The National Constituent Assembly (NCA), Tunisia’s parliament, launched the Truth and Dignity Commission (TDC) in 2014, to investigate human rights violations that occurred during the Ben Ali era and earlier.

The National Constituent Assembly (NCA), Tunisia’s parliament, launched the Truth and Dignity Commission (TDC) in 2014, to investigate human rights violations that occurred during the Ben Ali era and earlier.

Correspondents spoke to Sihem ben Sedrine, head of TDC, about the progress of the commission, which has a 5-year time frame to complete its tasks amidst many hurdles. The first hearing of a victim from the 2011 revolution will commence on the 3^rd of June.

Sihem ben Sedrine, some observers believe that the course of the transitional justice in Tunisia has been disrupted especially since it has failed to serve justice to the families of revolution victims. Can you comment?

The cases of the revolution’s martyrs and wounded did not take its natural course right from the outset. Those cases were first referred for review to the civil courts. Then, they were transferred to the military courts on grounds that the civil courts are not empowered to consider charges against security and military members.

The military courts were faced with protests organized by lawyers and the victims’ families, as they were considered exceptional tribunals and, therefore, not authorized to look into these cases. In addition, military trials started in 2012 under circumstances which were said to have lacked minimum conditions of fair trials for the victims’ families.

The commuted sentences issued against former officials accused of killing protesters during the uprising were viewed as a setback by the victims’ families. It can be argued that there was a a disruption in the activation of transitional justice, especially after the delayed creation of specialized departments concerned with transitional justice, and have authorities to re-open the cases already closed by military justice.

The Court of Cassation abolished the decision taken by the military courts to acquit former officials accused of killing protesters during the revolution, which could overturn this decision and retry these officials. Does that help bring justice to the victims?

The military department of the Court of Cassation accepted the appeals of the public prosecution in respect to the sentences issued against a number of former officials accused of killing and wounding the revolution’s victims which ranged between three years in prison and non-initiation of prosecution (non-lieu). Therefore, these cases will be referred again to the Military Court of Appeal for investigation by a new committee of judges.

However, the problem lies in the fact that the Court of Cassation only accepted the appeals of the public prosecution while it refused to accept the appeals submitted by civil lawyers. Consequently, the exclusion of the lawyers representing the victims’ families in the upcoming trials, due to be attended by the defendants and the public prosecution without the lawyers of the revolution’s victims and the wounded, does not ensure fair trial conditions.

What have you done as a commission tasked with overseeing the disclosure of truth in respect to the crimes committed by the former regime to ensure a fair and just trial for the victims’ families?

We as the Truth and Dignity Commission held meetings with the Minister of Justice and demanded to expedite the creation of competent judicial bodies to which we would refer these cases. The minister expressed readiness to take necessary actions in this regard. However, he stressed that the problem lies in the serious shortage of judges.

To overcome this problem, we held a meeting with the Supreme Commission for Judicial System, which oversees the nomination of judges and tried to search for appropriate solutions that take into account this lack of competent judges in the transitional justice. We may reach an agreement to establish competent bodies within the Criminal Division. Accordingly, competent judges will be appointed with TDC’s participation in this process.

There was much talk after the revolution about the destruction of part of the interior ministry’s archives to obliterate certain violations. Did you obtain any evidence that proves the authenticity of such information?

Destruction of archives does not normally happen in public, but it is certain that such a crime took place after the revolution. This issue was raised by several human rights organizations and media sources after the revolution.

Such actions occur in all revolutions. However, based on previous experiences, there will be enough evidence to convict the criminals who committed serious human rights breaches regardless of any attempts to conceal the truth. We are confident that the remaining documents will be sufficient to convict them.

Does the interior ministry demonstrate any cooperation in regards to granting you access to information and the archive?

To this day, the security authority remains self-contained and treats the archive as an inaccessible asset. However, we are exerting efforts to access this archive assisted by the legal provisions on information accessibility. We are still hopeful to gain access to this archive.

What about the government’s cooperation? Does it deal positively with your demands and missions?

The present government deals with our commission in an institutional manner and all doors are open before us on all levels, from the head of the government to the ministers and undersecretaries. We are met with understanding as well as dialogue and are consistently working with them without any problem.

The problems we are experiencing at present are the result of practices that took place during the former Government of Mehdi Juma, which closed the door on our commission. It refused to maintain an institutional cooperation with us and also banned our budget and closed our headquarters as well as administrative offices, which resulted in delaying our work.

How many complaints have you received so far by the former regime victims’ families who are demanding the disclosure of those involved in abuses, criminal acts and corruption, in addition to demanding compensation for sustained damages?

During the first phase of launching our work in the central office in Tunis, we received 12,500 complaints. However, following the establishment of regional offices across the country, we expect that the number will rise.

We shall soon start the second phase of our work which will focus on organizing hearing sessions for the victims. The session due to proceed next Wednesday (3^rd of June) will be the first hearing to one of the victims. The hearings will continue in the future in parallel with the opening of our regional offices totaling 25 offices tasked with receiving grievances.

What are the challenges facing the TDC over the next four or five years as legally provided?

The biggest problem lies in the activation of the course of the transitional justice law and TDC’s tasks originating from this law. This is because our Commission has several tasks to accomplish within a tight deadline of maximum five years with limited logistical and financial resources compared to similar bodies across the world.

TDC is facing accusations of wasting the public funds without achieving tangible results. What is your response to these accusations?

These are rumors promoted on social media networks by people who are leveling accusations without proper verification. Financial corruption has specific standards and elements and I wonder as to the basis of talk about corruption.

Last year we were allocated 2.5 million TND (US $1,270,000) by the government which was spent on building TDC premises. We submitted our financial statement to the accounts auditor in accordance with the provisions of the law. The statement was endorsed and we will in turn refer it to the parliament, the government and the presidency.

As for the 10 Million TND fund we obtained this year, it has not been spent yet. The Audit Office will be monitoring the case and will certainly not hesitate to hold us accountable in case any violations were traced.

Your relationship with Beji Caid Essebsi underwent great tension when he was head of government after the revolution. Does his current post as President stand in your way?

When Beji Caid Essebsi assumed his presidential post, his name was no longer Beji Caid Essebsi but rather the President of the Tunisian Republic. When I was elected to my present post as Head of the TDC, my name was no longer Sihem Ben Sedrine but the Head of TDC.

We have put our past differences aside and we are now in constant contact with the presidency and have regular meetings with the President’s Office. Soon, we will have a meeting with the President of the Republic himself.

I believe that the President of the Republic has enough understanding of the necessity of differentiating between his personal views and the interests of the state. I also have the same understanding and sense of responsibility so as not to confuse my personal opinions and my responsibilities as the head of TDC. Therefore, I do not have any problem with the presidency.