A coalition of human rights activists, lawyers, business persons and trade unionists has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its “role in building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011”, with calls for the country to continue its path towards reform.
The award for Tunisia’s National Dialogue Quartet, comes almost five years after the self-immolation of a street vendor sparked the Arab Spring protests across the Middle East. The coalition was formed in 2013, after further protests against the Islamist-led transitional government threatened to destabilise the country. The quarter helped to negotiate the ratification of a new constitution and set up its electoral commission, leading to a coalition government headed by a secular president.
Pointing to the other regions in the Middle East where “the struggle for democracy and human rights has come to a standstill or suffered setbacks,” Kaci Kullmann Five, the chairwoman of the Nobel committee said, “Tunisia, however, has seen a democratic transition based on a vibrant civil society, with demands for respect for basic human rights”.
Announcing the award the Nobel Prize committee said the prize would help to “safeguard” democracy in Tunisia. “More than anything, the prize is intended as an encouragement to the Tunisian people, who despite major challenges have laid the groundwork for a national fraternity,” the committee added.
The president of the Tunisian Human Rights League, Mokhtar Trifi said the award was “a clear encouragement for the wider process in Tunisia, and for all the work and dialogue that went into the move to elections and democracy”. “Crucially, it shows that the world is watching us,” he added. “We have much more to accomplish and are facing new challenges.”
Congratulating the quartet, the International Crisis Group said the award “should serve to highlight the potential of civil society as a peacebuilder”. “Other Arab countries that experienced uprisings in 2011 have been less fortunate than Tunisia, in part because their civil societies have been marginalised,” it added.
Amna Guellali, Tunisia and Algeria Researcher for Human Rights Watch stated that it would send a “message of hope” noting that many challenges still lie ahead for Tunisia. “It should not overshadow the underlying problems of a country that has not yet completed the reform of its security forces and justice system, and where the counterterrorism policy is often accompanied by rights violations,” she added. “Tunisian “vibrant civil society with demands for respect for basic human rights,” as in the words of the Nobel Prize Committee, should be further reinforced in order to achieve these promises.”
Last month Ms Guellali had written about the transitional justice process that is underway in Tunisia after the proposal of an “economic reconciliation law” that could potentially provide immunity for corruption and other economic crimes. “The proposed new system sends a clear signal that serious corruption will be tolerated and that kleptocrats can expect to be gently treated,” she said. “That was not the message at the heart of the Tunisian revolution, which started with the desperate gesture of a man facing economic and social injustice.”
Her comments and the awarding of the prize comes amidst controversy over Tunisia’s Truth and Dignity Commission, set up to pursue accountability for rights abuses since the toppling of president Ben Ali during the Arab Spring.
The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) released a report last month, with Rim El Gantri, Head of Office for the ICTJ in Tunisia saying, “Tunisian victims, their families, human rights activists, and diverse sectors of society continue to demand the truth about past human rights violations”. "If Tunisia follows the course of a credible and participatory process, it will demonstrate that achieving justice for all Tunisian citizens is a complex, but feasible, process," he added. "It will set an example for the region and the rest of the world."
See the full ICTJ briefing here.