Refusing to Forgive: Tunisia's Maneesh M'sameh Campaign

In 2015, Tunisia's President Beji Caid Essebsi proposed a draft economic reconciliation law to forgive graft and other corrupt acts committed by civil servants and businessmen under the regime of ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in exchange for closed-door confessions and return of ill-gotten gains. Such economic crimes were a major trigger of the 2010-2011 protests that led to the Tunisian revolution - and Essebsi's bill provoked a powerful response, a campaign called Maneesh M'sameh (I Will Not Forgive). The campaign's initial goal was to protect the integrity of investigations of economic crimes by the Truth and Dignity Commission (L'Instance Vérité et Dignité), created in the summer of 2014. Maneesh M'sameh has gone on to spark debate about the meaning of truth and reconciliation. It has also brought to the fore lingering issues of corruption and structural inequality. On April 29, 2017, the movement called for protests of Parliament's decision to reconsider a third version of the draft law. The large demonstrations drew the rank and file of opposition political parties and other critics of the controversial bill. In an interview, Wassim Sghayr, the Maneesh M'sameh coordinator, and Hamza Abidi, a young Maneesh M'sameh member, discuss the campaign.