Reports about police brutalities in Tunisia, continue to surface on various media platforms. According to Nawres Zoghbi Douzi of Advacats Sans Frontieres, she has been compiling cases of police brutality in Tunisia, which she intends sharing with the general public.
Recounting her most recent encounter, Douzi revealed that, she had to find a way to escape, after police rushed into a gathering in the city center, that was aimed to protest against the constitutional referendum President Saied Kais has been pushing for.
“We really hadn’t expected anything. And there they were, with their batons and tear gas. It was as if we had entered their house.”
Nawres Zoghbi Douzi of Advacats Sans Frontieres.
She stated that, police brutality in the country has been a routine thing, and those who rise to oppose the act, are subjected to assaults and maltreatments from law enforcement officials.
Issues of police brutality in Tunisia isn’t something new to the public. Tunisians today have the perception that, the police has set its own boundaries to behaviors it condones from the public.
It is believed that, demonstrations in Tunisia yield no fruits. In 2021, about 1,000 young men from the working class were detained by the police for flaunting a four-day covid-19 lockdown rule.
Many people were reportedly assaulted by the police that day. Some Tunisians claim that, the law enforcement agencies rely on their unions and social media handles to threaten protesters of violence.
Police in Monastir, south of Tunis, has been accused of torturing a teenage protester so severely, that he lost a testicle.
“The way the police protests, or respond to unrest has changed since July 2021. Before that, they would wait before using tear gas, or, if pushing back a protest, concentrate on the first line, that’s all changed. Now the use of tear gas is immediate and all protesters are targets.”
Nawres Zoghbi Douzi of Advacats Sans Frontieres.
People’s Accounts Of Police Brutality
According to the accounts of a 24-year-old Rachid, he was detained in April, on the charges stealing from a car. He claimed that, police officers took him to a dungeon and tortured him, including blasting tear gas in his face, till he lost consciousness and fell into coma.
Also, a man by the name Adel recalled his encounter with the police. He claimed that, he was assaulted with a knife by a police officer and his unit, after overtaking their car on a highway. Adel claimed he was hospitalized for days in the hospital.
Additionally, the family of a young man named Hamdi, narrated the sad experience of their late beloved. The family claimed that, their son was imprisoned after being charged with theft.
Hamdi’s father claimed that, he got to know that his son had been torture while in police custody, when he visited him at the hospital. Hamdi passed away few days afterwards.
Though, there have been horrific accounts of people who have been detained, tortured, abused, and some have even died, Tunisians are not scared to hit the streets to demonstrate against the government or the police, if the need be.
According to the Office of the World Organization Against Torture, the current picture painted by the Tunisian government and the law enforcement agencies, validates the horrific testimonies it had received from families and victims of abuses in Tunisia.
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