WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today joined four of his Senate colleagues in introducing a resolution recognizing Tunisia’s leadership in the Arab Spring and expressing support for upholding its democratic principles and norms. Under the country’s current President Kais Saied, Tunisia has seen a recent backslide of the democratic gains made in the years following the Arab Spring. This includes a notable increase in arrests of political opponents and critics of his Administration. 

Specifically, the resolution:

1.      Recognizes Tunisia as the symbolic birthplace of the historic Arab Spring movement and the country’s notable democratic reforms that emerged during that period;

2.      Commends the Tunisian people for their courage and democratic achievements made in the immediate years following the Arab Spring;

3.      Expresses deep concern for more recent reversals of such democratic gains, including the erosion of judicial independence; political repression and arrests; and the undemocratic consolidation of power;

4.      Urges the Government of Tunisia to release all political prisoners – including a United States citizen; to respect the rights of the people to free exercise of peaceful assembly, expression, and the press; to restore and respect the independence of electoral, judicial, and anti-corruption institutions;  

5.      Urges the Trump Administration to sanction those Tunisian officials primarily involved in repression of peaceful democratic activity.

U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) also cosponsored the bill.

Full text of the resolution is available HERE.