TUNIS: Tunisian security forces have arrested at least 1,000 people during six nights of urban unrest between disaffected youths and riot police, human rights and other non-government groups said Thursday.
The North African country, where the COVID-19 pandemic has deepened already acute economic pain, has seen young people hurl rocks and petrol bombs at police who have deployed teargas and water cannon at the crowds.
Wednesday night was relatively calm compared with previous evenings, although local media reported disturbances in the central town of Sidi Bouzid, where the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings started a decade ago.
Authorities said Monday they had made 600 arrests, then reported another 70 over the following two days — but a coalition of Tunisian groups said their own count was now much higher.
“There are 1,000 people arrested” including many minors, said Bassem Trifi of the Tunisian League for Human Rights, who charged that many arrests had been “arbitrary,” including of people inside their homes.
“Some were arrested without having taken part in the demonstrations,” he told a joint press conference of a dozen groups, also including the journalists’ union and young lawyers’ association.
Some activists had been detained for voicing support for the protests on Facebook and other sites, and at least one of them now faces six years prison if convicted, the groups said.
“We are asking the justice system to look closely into the cases,” said Trifi.
“We will not manage to resolve the crisis in this way. It can only deepen the gulf between the people and the government.”
In a joint statement, the groups called on the judicial system to investigate reports of violations by security forces, ill-treatment of detainees and breaches of their personal data privacy.
They warned that “violent security practices would only... aggravate the crisis of the rejection of the state.”
Unrest again shook several towns overnight into Thursday, though the clashes appeared to ease from their earlier peaks when angry groups set fire to tires to blockade streets.
In the central town of Sbeitla, clashes broke out following rumors that a young man had died of injuries he had sustained when he was earlier hit by a tear gas canister.
The interior ministry denied the young man’s death, saying he had been transferred to a hospital in the coastal city of Sousse, and that it had opened an investigation into his case.
Tunisia last week marked one decade since its long-time dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled the country amid mass protests, ending 23 years in power.
The demonstrations were sparked by the self-immolation of young fruit seller Mohamed Bouazizi in Sidi Bouzid, triggering similar revolts across much of North Africa and the Middle East.
Tunisia rights groups say 1,000 arrested in 6 nights of riots
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Tunisia rights groups say 1,000 arrested in 6 nights of riots
- Groups called on judicial system to investigate reports of violations by security forces
- Unrest again shook several towns overnight into Thursday
Aoun slams ‘systematic policy of aggression’ as Israeli strikes kill 2, wound journalists in south Lebanon escalation
- Lebanese Army: Attacks terrorize civilians and hinder weapons control plan
- Israeli army spokesperson said military eliminated Abu Ali Salameh, who served as a Hezbollah liaison officer in the area
- Israeli drones targeted sites with heavy airstrikes, wounding journalists in Qanarit and destroying their equipment, cameras and vehicles
BEIRUT: Two people were killed and several journalists wounded in a series of Israeli attacks on Wednesday targeting southern areas, most of which lie north of the Litani River.
The Lebanese Army Command described the escalation as “impeding the army’s efforts and hindering the completion of its plan to confine weapons to Lebanese territory.” It said that the strikes terrorized civilians, caused deaths and injuries, displaced dozens of families and undermined regional stability.
The day’s security situation was dominated by hours of Israeli escalation, including airstrikes and evacuation warnings targeting villages and populated areas ahead of further bombardment.
The Israeli army said that warplanes carried out precision strikes on civilian vehicles in Bazouriyeh, killing a Hezbollah member. A separate drone strike hit a civilian vehicle on the Zahrani-Mseileh road, killing one person, with Israel claiming the target was another Hezbollah operative.
Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adraee said that the military “eliminated Abu Ali Salameh, who served as a Hezbollah liaison officer” in the village of Yanouh, in southern Lebanon. He accused Salameh of managing Hezbollah activities to “enable the group to operate within civilian areas and on private property, and to establish terrorist infrastructure in the heart of populated civilian areas, through the deliberate and cynical exploitation of the residents to serve Hezbollah’s objectives.”
Adraee claimed that on Dec. 13, Israel alerted Lebanon’s enforcement mechanism about a Hezbollah weapons depot in Yanouh. Salameh allegedly relayed the notification to other Hezbollah members, who then blocked Lebanese army access by staging a gathering while removing weapons from the site.
He said that Salameh also coordinated with the Lebanese army to falsely document the property as weapons-free, even as “suspicious boxes” were removed via a back entrance. Adraee called these actions a violation of Israel-Lebanon understandings, adding that “the Israeli army will continue to take measures to eliminate all threats.”
Israeli artillery also shelled the Harmoun area in the Bint Jbeil district, south of the Litani River, prompting Israeli army warnings — complete with maps — for residents of Qanarit, Kfour in Nabatieh and Jarjouh to evacuate immediately.
Israeli drones then hammered the sites with heavy airstrikes, wounding journalists in Qanarit and destroying their equipment, cameras and vehicles.
The Press Photographers Syndicate said: “Israeli claims of maintaining safe distances offer no protection, just as the warnings issued by the enemy to civilians offer no protection. It seems that cameras are not a red line.”
The statement urged photojournalists “to exercise caution and avoid turning their professional commitment into a reckless gamble.”
Civilians in the targeted areas reported receiving phone calls from Israel ordering them to clear squares, residential neighborhoods and a mosque.
The Lebanese Army Command confirmed that “Israeli attacks and violations targeted civilian buildings and homes in several areas, most recently in villages in the south, in a blatant violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and security, the cessation of hostilities agreement, and UN Security Council Resolution 1701.”
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun issued a statement on Wednesday evening condemning the strikes and accused Tel Aviv of “pursuing a systematic policy of aggression” that targeted civilians and violated international humanitarian law, and constituted “a dangerous escalation.”
“This repeated aggressive behavior proves Israel’s refusal to abide by its commitments under the cessation of hostilities agreement and reflects a deliberate disregard for the efforts exerted by the Lebanese state to control the situation on the ground, maintain stability, and prevent the escalation of the confrontation,” he said.
He called on the international community — particularly the agreement’s sponsors — “to assume their legal and political responsibilities and take clear and effective measures to stop these violations and put an end to the policy of impunity.”
The escalation also came as Aoun reaffirmed his commitment to “monopolizing weapons in the hands of the state throughout all Lebanese territory.”
At a meeting of the Higher Supervisory Committee for Lebanon’s border protection program — attended by the US and Canadian ambassadors — Army Commander Gen. Rudolph Haykal stressed the army’s “absolute commitment” to securing borders but called for “qualitative military support” to tackle challenges on the northern and eastern fronts.
The army said that the ambassadors praised “its professionalism and success,” stressing the need to bolster the military institution to enhance its ability to maintain security nationwide. Lebanese military units are currently securing the northern and eastern borders with Syria to combat smuggling, weapons transfers and illegal infiltration.
