Who protects Tunisian corruption whistleblowers?
A Tunisian nonprofit and independent watchdog launched a center to support and guide victims of corruption, to encourage citizens to report administrative and financial corruption, and to create a favorable climate to promote accountability.
The 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index, which was released by Transparency International in January, revealed that Tunisia’s index fell to 38 — on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean) — compared to 40 in 2014. Based on these figures, it seems that Tunisians’ hope that their country would be free of corruption, nepotism and bribery after Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s departure in 2011 faded. In this context, the chairman of the National Anti-Corruption Authority, Chawki Tabib, said in March, “Five years into the revolution, corruption indicators in Tunisia have risen.” According to the Corruption Perceptions Index for 2010, Ben Ali’s last year in power, Tunisia ranked 59th, but it moved to 76th place in 2015.
According to the report “People and corruption: Middle East and North Africa survey 2016," which was published by Transparency International in May, 64% of Tunisians believe that corruption is on the rise. This prompted Tunisian civil society to combat the phenomenon, raise awareness about the risks on the economy and civil peace, and encourage affected parties to reveal the identities of persons involved in corruption acts by helping them prepare their complaints and resort to the judiciary to reduce impunity rates.
