On behalf
of my country, Tunisia, and the Tunisian people,
I greet the Assembly and all those around the world
represented here.
On 17 December 2010, Tunisia, as the Assembly
knows, was the first country to experience the Arab
Spring, the peaceful revolutions of Arab peoples
aimed at ridding themselves of corrupt dictatorships
hampering the economic, political and social progress
of their countries. Such dictatorships had imposed with
brutal force corrupt regimes that had swept away basic
human civilization. What has now been seen in some
Arab Spring countries may lead some to believe that
those efforts at liberation have failed and that the dream
has become a nightmare.
What we must remember is that the Arab Spring
is not a final stage, something that can be achieved
overnight. It is, rather, just the beginning of a liberation
journey and a future project leading towards further
horizons. What we must take into consideration is the
element of time. Nations require decades to gain control
of their revolutions and achieve their success or failure.
We must remember that the Arab Spring, like all human
projects, may stumble or come to a standstill — indeed,
may fail. Our duty — the duty of those here — is to
persist in support of that journey and to begin afresh
after each obstacle.
We believe that the difficulties involved in
building democracy in the Arab Spring countries are
only natural and will be overcome. Our peoples will
never accept regimes that shackle them. We want
to fight extremism cloaked in religion, not replace it
with dictatorship cloaked in nationalism or patriotism.
Those difficulties do indeed reveal that political, social
and ideological forces are pushing countries this way
and that; building democracy and civil institutions is
replete with difficulties in all Arab Spring countries.
From this rostrum, I would like to speak to the
current authorities in Egypt and call on them to release
President Mohammed Morsi and all political detainees.
Only a bold initiative such as that has the potential to
end the political tensions, stop the violence and bring
all the parties back to a dialogue as the only means to
solve all the difficult problems caused by the current
transitional phase.
The restriction of movement of goods and persons is
increasing the difficulties faced by the struggling people
of Gaza under Israeli occupation and colonization.
Tunisia is dealing with three challenges. That
of terrorism, as exemplified by the killing of the two
martyrs, Shukri Belaid on 6 February and Mohamed
Brahimi on 25 July, is a major political challenge that
has impeded the work on the Constitutional Council.
The second is the fact of slowing domestic and foreign
investment. The third is that we are having to learn
democracy at the same time that we are building and
defending it. It has not yet taken root in our political
and social traditions or our general culture. In
Tunisia we have many of the elements necessary for
success — a responsible and conscious political class
that has continued to pursue dialogue, a legitimate,
disciplined and professional army and a people who
are peaceful and politically aware and who understand
what is in their own interests.
I would like to assure the Assembly that the Arab
Spring in Tunisia will continue and succeed. We
will set a date for elections and will agree on a just
Government. Those elections will be supervised by the
United Nations, the League of Arab States, the African
Union and all other relevant international and local
organizations and civil society groups. God willing,
they will be held next spring. We are aware that the
forces of terrorism and chaos will try to destabilize
them as much as possible. Tunisia is undertaking this
experiment both for itself and for the rest of the world.
We want our revolution to be peaceful. We want
justice to play its role in the transitional period. We
also want to expand the concept of democracy. It is
not merely about the rights of those winning 51 per
cent of the vote, and ignoring those who won 49 per
cent. We want coalition Governments that take into
consideration the fact that society is made up of many
parts. We want to learn from one another. Our success
or failure will have consequences that will reach far
beyond our borders. Hence the importance of solidarity
among peoples, so that we can ensure success for this
unique experiment.
Today the Arab Spring has encountered the ultimate
expression of suffering in Syria. The violence that has
faced peaceful demonstrations has shocked us from the
beginning. It is escalating day after day, and is now brutal
on a scale that history has seldom seen before. In Tunisia
we have taken a strong position against the dictatorship
in Syria. We supported the the struggle of the Syrian
opposition and expelled the regime’s ambassador from
our country. We have been warning for a long time now
about the problems of the militarization of the events,
of factionalism, sectarianism and outside intervention,
whether by States or so-called jihadi groups, including
some from Tunisia, which we know will be a danger to
us when they return from that suffering country.
We have always called for a peaceful solution and
have gone so far as to say that life is more important
than justice, and if it is necessary not to prosecute the
Syrian dictators — and if they leave the scene — we
should accept that situation, however bitter. Our fears
have become reality, however, and we continue to
live with this nightmare that is afflicting the valiant
Syrian people, as well as our conscience. We have
never seen such a pitch of brutality and barbarity. A
political solution to end the nightmare is desperately
needed. However, what we also need is the support of
the General Assembly for prosecuting the case through
the International Criminal Court (ICC). That would be
a contribution to international law that could contribute
to protecting people against dictatorships, particularly
the Syrian dictatorship, which is an extreme example of
how immorally a regime can behave.
We are fully confident that had the Court been able
to act, the Syrian regime would not have attempted to
turn the presidency of the country into rule-by-heredity,
limiting ruling to one party only. It would not have
dared to convict members of opposition political parties
and sentence them to death. Imagine if the Court had
been able to act in such cases. What if the Court had
been able to pursue a course in favour of human rights?
Imagine how we could have avoided the nightmare that
the Syrian people has been going through — 100,000
dead and 7 million displaced persons, with a regime
killing men, women and children with all the weapons
at its disposal, including chemical weapons.
Have we ever seen such a brutal regime by an
individual person who came to power through force
and falsification and who is fighting a barbarous civil
war that has set the stage for ugly scenes beyond any
ever seen in the history of the region? The regime ought
to be brought to the ICC. Justice delayed still cannot
bring millions of dead back to life. There have to be
preventive bodies that can take up such situations from
their very beginning.
Regimes like that of Syria cannot last long
against internal democratic opposition and the lack of
international recognition. Tunisia therefore calls on all
democratic States that wish to build institutions that
counter the rise of dictatorships to support our project.
We believe that such a constitutional court would be the
expression of a new spirit needed by the international
community.
We are meeting in this place with all the nations
of the world to review the world’s problems, many of
which are foreseeable and bring great pain to people.
We would have been able to avoid such situations had
we adopted the slogan “Think globally and act locally.”
As a medical doctor, I would recall that we were
able to conquer epidemics that raged against humankind
through efforts at prevention. Dictatorships, climate
change and poverty must be thwarted internally and
among peoples. In facing such epidemics, we must have
preventive policies that save humankind. We hope to
God that there is enough time for us to quickly take
such a direction before it is too late.