Tunisians at Odds Over Freedom of Speech

Photo Credit: Gulf News

The American Enterprise Institute (A.E.I.) released a graph along with cited sources, illustrating the number of injuries and casualties sustained in Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen since the start of the Arab Spring. The chart is  accompanied by a comparison of murders that occurred under past authoritarian regimes. Tunisia rates the best in these categories, according to A.E.I., however a  report from Human Rights Watch showed the level of violence in Tunisia is still far from perfect. According to the report, religious extremists attacked a number of artists, intellectuals and political activists over the past 10 months. According to the report, Tunisian authorities failed to investigate the attacks despite obligations under international law to “investigate and prosecute people who assault others.”

Tunisian journalists went on strike, accusing the government of “restricting freedom of speech” following the revolt that removed the previous regime. The strike was called by “the 1,200-member journalists’ union,” which blames the Islamist party Ennahda for the restrictions. The Tunisian government announced  they will implement decrees “115 and 116,” which guarantee press freedom, information dissemination and freedom of audiovisual communication. Tunisian filmmaker Nouri Bouzid held a world premiere of his  film “Hidden Beauty” in Abu Dhabi. Addressing the role of Islam in the Tunisian government, the film looks at what issues have “emerged as the most divisive issue in Tunisia” after the revolution.