Tunisia, the country that launched the Arab Spring and went on to lead the way by electing a constitutional assembly, with a coalition government led by a moderate Islamic party, is tottering on the brink of political turmoil. The issue is the government's extradition of former Gaddafi-era premier Baghdadi Al-Mahmoudi to Libya where he faces corruption and war crimes charges. The handover was sanctioned by Tunisian Premier Hamadi Jebali, leader of the Ennahda party which is the senior coalition member. It was however undertaken against the express wishes of the president, Moncef Marzouki, leader of the second largest party in the government, the Congress for the Republic, (CPR), who has branded the extradition as “illegal”. A sufficient number of legislators has signed up to demand a vote of no confidence in the prime minister. It seems likely that the CPR and the junior coalition partner, Ettakatol will quit the government. President Marzouki had opposed the return of Mahmoudi to Libya on human rights grounds. He does not believe that the Libyans will mount a fair trial and will protect the former Libyan prime minister from abuse. Indeed within hours of his client's arrival in Libya, Mahmoudi's French lawyer claimed that the accused had been severely beaten and hospitalized with his injuries. The Libyan authorities deny this vigorously and claim Mahmoudi is in good health in prison and being seen daily by a doctor. They have yet to produce the prisoner to prove this. Libya's human rights record is subject to regular condemnation from the likes of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as well as by liberal pressure groups within the country itself. Part of the problem is the continuing existence of heavily-armed militia groups, many of whose violent excesses the interim government has been unable to stem. Indeed a militia in Zintan captured and is still refusing to hand over the biggest name from the old regime, Saif Gaddafi, the dead dictator's son and heir apparent. The militia has since compounded its behavior by detaining four lawyers appointed by the International Criminal Court to defend the accused. It is ironic that Tunisia's own revolution should suddenly be in danger because of the tensions in the revolution of its neighbor. There can be no doubting the pressure that the Libyans were putting on Tunisia to surrender Mahmoudi. Last month Libyan premier Abdurrahim Al-Kib and senior cabinet ministers visited Tunis to once more demand the extradition. Though the Libyans say they are false, there are persistent reports that the Tunisian government was offered cash and cheap oil supplies as part of a deal. Whatever the truth, it is now clear that Premier Jebali miscalculated if he thought that he could meet Libyan demands without paying a high political price. Nevertheless, Tunisian legislators should surely be asking themselves if it is wise to be placing their own political stability at risk on a principle of human rights, applied to a man who is widely believed when he was in power, to have cared absolutely nothing for the human rights of others.
