Initiating transitional justice

Abstract

The first of three empirical chapters is concerned with those justice measures that were introduced in an ad hoc manner directly after the fall of the Ben Ali regime and the first initiatives for a more structured, institutionalised transitional justice process. This stage was mainly marked by political struggles over the direction of the Tunisian transition and the country’s future political architecture. Speculation about the intentions of ‘the Islamists’ when in power and their potential lack of commitment to democratic values played a decisive role, as well as the question of the future role of old-regime actors. Thus, in this first stage, one can see an intensification of conflict and friction, in a cross-cutting manner, among political and civil society actors. The emergence of new sentiments of injustice through the pursuit of justice and accountability measures played a significant role in this dynamic. The chapter furthermore shows that despite the early efforts at seeking justice and accountability, one can already identify a counter-trend to the pursuit of transitional justice, since there was an unwillingness (or inability) to dismantle ‘the system’ at a deeper level.