Tunisia, 2013

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.