The InterDependent

Tunisia has become the first North African country to join the International Criminal Court, the 116th nation in the world to do so.

Membership in the court could raise the possibility that the country, which originated the Arab Spring uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East, could have criminal charges brought against its former dictator, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, if certain court conditions are met by the Tunisian government. Ben Ali and his wife, Leila Trabelsi, who both fled Tunisia during the revolts, were recently convicted in absentia by the government for theft and other crimes, fined $65 million and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

After Tunisia’s transitional government took over after Ben Ali left, the country wanted to show the international community that it wanted to become a respectable country, so joining the International Criminal Court helped demonstrate Tunisia’s commitment to bringing democracy to the region. Tunisia is also working on writing a constitution and preparing for elections in October.

“This is important for the court because many countries in most regions of the world have joined the court, but that’s not the case in the Middle East,” said John L. Washburn, the convener for the American NGO Coalition for the International Criminal Court, based in New York and a former UNA-USA program. “Tunisia may have started a process of more countries in the Middle East ratifying the Rome Statute” – the court’s governing treaty – “and that would help make the court more and more universal. The Middle East is also a very important area and it’s a disadvantage not to have members there.”

Rick Bajornas/UN Photo

Christian Wenaweser, president of the Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court, briefed reporters on Tunisia’s accession to the Rome Statute, the court's governing treaty. Tunisia is aiming to legitimatize itself in the international community.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon praised Tunisia for deciding to join the court. “This significant step is particularly important in light of the fundamental changes that have occurred in Tunisia this year, it brings us closer to a true age of accountability,” said Ban.

The lack of representation from Middle Eastern and Asian countries in the court, however, has pushed the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, a nongovernmental group of 2,500 civil society organizations in 150 countries that support the court, to continue to find ways to promote membership in the institution.

“Ratifying the Rome Statute has become the global symbol of a country’s commitment to fight impunity and its commitment to rule of law around the world,” Christian Wenaweser, president of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute and ambassador of Liechtenstein to the UN, said in a statement.

Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo

Secretary-General Ban meets Beji Caid-Essebsi, prime minister of Tunisia, in Tunis. Caid-Essebsi is the country's first prime minister since the January 2011 ouster of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.

Ben Ali ruled Tunisia for 23 years as a police state, sowing fears of repression and intolerance among its population and fostering corruption in the uppermost levels of his regime. But in December, when a small-town fruit vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi had his business seized by a police officer, he set himself on fire to protest the humiliation, essentially lighting the blaze of revolt that has burned throughout the region ever since.