In a video clip published on July 2, 2021, the head of the Shura Council (Consultative Council) of the Ennahda Movement, Abdel-Karim Harouni, called on Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi to activate the “Dignity Fund” and pay compensation to victims of violations before July 25, in a speech he delivered to his party’s protesting supporters in the Kasbah Square. The statement sparked widespread controversy, especially because it coincided with a deteriorating health situation and the death of hundreds of Tunisians every day due to the lack of oxygen, vaccination and medical equipment.
“Harouni Misleads his Supporters”
The former head of the Truth and Dignity Commission, Sihem Bensedrine, explained to “JDD Tunisia”, Monday, July 12, 2021, that what the leader of the Ennahda movement, Abdel Karim Harouni, said was nothing more than a fallacy, as she put it.
She said that the “Dignity and Reparation” fund, to compensate victims of violations from 1955 to 2013, does not currently contain any penny, because the Finance Law of 2021 does not provide for any chapter in this regard.
She added that the fund is financed through three parties, firstly, the state treasury, which provides 10 million dinars allocated to the management of the fund and the payment of the wages of its employees throughout their work period, in addition to external donations for the benefit of the victims, in addition to the arbitration and reconciliation funds carried out by the Truth and Dignity Commission, noting that the current account for donations was not opened yet; therefore, no compensation funds exist.
Bensedrine stressed that Harouni’s statement came to cover up the new reconciliation law that, according to her, the Ennahda movement is preparing in order to stop the jurisdictions and pardon the corrupt, but this law began to anger the supporters of the Ennahda movement, so the head of the Shura Council went out to calm them, announcing that they will be compensated soon at a sensitive time when Tunisians are suffering a financial and health crisis.
Alkarama (Dignity) Fund and those Concerned with Compensation
Bensedrine explained to “JDD Tunisia”, that the commission received 62,720 files from Islamists, leftists, unionists and victims of the revolution and the Siliana events in 2013, but the commission enabled only 29,950 people to be considered victims.
Bensedrine added that those concerned with obtaining material compensation are 17649 under the compensation framework decision, which also stipulates that anyone who bears responsibility in the state, whether a minister, a secretary of state, an ambassador, a governor or a deputy, is not entitled to compensation.
She also indicated that the compensation rates are commensurate with the damage caused: it is made at 100 percent in case of death, 60 percent for rape and torture, and 25 percent for imprisonment of 5 years or more.
