'Tunisia's Ancient Heritage Faces Negligence, Corruption'

The chaotic, vulnerable status of Tunisia’s heritage years after the fall of a government infamous for using the nation’s legacy for personal ends is discussed in a Tunisia Live article by Afef Abrougui ('Negligence, Corruption Threaten Tunisia’s Heritage Sites' Tunisia Live 4 April 2014). The current security of the remains of Tunisia’s long history is questioned. This has a long history:

Last December, Tunisian authorities arrested nine people in Siliana selling archeological artifacts. The items, including ancient coins, jewelry, and stone jars, had been stolen from the Hammamet villa of Sakher el-Materi, the famously affluent son-in-law of ousted president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, in January 2011. The Gorgon mask, stolen from Algeria in 1996, was among other antiquities found in el-Materi’s villa. Tunisia is set to return the mask to Algeria next week, the Ministry of Culture announced on Thursday. Among other crimes attributed with his regime, Ben Ali’s family regularly engaged in the pillaging of antiquities. His wife and daughter reportedly used museum artifacts to decorate their villas. Other members of his extended family were also involved in the smuggling of antiquities. “Families close to the ruling regime, under Bourguiba and Ben Ali, were involved in this kind of smuggling,” Youssef Cherif, a blogger and a specialist in ancient history and archaeology, wrote on Huffpost Maghreb last November.“It is always the workers and the guards at the sites who get caught by the law. The major [players] always get away.” 

In wake of regime-sponsored looting, Tunisia's ancient heritage now faces other problems due to negligence and corruption, which feeds the market with illegal antiquities.

“After the 14th of January, the phenomenon grew. The big families fell but the local networks remained the same, attracting international gangs to profit from political instability,” Cherif wrote. The prevalence of bribery and pervasive negligence of the authorities threaten the safety of artifacts now. “Customs officers do not care about artifacts,” Cherif said. “Or they might think that they are craftwork.” [...]  “Robberies on sites are taking place on a daily basis,” Adnane Louhichi, head of the National Heritage Institute, told Radio Express FM last November. “Gangs undertake illegitimate and random excavations in the isolated areas of Tunisia.” Because authorities are overstretched, archaeological sites have seen increased theft, Cherif said. Louhichi agrees, saying Tunisia’s “rich heritage” makes it hard for authorities to “exercise control” over all sites [...] On several occasions Cherif witnessed first-hand the pillaging of archeological sites in Carthage, he said. Last February, he posted a series of photos depicting what he says is a looted Punic-era tomb. “The authorities on their own cannot fix this problem,” Cherif told Tunisia Live. “The solution is in the hands of society as a whole, and citizens should report looting incidents to the authorities.”

The flourishing of civil society after the revolution has led to the establishment of archaeological associations that aim to preserve Tunisia’s rich history. One example is discussed in the article. 'Atlel for the Protection of Archeological Sites in Degache', a town located in near Tozeur in southwestern Tunisia. Sites there are under the threat of construction and farming activities. The association collaborates with INP to conduct excavations for an inventory of archaeological sites, monuments, and artefacts.