SPEAKER Speaker Shares Views on Arab Democracy By Rebecca Regan-Sachs Hoya Staff Writer

Charles Nailen/The Hoya Dr. Moncef Marzouki speaks about the future of democracy in the Arab world after the Sept. 11 attacks at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies yesterday in ICC.

Dr. Moncef Marzouki expressed his hope for the future of democracy in the Arab world at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies yesterday. A noted human rights activist, Marzouki was the latest in a series of guest speakers hosted by CCAS who have discussed the implications of the events of Sept. 11 and the war on terrorism. Marzouki spoke about the Arab world in general, but focused specifically on Tunisia, where he has worked toward establishing what he called a civil society.

“I think there is a ray of hope for civil society in the Arab world,” he said, describing increased public awareness and government propaganda having a lesser impact on the population. He said that there are basically two positions being discussed now: the Islamic position and the democratic position.

“Democracy and human rights,” Marzouki said, “are not strictly western concepts but are universal. However, many believe that they are not universal concepts but are used by Western governments to manipulate the naive.”

Democracy is not an ideology that will take the place of Islam, he stressed. The problems of Arab governments, according to arzouki, are not a result of any particular ideology. “It is the product of the structure of the system. Corruption and authoritarianism come from the political system, whether it is covered by religion or secularism.”

Following Sept. 11, Marzouki said, the dilemma is that we have stronger dictatorships and the public opinion is more and more anti-Western. The policy of democratic states is supposed to be to promote democracy all over the world, and one would expect them to support democracy in the Arab world, but that has never been the case.

After Sept. 11, he said, things have become more difficult for democratic activists, because the American government would not focus its attention on anything but the war on terrorism. He explained that the Sept. 11 attack, which targeted western civil society and its values, prompted the government to cooperate with and grant a degree of legitimacy to totalitarian regimes in the Arab world. “The U.S. will support dictatorships more and more,” he said, “because of the excuse of fighting against the terrorists.” In addition, he said, the attitude of the U.S. towards dictatorships rests on a handful of principles: their attitude towards the peace process between Israel and Palestine, their economic reforms and their struggle with various Islamic movements.

For example, he said, the U.S. government would promote women’s rights in Afghanistan but not in Saudi Arabia, where exactly the same situation prevails. “We can’t understand that people who are supposed to be supporting democracy are promoting dictatorships,” he said. “It’s worsening the situation.”

Government Professor Daniel Brumberg responded by saying that the U.S. government tends to support its interests first and its principles second. “Therefore,” he said, “pro-democracy activists need to demonstrate that there is a constituency for democracy. One has to make the case that people like Marzouki represent more than themselves,” he said, “and that they represent movements, perhaps political parties, that will triumph in democratic elections.”

Marzouki focused specifically on Tunisia, calling it a “mock democracy.” He contrasted it against countries such as Iraq, which he labeled more honest because it is openly a dictatorship. “Despite presenting itself as a republic,” he said, “Tunisia bears the characteristics of a dictatorship: overfilled prisons, a lack of basic freedoms, the presence of a secret police. In addition, the government wants to take credit for any positive activity. Everything that’s supposed to be positive is because of the government, but the positive things you see are the result [of the work] of the people,” he said.

According to Marzouki, Tunisian president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali has fought against all forms of freedom of expression. Before Ben Ali came to power, social changes were underway in Tunisia. In the 1980s, he said, human rights were more respected, trade unions were developing and freedom of the press existed. According to el-Abidine, Tunisia was ready to become the first democratic Arab state.

“That has all been swept away,” he explained, and the situation, according to him, is getting worse – Ben Ali is attempting to revise the constitution to allow himself to run for a fourth term as president.

Furthermore, the real opposition parties aren’t legal, and the legal opposition parties aren’t real. Marzouki was imprisoned for four months after declaring himself the opposition candidate in the 1994 presidential election, running against Ben Ali.

Robert H. Pelletreau, the former U.S. ambassador to Tunisia, disagreed with Marzouki’s portrayal of the Tunisian government. “[He] may have oversold the negative aspects and insufficiently looked at the more positive things that are happening,” he said. He pointed out that, though the Parliament is not as good as the U.S. Congress, there has been more representation of opposition groups and government ministers have been held more accountable, being rigorously questioned by parliament. “There’s a lot more positive [action] going on in Tunisia,” he said. Pelletreau has visited Tunisia several times since serving as the U.S. ambassador in the late 1980s.

Marzouki, however, is committed to promoting democracy. “When I feel pessimistic, he said, I say it’s impossible to change the world. But it’s a crime not to try.”

Besides being a human rights and pro-democracy activist, arzouki is a physician. From 1989 to 1994 he served as president of the Tunisian League for Human Rights, and he was also a spokesperson for the National Council of Liberties in Tunisia. His criticism of the Tunisian government’s human rights record has resulted in intimidation

and persecution, including a four-month jail term and a conviction on a charge of spreading false information intended to disturb the public order. The one-year jail sentence for the latter conviction was suspended in response to an international campaign on Marzouki’s behalf.

Last December Marzouki left Tunisia due to increased repression and accepted a position in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Paris at Bobigny. In France, he rejoined his family, who had moved from Tunisia in 2000, fearing intimidation. Later this week, Marzouki will be accepting an award from the American Academy for the Advancement of Science.