My tenure as head of the Truth & Dignity Commission (Instance Vérité Dignité, IVD) was at the heart of issues related to reparations for victims of violations, including racial discrimination in Tunisian society.
The IVD received collective complaints from Black and Amazigh minority populations. Investigations revealed discriminatory policies on the part of public authorities, and the IVD recommended that these two groups receive reparations as a result. The IVD also issued 5 recommendations relating to these two groups to the Tunisian state in its final report: 1. Protect the existence of minorities and combat all forms of racial discrimination; 2. Guarantee minorities’ right to a distinct identity, the right to participate in decision-making and equal access to decision-making positions, the right to practice their culture, and the right to learn their mother tongue; 3. Combat hate speech and all ideas or theories based on racial superiority or hatred; 4. Act to reduce the social stigmatization suffered by these persons; 5. Take all necessary measures at the legislative and regulatory levels to prevent discrimination in obtaining and keeping a job on the basis of race or color.
The IVD also addressed the colonial legacy and racial discrimination practiced by colonial France against Tunisians, who were considered an inferior race. A memorandum was sent in 2019 to the French state demanding reparation for damages suffered. Our investigations challenged the myth of the "civilizing" mission of France. For example, the historian Charles André Julien mentions in his book, Colons français et Jeunes Tunisiens, the policies aimed at keeping Tunisian children illiterate. He says in particular: "From 4,656 in 1897, the number of Muslim schoolchildren gradually dropped to 2,927 in 1903. In 1901, ten schools were closed. The point of view of the educational establishment joined that of the colonists, whose goal was to rehabilitate the Kouttab (Koranic school), which French Tunisia deemed perfectly adapted to natives."