A heated debate is raging in Tunisia over the creation of a special body to monitor the current government. A group of 28 parties and organisations of various political hues on 15 February called for the establishment of the National Council for the Protection of the Revolution, 'in dedication to the principles of the revolution, so as to counter all attempts to abort the revolution and shove the country into a state of vacuum'.

ARTICLE 19 has welcomed the announcement by the new Tunisian government of the endorsement of major international commitments relating to human rights and calls on the government to swiftly proceed with these plans. 'We urge the Tunisian government to change their domestic legislation to create an enabling environment for media and civil society, in compliance with international legal standards on freedom of expression,' says Dr Agnes Callamard, ARTICLE 19 Executive Director. 'ARTICLE 19 stands ready to provide support in making such reforms a reality.'

Tunisia and Italy have agreed to work together to counter illegal immigration after thousands of people arrived on the tiny island of Lampedusa. According to Tap, Tunisia's official news agency, an agreement between Italy's foreign minister and Tunisia's interim prime minister was made late on Monday night. Under the deal, Italy will give Tunisia practical aid including a 'network of radars and fast boats that will be operated by Tunisians', the agency quoted Franco Frattini, the Italian minister, as saying.

The African National Congress (ANC) has disputed predictions by political analyst Moeletsi Mbeki that the South African government would face a Tunisia-style revolt, on the same day police fired live ammunition to disperse residents who took to the streets over poor service delivery in Mpumalanga. Mbeki predicted in an opinion piece published in Business Day that SA would face a civil revolt around 2020, when the government would no longer be in a position to sustain the welfare programmes 'it uses to placate the black poor and to get their votes'.

Italian authorities are struggling to cope with a crisis on the tiny island of Lampedusa after thousands of migrants arrived from Tunisia. A holding centre designed for 850 people is reported to be overflowing. More than 4,000 migrants are said to have arrived there in recent days.

The sustained protest in Tunisia in the wake of Mohamed Bouazizi’s immolation are far from ‘Islamist’, writes Hassania Chalbi-Drissi, and the appeal of the upheaval among ordinary people across the region has instead been the effective challenge to the ruling regime.

In the wake of the Tunisian revolution, the country's once repressed music and cultural scene is flourishing. Rappers whose songs were once banned under former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali held their first public concert on Saturday (29 January) in Tunis. 'I now started to breathe freedom and the field has now become mine,' rapper Mohamed Ben Hamada said after ascending to the stage and raising the Tunisian flag to enthusiastic applause.

Freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of the press are the big gains of Tunisia’s so-called Jasmine Revolution, according to a top Tunisian economist, writer and opposition figure. But he warns that dark days still lie ahead. 'Not even political scientists could have imagined people’s deep hunger for democracy,' says Mahmoud Ben Romdhane, author of the just published ‘Tunisie: Etat, économie et société’ and one of the keynote speakers at the 17th Maghreb Literary Fair (Maghreb des Livres).

With decentralised organising structures and the absence of a leadership vanguard, events in Egypt and Tunisia point to an emergent mode of revolutionary organisation, argues Horace Campbell, one which provides new lessons for mobilisation around progressive change and non-violence.

It’s crucial for the Ethiopian people to draw lessons from the Tunisian revolution in their struggle for freedom and democracy, writes Melakou Tegegn, as similar events could ‘take place in our country too sooner or later.’

In the wake of the ousting of entrenched Tunisian president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, Horace Campbell reflects on events in the country, regional implications and the inspirational example of the Tunisian people in organising for a new future.

Tunisia has issued an international arrest warrant for ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his family, the nation's justice minister has said. Lazhar Karoui Chebbi said the interim government had asked members states to work via Interpol to detain Mr Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia on 14 January. Mr Chebbi said Mr Ben Ali was accused of illegally acquiring property and assets and transferring funds abroad.

Amnesty International has revealed disturbing new evidence of the brutal methods used by Tunisian security forces to try to quell anti-Government protests in recent weeks. An Amnesty International research team which has just returned from Tunisia found that security forces used disproportionate force to disperse protesters and in some cases fired on fleeing protesters and bystanders. Doctors' testimonies seen by the Amnesty International research team show that some protesters in Kasserine and Thala were shot from behind, indicating that they were fleeing. Others in Kasserine, Thala, Tunis and Regueb were killed by single shots to the chest or head, suggesting deliberate intent to kill.

Samir Amin discusses the Tunisian uprising and the country’s prospects for building ‘a democratic government supported by the people’, in an interview with Aydinlik Magazine.

In this interview from The Real News Network, Samer Shehata answers questions about the impact of leaked diplomatic cables on the Arab world.

Books which were banned under the Ben Ali regime are now beginning to be available in book stores in Tunis. