Tunisian law raises fears of security state return

Four years after Tunisian revolutionaries ousted longtime dictator Zein al-Abidine Ben Ali, proposed legislation threatens to revive aspects of the police state many thought they had buried for good, politicians and activists charge.

Political parties, civil society and human rights activists have been enraged by draconian provisions of a vaguely worded security bill that criminalises the "denigration" of police and other security forces and allows hefty prison sentences for anyone found guilty of divulging or publishing a "national security secret".

The Repression of Attacks against Armed Forces bill also exonerates the security forces from criminal liability for using lethal force to repel attacks against their homes, objects and vehicles if it is deemed necessary and proportionate.

Tunisia is seen as the only successful democratic transition in the Arab world, but attacks by Islamist militants that have killed dozens of police and army personnel and the slaughter of 23 tourists at a Tunis museum in March have rattled Tunisians and exposed the fragility of security in this small country that borders lawless Libya.

A group of international human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, called on the Tunisian authorities on Wednesday to drop or amend "problematic provisions" from the bill presented to parliament in April but yet to be debated by the assembly.

They warned that the bill allowed no defence from prosecution for those who claimed to have acted in the public interest and was "inconsistent with international human rights standards and rights guaranteed in the Tunisian constitution". They added that it could "criminalise the conduct of journalists, whistleblowers, human rights defenders and others who criticise the police", adding that it "would allow security forces to use deadly force when it is not strictly necessary to defend lives".

Some politicians reject the criticism. "This law does not hurt the freedom of expression and of the press and only aims to enhance the protection of the security forces," said Rafik Chelli, a senior interior ministry official when the bill was sent to parliament last month.

However, local groups, including judges associations and the journalists union, have also slammed the bill as threatening freedom of expression, providing impunity to the security services and "paving the ground for the return of the security state against which the people had revolted".

"All of Tunisia is against this," said Said Ferjani, a senior official of Nahda, the Islamist party that is the second force in parliament and the junior partner in the country's governing coalition. "It means the security services and their families would become an untouchable class of nobles."

Amna Guellali, Human Rights Watch researcher in Tunisia, said the aim of the law was to protect the security services but that its "more secret objective" was to narrow down the space for freedom in the country.

She pointed out that there was an attempt to pass a similar law in 2013 when Islamist party Nahda held the premiership but it was aborted under public pressure. She and Mr Ferjani said that there were dissenting voices against the bill within Nida Tunis, the main party in the governing coalition that has many prominent old-guard figures in its ranks.

"This is not really just about the Nida Tunis government returning to the methods of the former regime, but it is also the deep state which is not very well understood," said Ms Guellali. "It comes from a certain mentality and practices deeply embedded in the state and the security apparatus. Repressive mechanisms are the preferred response that they resort to."

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