Press Release
In Gabes: An Environmental and Humanitarian Disaster... And a Collective Punishment Against Generations

The city of Gabes is hit by a grave disaster, its breath is suffocated by a slow death due to the environmental crisis caused by emissions from the industrial chemical complex.

Meanwhile, the residents continue to wait for a governor who has not come to end the devastating damage to their lives. Instead, a convoy of security units arrived, suppressing the peaceful, mass marches of children, women, and the elderly, confronting them with tear gas!

The police also arrested more than 70 people during the night hours of Friday, and the number increased by dawn. Some were taken from their homes, according to Khair Eddine Dabiya, a member of the "Stop Pollution" campaign. Some were referred for prosecution, while others were imprisoned. The protesters' demands shifted from stopping pollution to releasing the detainees!

In light of these developments, we, in the Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir / Wilayah of Tunisia, affirm the following:

1- The protesters' demands to dismantle and close polluting industrial units are legitimate demands that the authorities must comply with immediately. The decision to dismantle the units was issued in 2017, and the local council in Gabes had previously warned that these units pose a direct threat to life.

2- The use of violence and arrests will only exacerbate the situation and once again expose the disability of our rulers and their usurpation of sovereignty when it comes to the most basic duties of care. They are quick to use the stick of authority and deny people their legitimate rights to a dignified life.

O Our People of Green Tunisia:

The filth that fills our surroundings is the natural product of a greedy capitalist system whose sole concern is profit and increased production. What is happening today in Gabes is no exception, it is an example of the pollution caused by fossil gas in Kairouan, nuclear waste in Douz, the garbage problem in Sfax, and the green hydrogen projects in the foreseeable future.

The environmental problem can only be radically resolved under the leadership of the Khilafah Rashidah (Rightly-Guided Caliphate) on the method of Prophethood. This state possesses its own decisions, regulates its actions according to the principles of Islamic law, fears Allah in dealing with its people and its land, and cuts off the hand of colonialism by abolishing international agreements that perpetuate dependency, plunder wealth, and exploit resources at the expense of our children and our surroundings. It was narrated from Abu Dharr that the Prophet (saw) said: «عُرِضَتْ عَلَيَّ أُمَّتِي بِأَعْمَالِهَا حَسَنِهَا وَسَيِّئِهَا فَرَأَيْتُ فِي مَحَاسِنِ أَعْمَالِهَا الأَذَى يُنَحَّى عَنِ الطَّرِيقِ وَرَأَيْتُ فِي سَيِّئِ أَعْمَالِهَا النُّخَاعَةَ فِي الْمَسْجِدِ لاَ تُدْفَنُ»“My Ummah was shown to me with their good deeds and bad deeds. Among their good deeds I saw a harmful thing being removed from the road. And among their bad deeds I saw sputum in the mosque that had not been removed.”

Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir
in Wilayah Tunisia