Alfajrnews interviews Abdelkarim Harouni

14.10.2008

Abdelkarim Harouni

from prison to human

rights struggle

(Translation from Arabic by Hend Harouni)

Alfajrnews interviews Abdelkarim Harouni the human rights struggler and former political prisoner
Interlocutor : Habib Laamari, Director

Abdelkarim Harouni is one of the great students’ unionists for whom the Tunisian University and the official media itself witnessed for his moderation and civility, known by the students during the eighties, as eloquent orator and experienced intellectual and skillful unionist, believes but in negotiation and peaceful means to defend the students’ rights and freedoms. His criticism of the regime used to be characterized by the simple Tunisian dialect and sarcastic humor; a democratic and civilized way moving feelings, awakening consciences and shaping smile on the lips of the angry. In brief, Abdelkarim Harouni was and will remain as a superior name and an indelible memory reference of the thousands of Tunisians who attended the Tunisian University during an entire decade time. After suffering from imprisonment and what he lived from the afflictions of the siege and in solitary confinement for many years, he came out of a narrow wall prison to a wider one under siege by watchmen from all sides briefly because he entered prison, great as symbol and value and left prison, greater as a symbol and value too, a man equal to 1000 while some 1000 men are worthless one, determined to continue the struggle for human rights so that

Tunisia be free and respectful and so much proud of her sons and stood with them.

Alfajrnews : We wish you Happy Eid and send you our best wishes for every year to be fine as well as all your family and friends.

Abdelkarim Harouni: Every year and Alfajrnews (The dawn) is fine, free and struggling as we have always known him for.

Blessed Eid to everyone in Tunisia and in the Arab and Muslim countries in besieged Gaza and in occupied Iraq and we request ALLAH to bless us in Tunisia by the release of all the political prisoners and the return of expatriates, the right of citizenship for the released and the recuperation of civil and political rights for all Tunisian men and women.

Alfajrnews: On Eid day and you are under siege and in semi- house arrest, how should you shortly describe the situation to us?

Abdelkarim Harouni: Briefly, I was moved from narrow prison to semi-house arrest and the two are an attempt to both break my will and isolate me from people and prevent me from continuing the struggle to live free in a free people, in a free country, in a free nation and in a free world. However, my family’s house is surrounded day and night by agents of the political police in two cars and a motorcycle which provoked my family members and disturbed the neighbors and preoccupied people also the police follows me wherever I go even to the mosque to pray and to the cemetery to visit my mother may ALLAH rest her soul as well and prevent some visitors from entering at home. It also happened on Sept. 20th with Mr. Mohamed Nouri, president of the organization of Freedom and Equity and Mr. Hamza Hamza and Mr. Mohammed Gueloui, members of the Executive Office. On Sept. 28th by night, around eleven p.m. a large number of political police agents entered the café to prevent Mr. Hamza Hamza, from sitting with me and forced us to go out and disperse in addition to preventing me from continuing to enter the organization's office located at 33 Mokhtar Attia street-Tunis. Even on Eid al-Fitr the siege continued and expanded to include Mr. Mohamed Nouri and Mr. Hamza Hamza’s homes and the office of the organization to prevent any meeting between members of the Executive Office even if for greetings and preventing them from receiving their friends and terrorizing relatives not to return back to visit them any longer, nor further to invite them in their homes. In this day the siege continues to be focused on me and on my family’s house by two cars and a motorcycle.

Another shape of this siege is also the breaking of the telephone at home for more than a month and still with delaying in returning back the line and controlling telephone calls with hindering internet to prevent inside correspondences and international ones and through making pressure on me by arbitrary detention to try to stop me from making declarations to the media, especially T.V. channels and internet space as it happened to me following a declaration I made to Alhiwar-london T.V. channel in the program of “Hukuk Anas” (People's Rights) on the harassments faced by the organization.
This unjust siege did not prevent me from celebrating the Eid feast especially that it is my first one at home after seventeen ones I spent in prison and reinforced my conviction that the path to freedom and rights recuperation in Tunisia is long and arduous and increased my confidence that I am with ALLAH’s help in the right direction. Also, I am proud of my family’s support and the wide internal and external solidarity with me. Thank you to all who defended me and Freedom and Equity organization as well as the human rights activists and politicians and media unionists for defense of freedom and human rights in Tunisia.

