Yearbook 2012
Tunisia. In the aftermath of the so-called Jasmine Revolution in 2011, many Tunisians expressed their disappointment at missing changes. Some, including academics and miners, demonstrated during the spring under the auspices of the union against the high unemployment. At the end of November, police in the town of Siliana, 12 miles south of Tunis, intervened with violence against protesters demanding action against unemployment. At least 200 people were injured. At other times, women protested against restrictions on women’s rights and against the government’s suggestion that women in the country’s new constitution should be described as a “complement” to men.
Other dissatisfied, especially young men, turned to the most dogmatic branch of Islam, Salafism. that Islamic law should be introduced. One person was killed in June when salafists attacked, among other things. police stations and trade union offices in protest of an art exhibit they deemed blasphemed Islam. In September, two protesters were killed at the US Embassy in Tunis, protesting against an Islamophobic movie clip on the YouTube website. When salafists attacked a police station in October, another person was reported to have been killed.
- AbbreviationFinder.org: Provides most commonly used acronyms and abbreviations for Tunisia. Also includes location map, major cities, and country overview.
A commission commissioned to produce a proposal for a new media law resigned in July in protest of what it meant was government censorship. The government had dismissed several senior executives in the public service media, something criticized by the Reporters Without Borders organization.
Many young men left in boats across the Mediterranean to try to get work in especially Italy. In October, such a ship with at least 100 people capsized and only 56 were found alive.
Sequence of events
The rebellion in Tunisia erupted in response to an incident in the city of Sidi Bouzid, central to the country. There, the young street vendor of fruits and vegetables set fire to Mohamed Bouazizi, after being impeached by a politician, December 17, 2010. Bouazizi died of the injuries on January 4, 2011.
The incident in Sidi Bouzid led to protests the following day, first locally, then elsewhere, including in Sfax, Sousse, Monastir and Gafsa, in addition to the capital Tunis. The police brutality towards the non-violent protesters helped increase the rebellion. Several protesters were injured and others killed in the first few days. A later National Inquiry Commission found that 132 people were killed and 1452 wounded from the uprising began on December 17, 2010 and until the president resigned, January 14, 2011. Other sources have stated over three hundred dead.
President Ben Ali first accused the rebels of being extremists and mercenaries and threatened reprisals. Driven on the defensive by the growing rebellion, he then made some concessions in an attempt to curb the turmoil. He removed Interior Minister Rafik Belhaj Kacem, but made it clear that he himself would continue. Schools and universities were closed in an attempt to curb the uprising.
On January 13, the president announced that he would not run for re-election in 2014, as one of several measures to meet the rebels. He also promised to ease restrictions on internet use, reduce food prices, create new jobs and that the police would not use sharp ammunition against protesters other than in self-defense.
The protests escalated, and on January 14, a state of emergency was introduced, with a ban on public gatherings, at the same time as the government was dissolved and new elections promised within six months. Nor did this satisfy the growing resistance, which was not least directed at the president himself. Later that day, January 14, 2011, he chose to resign and exile in Saudi Arabia, after 23 years in Tunisian power. A decisive factor that helped to quickly escape the country was that the army stood behind the rebels – and loyal to the president against the security forces. There was an exchange of gunfire between the two military forces.
Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi took power, for January 15 to be replaced as acting head of state by parliament president Fouad Mebazaa. Both of these were members of the dominant party to which the deposed president also belonged: Rassemblement constitutionel démocratique (RCD). The uprising continued, among other things, against the RCD and against members of this party taking central positions in the new transitional government established by Ghannouchi on 17 January.
In this, the opposition also took place; several of these then resigned, in protest of the participation of members of the former RCD government. The rebels also demanded that the RCD be disbanded, which happened on March 9. In a government change on January 27, all RCD members were removed, but Prime Minister Ghannouchi himself remained until February 27. Then Beji took over Caid-Essebsi as prime minister. Prior to this, new demonstrations were directed at the government, demanding the introduction of parliamentary rule, and for Ghannouchi to step down. The 24 regional governors were removed and replaced in February.
Deputy President Ben Ali was sentenced in absentia in June 2011 and sentenced to 35 years in prison for theft of state property; He was then sentenced to life in prison for participating in the assassination of protesters. Several others were also convicted of murder.
Population 2012
According to countryaah, the population of Tunisia in 2012 was 11,179,838, ranking number 79 in the world. The population growth rate was 1.000% yearly, and the population density was 71.9616 people per km2.
