Between Authoritarianism and Islamism

Tunisian lawyer and feminist Saida Garrache has been General Secretary of the "Tunisian Association of Democratic Women" since mid-2006. Martina Sabra spoke to her about the difficulties entailed by her work in a state that tries to stifle all the activities of civil society

Ms. Garrache, what options do you have for addressing your concerns to the Tunisian public?

Saida Garrache: The options are very limited at the moment, because the Tunisian state suppresses civil and individual liberties including the freedom to participate in independent associations. For years now, every independent current has been stifled in the name of stability and the fight against terrorism.

We are not allowed to hold any public assemblies, to put on public campaigns or to publish texts. No one can visit us in our association offices, and we can't go out to the people. We have not put on any public event now for four years. Even meetings of our members are not permitted.

And what if your organization simply ignores these rules?

Garrache: We can't simply ignore them because civilian police are constantly posted around our headquarters. Even ATFD members have sometimes been prevented from entering.

During the "Information Summit" in 2005, the Iranian human rights activist and Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi came to open the "Citizens' Summit." The opening was to take place at our headquarters. But many participants, including politicians and journalists, were forbidden admission by the civilian police.

Does this also have an impact on financing for your projects?

Garrache: This is a major problem for us. All of the funds we receive abroad for our projects must first pass through the Central Bank. For several years now, certain project funds have been blocked. At the time of the Information Summit, we were supposed to receive various subsidies, including some from sponsors in Germany, but we were unable to access the money.

In the past few weeks, the situation has come to a head. If things continue on like they are, we will be forced to close down our offices in a few weeks' time. We are unable to pay the most basic things, like our rent or wages for our employees in the advice center for the victims of violence. If we don't find a solution soon, we will be history.

That means that what was already a difficult situation for the ATFD has now become even worse?

Garrache: Yes. We were one of the last refuges for other autonomous organizations. Of the 8,000 registered organizations, only about a handful are independent, and of these five or six, only two have a license.

The Human Rights League has not been allowed to enter its regional offices for one year now, and only board members are permitted to use the premises in the capital. We at the ATFD were compelled to offer the Human Rights League our rooms for their meetings. The government let us know, however, that they will no longer tolerate this.

Wouldn't the Tunisian regime actually have an interest in promoting secular, democratic women's groups? Perhaps as a counterbalance to the spread of Islamism?

Garrache: Not all young women who wear the veil are politically motivated members of the Islamist movement. The problem is that young people here are having more and more problems finding jobs and standing on their own two feet. Many are still living with their parents at thirty.

So in social terms we are just treading water and politically there is no room for self-expression. There is no democratic public forum; no open debates take place. The mass media are not an alternative either. People watch the east Arab television stations Al-Jazeera or Al-Manar, absorbing the ideologies they stand for. There seems to be only one alternative left: either to escape into the world of crime and drugs, or to seek meaning in religion.

If you close down all the escape routes this way, people can't help but become more and more religious. This is where I believe Tunisian domestic politics has failed, and not only that: the European regimes are also complicit in these problems because they are trying to keep out migrants from Africa.

The solution to European security issues is shifted onto the regimes over here. In the EU they apparently think that as long as they help us to maintain our economic interests we will turn a blind eye to any human rights questions.

As a Democrat, are you in a certain sense caught between authoritarianism and Islamism?

Garrache: Without a doubt. And that's what I accuse those in power of: all voices from the opposition are squelched in the name of supposedly combating the Islamists. When in fact the only way to save Tunisia from Islamism is when true civic action is introduced and institutions are created that guarantee democratic principles.

The separation of powers, the restoration of the institutions of the republic, the democratization of society and of individual freedoms and social justice – of course it's not possible to solve all problems with a snap of the fingers, but at least we have to try. Suppressing everyone is only playing into the hands of the extremists.

How is the Tunisian regime reacting to the Islamist challenge?

Garrache: The regime is making concessions. Negotiations are constantly going on under the table. I personally would not be surprised if at one of the next elections the regime and the Islamists would get together. They are still banned officially, but Ennahda (a Tunisian party dedicated to anchoring Islamic values in society, ed.) has always existed, and they have always communicated. The problem is that there are now currents that are much more radical than Ennahda.

Jihadists, Salafists who fought in Afghanistan. Even Ennahda is already a little bit out since 9/11. The problem is that no one stands for policies that are sustainable; everyone is only acting with the short term in mind.

I am a lawyer. One of my colleagues had a case where she was dealing with young extremists. They didn't want her to defend them because she didn't wear the veil.

A veiled associate of mine told me recently: "In comparison with them, we're almost atheists!" But those in power are interested in only one thing: staying in power in the short term. When things get tough, they head for the hills. We, the common people, are the ones who will pay the price. The powerful flee to Europe, and we pay.

Interview: Martina Sabra

The Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (Association Tunisienne des Femmes Démocrates, ATFD) was founded in 1989 in Tunis. It developed out of the autonomous women's group Club Tahar Haddad, which had formed in 1978 in the culture center of the same name, located in Tunis' Old Town. According to its own records, the ATFD has some 500 members living all over Tunisia.

The ATFD is an independent nongovernmental organization with the goal of abolishing every form of gender-specific discrimination as well as improving the situation of women and girls, in particular in legal matters, but also with regard to social and economic conditions. The ATFD demands that the Tunisian civil status code (Code du Statut Personnel, CSP) should not only be maintained but also developed further in the direction of equal rights.

Politically speaking, the ATFD pleads for a clear separation of church and state, for democratization and for the observance of human and civil rights in Tunisia.

The ATFD receives financial support from organizations including the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, where funding is provided as part of a regional anti-violence project. The ATFD is a member of the Collectif Maghreb Egalité and the Aicha network.

Translated from the German by Jennifer Taylor-Gaida

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