Tunisia Faces Daily Protests

Today in Tunis, protesters called for an end of the National Union for Security Forces (NUSF)’ strike. 1000 protesters, gathering on Al Kasbah square, questioned the legitimacy of the strike in response to the protesters demands for security. The NUSF began an open strike yesterday in Al Kasbah square. Around 100 people demanded protection during service as well as improvement in their working conditions. The General Secretary of the NUSF, Abdelhamid Jarraya, said (in French) that the “complaints were for establishing a legal framework that protects the internal security forces.” According to the NUSF, assaults against security officers have recently increased .  The announced sit-in was to last until the government responded to their demands. Considerably less demonstrators participated in today’s sit-ins.

On Wednesday, major media unions including the National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT), the General Union of Culture (GUC), the Tunisian Association of Directors of Newspapers (TADN), and the Union of Independent Radio Stations UIRS) called for a strike. Journalists and professionals from the media sector expressed concern about threats on freedom of expression and the press in response to a climate of increasing harassment against journalists and intellectuals. Representatives from the unions met with Mustapha Ben Jaafar, speaker of the Constituent Assembly, and demanded that freedom of expression be guaranteed in the new constitution, and that the Press code approved on September 22 2011 by the High Authority for the Achievement of the Revolutionary Objectives (HAARO), would be enforced.

On January 26, about 6000 Tunisians protested (in French) in Tunis to ‘defend Human rights” and blame ‘acts of violence’ attributed to Salafist groups. A number of associations were present including Tolerance Tunisia and Citizens Front for Democracy and political parties including the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) and the Republican Party. The demonstrators pointed out acts of violence perpetrated by Salafists on journalists, academics and universities. The demonstrators called for the interim government to take necessary measures to stop this violence.  Ahmed Néjib Chebbi, founder of the PDP, declared the ruling coalition lead by Ennahda,  ”is not party to [this acts of violence], but it is complacent.”