Today, Saturday, the National Authority for the Prevention of Torture in Tunisia accused the security forces of “excessive” use of force against demonstrators on Friday, while the Ministry of Interior said that the security forces exercised the utmost restraint.
The commission (constitutional, independent) said in a statement, "There was an excessive use of force against the demonstrators on Friday, in addition to insulting and harassing those who were arrested, even after controlling them and restricting their movement."
The statement referred to "the use of tear gas, sound bombs and water cannons to disperse the demonstrators, as well as verbal and physical assault on many citizens, media professionals and human rights defenders."
He added that "the demonstrators' ranks were infiltrated by motorcycles and security cars, resulting in some injuries that required the intervention of civil protection."
The statement pointed out that "the security presence was intense in the center of the capital, especially in the vicinity of Habib Bourguiba Street, which was completely cordoned off, and all outlets leading to it were closed."
The statement pointed out that "some unframed security forces harassed members of the National Authority for the Prevention of Torture while performing their professional duty, despite carrying badges and wearing distinctive and visible clothes."
Yesterday, Friday, the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior said, in a statement, that the security forces "exhibited the utmost restraint, and gradually used water to disperse the demonstrators who deliberately stormed the barriers and attacked the security forces."
She added that the dispersal of the demonstrators came "for violating a government decision to prevent all demonstrations in open and closed spaces during this period to prevent the acceleration of the spread of the Corona virus."
Yesterday, Friday, the protests came in response to calls from the "Citizens Against the Coup" initiative, the "Ennahda" parties (53 seats out of 217 in Parliament whose jurisdiction has been suspended), the Democratic Current (22 seats), the Ettakatol, the Republican Party, and the Workers' Party. (It has no representatives), in rejection of President Kais Saied’s actions, coinciding with the anniversary of the Tunisian revolution (January 14, 2011).
Tunisia has been experiencing a political crisis since last July 25, when it imposed "exceptional" measures, including: freezing the powers of Parliament, issuing legislation by presidential decrees, dismissing the prime minister, and appointing new ones.
Most of the political and civil forces in Tunisia, including Ennahda, reject these measures, and consider them a "coup against the constitution", while other forces support them, seeing them as a "correction of the course of the 2011 revolution."