Forever Tunisia

3. Hector-Egypt
They are in need of a true leader who cares about people and their opinions. Many rights have been violated because of the corruption in the "government". This has led to protests and it has to stop!

4. Natalia-Dominican Republic
There is so much poverty! The unsanitary conditions people live in is incredible. They have also suffered natural disasters and need our help to survive.

5. Geordaliz-Bangladesh
Reading through your blog I have realized how lucky I am to live how I live and it makes me sad that nothing has been actually done to help this. Women rights are violated and it makes me angry to know that this still happens. Something has to be done quickly.

6. Giovanni-Cuba
For many years has Cuba been a dictatorship and I think it is time for them to experience a democracy and have their human rights respected.

7. Paola Cruz-Somalia
People are being severely punished in Somalia and something has to be done about it. They need a new government that will treat people how they should be treated.

8. Roberto-Brazil 
The human right to be treated as a human has been violated. People are being tortured!

9. Wilson-Afghanistan
There is a lot of discrimination and violence in Afghanistan. I believe this country to change needs your help to survive.

10. Natalia Sanchez-China
The Chinese government has to open their minds! They have to think outside the box. Having so many restrictions is not good.

Now that we know how the human rights in Tunisia have been violated, we can come to a conclusion about what should be done for the country. First of all, there should not be any corruption in the government whatsoever. When voting, people's right to vote have to be taken in consideration. If people desire to change the ruler of the country and want to vote and/or express their opinion about the government, let them. They have the right to freedom of speech. If they do protest, do not kill them. Listen to their thoughts. Violence is not the key to having a problem-free nation. Protests should be in a peaceful manner but when people have protested for a while and still no change has been made, they will protest even harder. Remember that protesting like this is an act of courage. They want to change the government, knowing that the government has the power and deaths may occur. This should not happen! Nobody should take another person's life away. Ben Ali ruled for 23 years. It is time for him to step out. They have a reason to protest and they should be heard!

People should not be unemployed in any part of the world. Tunisia's unemployment rate has been among the highest in the world for almost two decades. This is one of the reasons for which Tunisians have been protesting. I think that if somehow there is unemployment, they should receive some type of assistance or motivation to work hard and to somehow, sometime be able to have employment. It is unbelievable!

What Tunisians need right now, is a good leader. They practically need a new constitution, a government that will respect the people's rights and listen to what they have to say. Tunisians need a ruler that will respect their right to life and not kill its people because they are expressing themselves. People need jobs! They need money! They need peace! They need to overcome poverty and unemployment with hope. Donations to the country are needed! Tunisia certainly needs to improve their living. Tunisians need to seek for a higher standard of living.

Tunisia needs a change! If Tunisia's government cannot provide them with what they need, they have to look somewhere else. Search for help in other countries! Please, help to stop the abuse of human rights. Help to stop the government from taking advantage of the people. Help to stop violence and deaths. This is a big step  to get the peace they need. They need your country to help!

Youth in Tunisia are protesting for basic human rights, including freedom of speech, their right to life, fair voting rights, and also the right to employment. Protests began on December of 2010; people are angry at the existing living conditions, unemployment and corruption. What is happening in Tunisia is not yet considered to be a revolution because a revolution is based on the fundamental change of power structures. In Tunisia, what was done was an instant removal of the power in the government. People in Tunisia are making additional efforts to make the change. This so called "revolution" was an amazing act of courage by the people of Tunisia. The people of Tunisia want Ben Ali to leave because he has already ruled Tunisia for 23 years and people do not consider it fair. They are using the human rights they have to make this possible, although it has been made difficult for them. The security forces are restricting their rights to freedom of speech, fair voting rights, and also the right to live. Violence has been practiced during these events. People have been brutally attacked and also abused physically and psychologically. After all the people have been experiencing during the past time, they reached their goal which was to make Ben Ali leave. Ben Ali left or in other words "ran away" from the situation. The people of Tunisia are referring to this as the start of a new era. Tunisia will hold an election on July 24th to choose an assembly to write a new post-revolution constitution.

Human rights should be respected always. People should care about what is happening because if this is left to pass by, it will become a bigger problem. If this gets spread around the world, many people could die. It's horrible to see that the powerful people in nations violate people's human rights. People should be heard! People should express what they think! The right to freedom of speech should be respected. How can they restrict such thing? Corruption should not be accepted. People give the confidence to the people in power and they take advantage of their power. Voting rights are very important and should be fair. People also have a right to life that should be respected as well. They have to be able to vote and the people's votes should be considered as a priority when deciding who the leader of the country will be.

For more information, check out: Tunisia: Protests Tunisia: Violence Tunisia: New Era

In the 12th century B.C., Tunisia was settled by the Phoenicians. Carthage, a great city-state that dominated much of the western Mediterranean during the sixth and fifth centuries, then was led to complete destruction by the three Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage. Carthage was part of the Roman Empire until the Arab conquest of 648-669. Then, it was ruled by the Arab and Berber dynasties, followed by the Turks, who took it in 1570-1574 and made part of the Ottoman Empire until the 19th century. In 1881, French troops occupied Tunisia, and the bey. In 1956, nationalist agitation forced France to recognize Tunisian independence.

On July 25, 1957, the bey was oust from position by the constituent assembly. Tunisia was declared a republic and Habib Bourguiba was elected as president. He earned enemies because of the pro-Western foreign policy that he maintained.

In 1987, Bourguiba was declared mentally unfit to continue as president of Tunisia and was removed from office. He was succeeded by Gen. Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, whose tenure has been marked by repression, a poor human rights record, the rise in Islamic fundamentalism, and growing anti-Western sentiments among the populace. Ben Ali was reelected in October 1999 with 99% of the vote in an election criticized by many human rights observers. In May 2000 Ben Ali's Constitutional Democratic Assembly Party swept local elections with 92& of the vote, in a contest many opposition leaders boycotted. However, Tunisia's economy continued to improve in the late 1990s, making the country one of the most attractive in Aftica for foreign investors. In May 2002, a referendum passed that ended the three-term limit for the presidency. It permitted Ben Ali, who has served as president for more than 15 years, to run for two or more terms. Opposition parties protested. In October 2004, the president was reelected with 94% of the vote. Ali won a fifth term in October 2009 taking 89.6% of the vote.

When President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali came into office in 1987, about 22 percent of the Tunisian population was living below the poverty line, impelling him to declare an all-out war on poverty in his inaugural speech. In 1992 he created the National Solidarity Fund whose goal was to promote 1,144 disadvantaged regions throughout the country, at an estimated cost of US$500 million. Since 1996, more than US$300 million has already been raised. Created in 1998, the Tunisian Solidarity Bank has also offered thousands of loans of very small amounts to help get a small business started called micro-credit loans, to young graduates and small business owners. Currently, 6% of the population who are under the poverty line receive heavy subsidies, financial assistances, from the government.

Health specialists have begun warning of an increase in the obesity rate among children and middle-aged people in Tunisia. This obesity causes illness such as diabetes and high blood pressure, which in turn lead to heart and kidney diseases and cancer. Obesity can also contribute to incidents of sexual disorders in men. Tunisia has has seen one of the world's greatest increases in obesity among women. Nutritionists recommend a daily regimen of walking, and meals based on what they call the Mediterranean diet, based on fish, fresh vegetables, and whole wheat and olive oil, all of which are available in abundance in Tunisia.




Read more about Tunisia: Tunisia: History, U.S. Department of State, Tunisia: History