources in order to propagate such an image. We would like to believe that our beloved country is indeed on the path of prosperity and development. The truth behind the glittering décor is, however, a dark and gloomy reality. At the time when the Tunisian government re-iterates its 'achievements', the whole of Tunisian society continues to live under constant terror and repression in all spheres of life. The media ,educational institutions, trade unions, political parties, student unions, professional associations and all constituents of civil society have been subjected to fierce plan of systematic weakening, containment and 'domestication'.The press continues to be muzzled, to the extent that the Tunisian association of newspaper directors has been suspended from the International Association of Newspaper Editors, and Tunisia can now 'boast' of being nominated amongst the top ten enemies of the press by the CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists), leaving a press that utters in one voice. Human rights organisations have been harassed, attacked and prevented from assuming their role of defending human rights. The UGTT (General Union of Tunisian Workers), one of the oldest and most prominent trade unions in the Arab and Muslim world, has come under a systematic plan to bring it under state control through the elimination of the legitimate leadership and the imposition of one that serves the interests of the government rather than those of the workers. In addition to an-Nahdha party which has been, for a decade , the victim of the largest portion of repression, through the imprisonment of thousands of its leaders, members and sympathisers, secular opposition parties have, in the last few years, had a similar fate. The MDS (Movement of socialist democrats), the main secular opposition party has been weakened through the imprisonment and harassment of its legitimate leader Mr. Mohamed Moaada, and the imposition of a government-allegiant leadership. This policy has led to the absence of any genuine political life, as is reflected in the recent presidential election results in which Mr. Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, having excluded genuine competition and having picked the feeblest candidates, won 99.44 % of the votes, an ultimate proof of the total hegemony of the government on society and the elimination of the people's will. These same elections were portrayed by the government propaganda as 'historical' and 'pluralistic'. That has indeed become a characteristic feature of the Tunisian government - the growing gap between its discourse and reality, as has been repeatedly highlighted by international human rights groups, in particular in Amnesty International's report: Tunisia :Rhetoric versus Reality. While the Tunisian government declares its commitment to the respect of human rights on every occasion, tens of reports are issued every year by independent international human rights groups condemning the 'blatant, grave and systematic' use of torture and the inhumane conditions of thousands of political prisoners leading to tens of deaths in prisons, and the daily violation of the most basic human rights. It seems that the more deeply the Tunisian government becomes entrenched in the swamp of torture, human rights violation and repression, and the darker and uglier the reality of the Tunisian situation becomes ,the greater the effort made to veil that reality by a glittering and colourful décor. The reality of a police state and a society being devoured by a government using all means of terrorisation and eradication is however unveiling. As to the 'growing economy' you mention, it is an element of the general décor, hiding a reality of an economy resting on fragile foundation highly dependent on weather conditions, international aid and the political situation, an alarmingly high unemployment rate and a widespread phenomenon of corruption. Even if the Tunisian economy were truly prosperous, that would not be a justification for the absence of freedom, democracy and the respect of human rights. As to political stability, another boasted 'achievement' of the Tunisian government, it is in fact a result of our movement's, and in general the Tunisian society's ,adoption of peaceful means of resistance, despite the savage policies of the government. In summary, the 'nice image' you have mentioned, is but a décor mounted by the government to hide the underlying dark reality of terror and repression. ALBAYRAK - Some friends who have visited your country told me that the head-scarf and Sunnah-beard are not welcome on the streets of Ben Ali's Tunisia. Is that true?GHANNOUSHI - That is in fact the sad truth, and a further sign of the sharp contrast between discourse and reality. While the Tunisian President uses the title of the "defender of religion", the current government applies a systematic plot of attack of the fundamentals of the Tunisian people's religion and identity.Indeed the Tunisian government has adopted a strategy, unemployed in any other Arab country, and constantly seeks to export it to the rest of the Arab world. Linking the popularity of the its main political rival, an-Nahdha movement to the Tunisian deeply rooted Islamic identity, it opted for the plan of eradicating the major opposition current through the eradication of its source- i.e. all fundamentals and symbols of Islam. Thus mosques came under state control, prohibiting any activity including teaching children verses from the Quran, Islamic education in schools has become a marginal subject full of falsifications, Tunisian history is taught in such a way as to reduce the importance of the Islamic and Arab factor in the formation of the Tunisian identity. The government's claimed support of women's rights does not go as far as to grant women their universally recognized freedom of dress. What your friend has related about hijab in Tunisia is sadly true, since according to law no 108, hijab is forbidden in educational institutions and administrations. Hundreds of women have been denied their right to work and education because of their commitment to the Islamic dress. Furthermore, the application of law goes even further, harassing women who wear hijab in the streets, and depriving them even of the right to hospital treatment. In