[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 260 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 260

  Recognizing Tunisia's leadership in the Arab Spring and expressing 
       support for upholding its democratic principles and norms.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 21, 2023

    Mr. Durbin (for himself, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Welch, and Mr. Coons) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                          on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Recognizing Tunisia's leadership in the Arab Spring and expressing 
       support for upholding its democratic principles and norms.

Whereas Tunisia gained its independence from France on March 20, 1956, with 
        Habib Bourguiba serving as Prime Minister, before becoming Tunisia's 
        first President in 1957;
Whereas President Bourguiba led Tunisia through independence and the ensuing 30 
        years, a period that included vast social reforms and restrictions on 
        civil society and democratic participation;
Whereas, in 1987, Prime Minister Zine El Abdine Ben Ali deposed President 
        Bourguiba and named himself President of Tunisia, citing Bourguiba's 
        incompetence and failing health to justify his undemocratic actions;
Whereas President Ben Ali was subsequently elected in 1989 and 1994 without 
        genuine opposition, and was re-elected in 1999, 2004, and 2009 by 
        implausibly high vote margins in election processes that were widely 
        deemed as neither free nor fair;
Whereas President Ben Ali's rule was marred by gross human rights violations and 
        a lack of democratic freedoms;
Whereas, the 2003 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, released by the 
        Department of State on February 25, 2004, stated, referring to Tunisia--

    (1) ``Elections are regularly characterized by notable irregularities, 
including voter intimidation, and there is no secret ballot.'';

    (2) ``Security forces physically abused, intimidated, and harassed 
citizens who voiced public criticism of the Government.'';

    (3) ``The Government continued to impose significant restrictions on 
freedom of speech and the press.''; and

    (4) ``The Government remained intolerant of public criticism and used 
physical abuse, criminal investigations, the court system, arbitrary 
arrests, residential restrictions, and travel controls (including denial of 
passports) to discourage criticism by human rights and opposition 
activists.'';

Whereas, on December 17, 2010, 26-year-old fruit and vegetable street vendor 
        Mohamed Bouazizi lit himself on fire in desperate protest in Sidi 
        Bouzid, Tunisia, an act that was largely seen as the beginning of the 
        Arab Spring movement that spread throughout the region;
Whereas ensuing popular protests in Tunisia in response to corruption, 
        repression, and economic failure--

    (1) forced the resignation of President Ben Ali from the office of 
president;

    (2) ended his 23-year rule; and

    (3) further inspired similar pent up democratic demands throughout the 
Arab world;

Whereas Tunisia emerged from the Arab Spring as one of the most hopeful and 
        promising reformed democracies in the region, including with an interim 
        government and a Constituent Assembly responsible for drafting a new 
        constitution and fostering political compromise for a future democratic 
        government;
Whereas, in February 2011, Senator John McCain urged United States support for 
        Tunisia's democratic transition, noting ``The revolution in Tunisia has 
        been very successful and it has become a model for the region.'';
Whereas, in March 2011, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon pledged 
        full support for Tunisia's transition to democracy, hailing the 
        country's revolution as the spark that lit ``the profound and dramatic 
        changes'' sweeping the Arab world;
Whereas, on January 26, 2014, the Constituent Assembly of Tunisia adopted a new 
        constitution demonstrating consensus for building a democracy founded on 
        freedom and equality;
Whereas the new constitution of Tunisia includes Articles that--

    (1) give equal rights to men and women;

    (2) protection freedoms of assembly, peaceful demonstration, 
expression, and publication; and

    (3) outline an electoral system and representation for the Tunisian 
people with checks and balances;

Whereas, in November 2014, Tunisia held its first genuinely free and fair 
        presidential election since its independence in 1956, with 27 candidates 
        freely competing for the office of president;
Whereas longtime politician Beji Caid Essebsi won the election in a runoff with 
        55 percent of the vote, becoming Tunisia's first legitimately elected 
        president since independence;
Whereas President Essebsi faced many difficult challenges, including economic 
        turmoil, terrorist attacks, and public expectations for change;
Whereas public disillusionment with the country's political elites increased 
        amid continued corruption and devastating acts of terrorism that 
        severely hurt the tourism industry and larger economy;
Whereas political outsider and constitutional law professor Kais Saied won the 
        presidential election held on October 13, 2019, and was sworn into 
        office 10 days later in a peaceful transfer of power;
Whereas, by 2021, protests in response to worsening economic conditions, further 
        exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, occurred across cities in Tunisia, 
        to which the police responded violently;
Whereas, in July 2021, President Saied capitalized on unrest to unilaterally 
        seize power by--

    (1) dismissing Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi;

    (2) suspending Parliament for 30 days; and

    (3) assuming full executive authority without first consulting the 
government;

Whereas, in late 2021, President Saied indefinitely suspended Parliament and 
        transferred all legislative powers to himself;
Whereas, in early 2022, President Saied continued to undermine Tunisia's 
        democratic institutions, including by taking control of the Independent 
        High Authority for Elections and dissolving the High Judicial Council;
Whereas, in July 2022, President Saied unilaterally put to a referendum a new 
        draft constitution, which--

    (1) consolidated power to the presidency;

    (2) limited parliamentary authority; and

    (3) diminished judicial independence;

Whereas the new draft constitution was approved despite remarkably low voter 
        turnout and heavy domestic and international criticism surrounding the 
        lack of genuine debate throughout the drafting process;
Whereas, between 2021 to 2023, Tunisia experienced--

    (1) a dramatic drop in voter participation and public confidence in the 
political process; and

    (2) an escalation in politically motivated arrests of political 
opponents, judges, lawyers, journalists, and business leaders; and

Whereas President Saied's actions have dramatically undermined and threatened 
        Tunisia's nascent democratic institutions: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes Tunisia as the symbolic birthplace of the 
        historic Arab Spring movement and the country's notable 
        democratic reforms that emerged during the Arab Spring period;
            (2) commends the Tunisian people for their courage and 
        democratic achievements made in the immediate years following 
        the Arab Spring;
            (3) expresses deep concern for more recent reversals of 
        such democratic gains, including--
                    (A) the erosion of judicial independence;
                    (B) political repression and arrests; and
                    (C) the undemocratic consolidation of power;
            (4) urges the Government of Tunisia--
                    (A) to release all political prisoners; and
                    (B) to respect the rights of the people to free 
                exercise of peaceful assembly, expression, and the 
                press; and
            (5) calls on the Government of Tunisia to support a 
        transparent and open 2024 presidential election process.
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