Tunisian panel calls for reforms and apologizes to head of state

In its final report released on Tuesday, a Tunisian court charged with healing the wounds of the dictatorship in Tunisia called for institutional reforms and official apologies by the head of state.

Created three years after the 2011 uprising that overthrew dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the Truth and Dignity Commission (IVD) was created to investigate human rights violations and make recommendations to Tunisia on the road to democracy.

The IVD report calls for reforms "aimed at dismantling a system of corruption, repression and dictatorship" within state institutions.

It also proposes measures to strengthen the independence of judges and administrative tribunals, as well as the legal protection of victims and witnesses in corruption cases.

Tunisian security forces should be restructured to increase transparency and prevent their use for political purposes, an independent body set up to oversee the police and an intelligence service that reports directly to the president and is under parliamentary control, according to the report.

The panel calls on President Beji Caid Essebsi, as a "symbol of the state", to formally apologize to all victims of human rights violations at the hands of the state since 1955, a year before the independence of France.

The apology would be addressed to all victims in a presidential address delivered in a place that will be renamed after the event.

IVD has proposed that its records of violations, based on tens of thousands of interviews conducted and cases studied, be opened "in order to preserve the national memory for future generations".

Amnesty International has called the publication of this report "a decisive moment for Tunisia".

"The Tunisian authorities must take concrete steps to implement the recommendations of the Truth Commission and finally end the regime of impunity that has hindered the progress of human rights for decades," he said. Fida Hammami, Amnesty researcher on Tunisia.