TUNIS: Several thousand Tunisians marched through central Tunis on Saturday to protest against a bill that would grant amnesty to businessmen accused of corruption when autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali was in power.
Critics of the Economic Reconciliation bill say it is a step back from the spirit of Tunisia’s 2011 revolution to oust Ben Ali but government officials say it is a way get the businessmen to inject some of their ill-gotten cash back into the economy.
The draft law allows businessmen to reveal stolen funds and repay them. No exact figures exist for the amount of graft during Ben Ali times but based on past investigations, officials say some $3 billion could be returned initially under the law.
Waving flags and banners saying “No to forgiveness” and “Enough Corruption,” about 5,000 people accompanied by opposition party leaders and activists marched through the capital’s central Avenue Habib Bourguiba.
Six years after the uprising against Ben Ali, Tunisia is praised as a model of democratic transition but it is still struggling with the corruption, economic malaise and youth frustrations that helped trigger the revolt.
For many critics the law — which has been stuck in parliament for two years since President Beji Caid Essebsi proposed it — is simply an amnesty for criminals and a way to rehabilitate Ben Ali allies back into Tunisian society.
“We’re here to say to Essebsi and his cohorts that the law will fall in the street like in all democracies,” Popular Front opposition leader Ammar Amroussia told Reuters. “He wants to pass this corrupt law, but these protests show that we say no.”
Essebsi, himself a former Ben Ali official, sent the law to parliament in 2015 though the bill was delayed after criticism it benefited business elites tied to the government. It is now being debated in committee and then goes to a plenary session.
Despite a consensus between secular and Islamist parties that helped keep Tunisian stable after the uprising, the bill has divided Tunisians between those who want to close the door on the past and those who say they cannot tolerate corruption.
Protests against the law, and others in the south of Tunisia this month over jobs, come at a sensitive time for Prime Minister Youssef Chahed who is struggling to pass austerity measures and public spending reforms to help economic growth.
Despite its democratic progress, free elections and new constitution, Tunisia still faces social unrest among many young unemployed who feel their revolution against official abuses and corruption has not delivered economic opportunities.
“Today we are saying the defenders of the revolution are still here,” said protester Sabra Chrifa, wearing a T-Shirt with the slogan “No Forgiveness.” “We can’t accept something that whitewashes corruption like this.”
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Tunisians protest over corruption amnesty bill
Tunisians protest over corruption amnesty bill
Sudan army breaks RSF siege on southern city Dilling
- Army says its forces 'succeeded in opening the Dilling road after carrying out a successful military operation'
- Victory comes as the military attempts to stem a sweeping paramilitary advance across the wider Kordofan region
KHARTOUM: The Sudanese army said on Monday it had broken a long-running siege of Dilling, a city in the country’s south, where paramilitary forces had choked off access for more than a year and a half.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in a conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that has killed tens of thousands of people.
The war has also left 11 million people displaced and triggered what the UN describes as the world’s largest displacement and hunger crises.
In its statement, the army said its forces “succeeded in opening the Dilling road after carrying out a successful military operation,” claiming they had inflicted “heavy losses” on the RSF.
If confirmed, the advance would secure the army’s hold over both the northern and southern approaches to Dilling, located in South Kordofan state.
The city lies halfway between Kadugli — the besieged state capital — and El-Obeid, the capital of neighboring North Kordofan, which the RSF has sought to encircle.
Videos shared on social media showed army forces, said to be in Dilling, celebrating atop pick-up trucks as people ululated and cheered alongside them.
AFP could not independently verify the army’s claim or the footage, and the RSF has not yet commented.
- Sweeping offensive -
The push around Dilling comes as the army attempts to stem a sweeping paramilitary advance across the wider Kordofan region.
Since seizing the army’s last stronghold in western Darfur last October, the RSF has shifted its focus eastward, aided by its local allies, namely the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction led by Abdelaziz Al-Hilu.
Since then, the paramilitary group has tightened its grip on West Kordofan, taken Heglig — home to Sudan’s largest oil field — and intensified its siege of Kadugli.
A UN-backed assessment last year already confirmed famine in Kadugli, which has been under RSF siege for more than a year and a half.
The assessment said conditions in Dilling were likely similar, but security issues and a lack of access have prevented a formal declaration.
The UN has repeatedly cautioned that atrocities similar to those reported during the RSF offensive in El-Fasher — including mass killings, sexual violence, abductions and widespread looting — could spread into Kordofan.
More than 65,000 people have fled the Kordofan region since October, according to the latest UN figures.
Those escaping, particularly from South Kordofan, face “long and uncertain journeys” lasting up to 30 days and sleep “wherever they can,” according to Mercy Corps, one of the few aid groups operating there.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in a conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that has killed tens of thousands of people.
The war has also left 11 million people displaced and triggered what the UN describes as the world’s largest displacement and hunger crises.
In its statement, the army said its forces “succeeded in opening the Dilling road after carrying out a successful military operation,” claiming they had inflicted “heavy losses” on the RSF.
If confirmed, the advance would secure the army’s hold over both the northern and southern approaches to Dilling, located in South Kordofan state.
The city lies halfway between Kadugli — the besieged state capital — and El-Obeid, the capital of neighboring North Kordofan, which the RSF has sought to encircle.
Videos shared on social media showed army forces, said to be in Dilling, celebrating atop pick-up trucks as people ululated and cheered alongside them.
AFP could not independently verify the army’s claim or the footage, and the RSF has not yet commented.
- Sweeping offensive -
The push around Dilling comes as the army attempts to stem a sweeping paramilitary advance across the wider Kordofan region.
Since seizing the army’s last stronghold in western Darfur last October, the RSF has shifted its focus eastward, aided by its local allies, namely the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction led by Abdelaziz Al-Hilu.
Since then, the paramilitary group has tightened its grip on West Kordofan, taken Heglig — home to Sudan’s largest oil field — and intensified its siege of Kadugli.
A UN-backed assessment last year already confirmed famine in Kadugli, which has been under RSF siege for more than a year and a half.
The assessment said conditions in Dilling were likely similar, but security issues and a lack of access have prevented a formal declaration.
The UN has repeatedly cautioned that atrocities similar to those reported during the RSF offensive in El-Fasher — including mass killings, sexual violence, abductions and widespread looting — could spread into Kordofan.
More than 65,000 people have fled the Kordofan region since October, according to the latest UN figures.
Those escaping, particularly from South Kordofan, face “long and uncertain journeys” lasting up to 30 days and sleep “wherever they can,” according to Mercy Corps, one of the few aid groups operating there.
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