contrast, absolute freedom, and encouragement is granted to all phenomena of laxity, and the spreading of a base immoral culture has become a state policy applied to such a degree that it has drawn criticism even from secularists. ALBAYRAK - How did your hunger-strike effect the Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali regime?GHANNOUSHI - Our hunger-strike that had taken place in front of the Tunisian embassy in London (and a similar hunger-strike in Paris) from October 19th to 24th was an expression of solidarity with the political prisoners who announced a hunger-strike on October 10th in Sfax and Lahwarib prisons, and with the thousands of political prisoners who, in addition to their unjust imprisonment, suffer from inhumane detention conditions, from torture and from the violation of their most basic human rights.In the absence of freedom of the press and of an atmosphere respecting the freedom of expression, hunger-strikes remain the sole option to express protest, and to draw the attention of public opinion. As we have said in the answer to your first question, the vast resources spent on propaganda have erected a wall of silence hiding the crisis in Tunisia and the long suffering of its victims. Such initiatives represent attempts to penetrate the wall of silence, and cries of help appealing to public opinion to reveal the tragic situation of political prisoners in particular and of Tunisian society in general. The Tunisian government relies heavily on international opinion and aid, hence its vulnerto the exposure of its violations of human rand its unjust policies. The hunger-strike represents one of the means in our peaceful struggle for the ending of injustice and the establishment of freedom and democracy in Tunisia. It is a blessing from Allah that the results of the hunger-strike have been greater than expected. Wide attention was received from Arab and Western media, while in general, a blind eye had previously been turned to the situation due to the Tunisian government's restless attempts to silence all voices of criticism, whether through pressure or temptation. The hunger-strike was but a step on the path of our ongoing struggle for a free just and democratic society in Tunisia. ALBAYRAK - How did your citizens from the embassy react to your action? How did they treat you?GHANNOUSHI - As we said before, the Tunisian government is very sensitive to any exposure of its practices. It tries, through all possible means, to stifle any voices of dissent. Having imprisoned all government critics and turned the entire country into a large-scale prison in which reigns an atmosphere of terror ,suspicion and fear, the government has continued relentlessly to pursue those who escaped from the large prison and who have found freedom and security outside Tunisia, in an attempt to extend its widening circle of repression' beyond its frontiers so as to maintain the wall of silence. While it boasts of having eradicated the 'fundamentalist threat' and having established democracy, prosperity and stability, it lives in a state of paranoia, fearing any word of truth written or uttered in any corner of the world. That attitude was reflected in the response of the Tunisian embassy to our peaceful hunger-strike.Panic-stricken, they tried by all means to obstruct our action, talking every few minutes to the British police which were present in front of the embassy trying to convince them that our presence represented a threat to the residents of the embassy, not realising that British law guarantees the right of expression and peaceful demonstration. Moreover, infuriated by the fact that their wall of silence was being penetrated, they went to the extent of attempting to stop cameras and journalists from covering the hunger-strike and conducting interviews with us. In short ,their response to our peaceful action was that of a paranoid prison guard infuriated by the scene of his former prisoners enjoying freedom outside his prison and celebrating their freedom of expression and activity. ALBAYRAK - What are your perspectives on the future of Tunisia? Can we expect a 'perestroika' a la Bouteflika?GHANNOUSHI - I am full of optimism and hope for the future of Tunisia, and have full faith in Allah's promise that "victory is for the righteous" and that "verily the help of God is always near". Tunisia does not exist independently of its environment. It is part of the Arab and Muslim world, and of the whole world, which is moving towards the achievement of greater freedom and democracy, towards the realization of the will of the people and the collapse of worn out decrepit dictatorships.Tunisia cannot continue to move against the general trend of liberation of democratization. Signs of this current are already emerging, for after a period of stagnation and absolute silence, voices of criticism are starting to emerge, whether from the secular parties who have finally realized that stability and real democracy cannot be attained by the exclusion of Islamists, or from the bodies that are being formed such as the National Council of Liberties in Tunisia (CNLT) and their call for the first time for a general amnesty, or protests organized by workers or students, and other signs of the revival of political life in Tunisia. Tunisia is gathering its forces and continuing its struggle for a free, just democratic government that respects its people's identity, aspirations and will. The government cannot but adapt itself and change so as to fulfill the Tunisian people's aspirations, or else insist on the adoption of an authoritarian outdated style and hence pave the way for its demise. In any case, we believe that the day when the shining light of Islam and freedom on our beloved Tunisia is near. ALBAYRAK - I'd like to use this opportunity to ask you if you have received any response to your letter to President Bouteflika. Have you?GHANNOUSHI - The response to the letter we had sent to President Bouteflika came in the form of its being broadcast and read out on Algerian TV. Grace be to Allah, Algeria is now moving towards the healing of its wounds after long years of division and massacres, and towards the respect of the Algerian people's will and its aspirations to democracy, freedom and justice, and we have great hopes for the future of Algeria. |