This siege reminded me of a position I lived after I came out of prison in November 1988, after the fall of Bourguiba and that I will never forget, when a brigade of political police came to our house in la Marsa to inform me that I would be submitted to police control 24/24 hours, so my mother Saïda may ALLAH rest her soul replied to their words by saying :” instead of going to find the killer of Abu Jihad, you come to search my son?! "And today after twenty years I find myself again under siege day and night in our house at the Kram, not far from my mother's tomb.

Alfajrnews: Is there a way out of this situation of human rights and political crisis that the country lives in?

Abdelkarim Harouni: For example, in prison I discovered a Tunisian popular proverb summarizing what the country reached at that time as conditions of despotism and corruption, saying: "agree, or be hypocrite , or get out of the country," and after one year of imprisonment I wonder to what extent this proverb applies to Tunisia today? And I did not agree and was not hypocrite and did not get out of the country, I find myself between two options the sweetest one is the bitterest: silence or return to prison and this is in itself an indicator of the degree of the political isolation and rights regression in the country despite the approach of what some consider as elections and preach the Tunisian people a long time ago what would precede it including steps towards detente and which did not come up to now, but on the contrary, the situation has deteriorated in the country at the political, human rights and social and moral levels despite the official propaganda. And which confirms that is what happened in this summer as arrests and trials in Gafsa and in Bizerte and hunger strikes for the released and harassment of lawyers and disciplinary boards of unionists and the siege of the student movement and of freedom of union activities in general with the continued successive incarceration of Enahdha Movement (The Renaissance) strugglers for the eighteenth year and deprivation of thousands of refugees from the right to return and crushing of thousands of released as well as their families and using the law as pretext of combating terrorism law and the practice of torture and organizing formal and unfair trials to draw religious youth to prisons and the continued closure of mosques and harassment of worshipers and assault on woman’s freedom of dressing, to the extent of threat to her right for security, education, employment and the exclusion of opposition parties and use of the constitution to deprive the competitors from the right for the election and the people from the right choice.

Despite the common need for dialogue for the country to get out of this situation and face the serious economic, social and cultural challenges but the authority is still refusing the serious dialogue and betting on the security means in governance and in dealing with society issues too. In front of this dilemma, I do not soon see a way out of the crisis of the country and I do not see a solution but in the struggle with courage, sincerity ,patience ,wisdom and solidarity to achieve necessary demands and of priority especially the general legislative amnesty for justice to the oppressed and rights restoration to their owners and the purification of the general atmosphere in the country and also to ensure freedom of expression and also that of organization and provide conditions for free and fair elections after 70 years since the Tunisian women and Tunisian men went in April 1938 on demonstrations in the streets of the capital despite the occupation to demand the election of a Tunisian Parliament.

Alfajrnews: Is this siege covering all the strugglers or is it particularly for you?

Abdelkarim Harouni: an extensive siege incurring to make the free voices silent in all human rights, political, media, cultural and union areas fields and more tense on human rights activists for their vital role in defending freedoms and human rights and confrontation of violations and abuses from any origin , especially those committed by The organs of the authority with a focus on the siege on Freedom and Equity, independent human rights organization and its Executive Office members and tightening the siege particularly on me since being elected as Secretary-General of this organization on September 8th, 2008, bringing an end to be similar to house arrest.

Alfajrnews: Do you have a message that you want to say through this short interview?

Abdelkarim Harouni: I'm not afraid for myself from the siege or the prison as far as I am afraid for my country under the "rule of instructions" far from the law and institutions fear and hunger spreading among its people this country who is rich with energies in all fields and eligible to be at the forefront of countries as it has been proved in various stages of its history. Despite all the injustices that I have been subject to and still since I was arrested for the first time in the summer of 1981 I am not rancorous because rancor makes one blind towards righteousness, but I will not give up my right to live free, in a free people and in a free country, whatever it may cost me because freedom is a bounty from ALLAH to man and the basis for prosperity and the requirement for stability and prosperity and the key to all what is good. So, the struggle for freedom and the recovery of the rights is a legitimate and national duty that I will never quitclaim, despite the intensity of the siege so no right can be lost having a claimer for it. Also as I contributed with the free people of this country from the Islamists and the others to prove inadequate security solution, I will with ALLAH’s help for the success of the political solution in dealing with the country issues.

Tunisia, on 3^rd of October 2008-3 Shawal, 1429

Alfajrnews team presents the greatest expressions of thanks and appreciations to the human rights struggler Abdelkarim Harouni.

-Translated on 11^th of October 2008-11 Shawal, 1429-