Tunisia: Understanding Conflict 2012 - Johns Hopkins School of ...

sided with them, could not be more evident. The latter are fêted as heroes, the former
remain anxious and cautious about their role in this new Tunisia.
During the latter protests and sit-ins many police officers chose to stay home, or
else to wear casual clothes (rather than their uniforms) and attempt to blend in, and in the
immediate wake of the revolution they remained off the streets (in any official capacity).
Now that they have returned, both the police themselves and the government continue to
show great anxiety and reticence about the use of force against protestors—as indicated
by the two months of paralyzing protests permitted at Manouba University before the
police cleared the protestors out. They are becoming bolder, however, as evidenced by
the use of tear gas to disrupt recent protests in Tunis, perhaps as public opinion loses
patience with the disruptions, and it will be vital that a firm limit of acceptable behavior
be established.
The chiefs of police have all been dismissed and replaced, to be presumably
brought up on charges of corruption and potentially more severe accusations of human
rights abuses. However, a great challenge remains in deciding where to draw the line in
indicting individual officers. There has been no indication so far that any formal decision
has been taken on this, and indeed, crucially, the police themselves have retrenched
around each other and refused to produce any further individuals for trial. Instead, they
are permitted to take flight. Continuing in this vein therefore bears the very strong risk of
a rupture between the police leadership and the government, should the police begin to
feel themselves victimized.
Dealing with the Ben Ali Assets
Great attempts are being made by the Tunisian government to have the personal funds
and assets of the Ben Ali family, held in foreign banks, returned as government property.
In some small cases they have succeeded—Canada returned two personal jets belonging
to Ben Ali’s brother-in-law, as well as promises to the proceeds of selling his property in
the country. However, with regard to extracting funds from European and Arab banks,
Tunisia has been far less successful. It is clear that the political will necessary to override
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