Original scientific paper
Transitional Justice in Tunisia: Negotiating Justice during Transition
Christopher K. Lamont
; Department of International Relations and International Organisation, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
Héla Boujneh
; University of Sousse, Sousse, Tunisia
Abstract
On 14 January 2011 the overthrow of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali left
Tunisia confronted with the task of addressing the dual legacy of Ben Ali’s violent
crackdown on protesters in the weeks preceding his ouster and decades
of widespread human rights abuses. In the immediate aftermath of 14 January,
interim governments launched a number of improvised efforts to deal with the
past. These efforts included investigative commissions, compensation, vetting
of former regime officials, and criminal trials. However, it was only after the
election of the National Constituent Assembly in October 2011 that there was
a concerted effort to draft a comprehensive law on transitional justice. Tunisia’s
Ministry of Human Rights and Transitional Justice launched a national
consultation to define and shape transitional justice mechanisms for post-Ben
Ali Tunisia. This article argues that although Tunisia’s national consultation
on transitional justice can be heralded as a novel consultative initiative to
transmit transitional justice demands into transitional justice legislation, it has
also served to highlight contested visions of the post-Ben Ali state and contested
memories of Tunisia’s secularist and Islamist political traditions.
Keywords
transitional justice; Tunisia; Arab Spring
Hrčak ID:
99491
URI
Publication date:
28.3.2013.
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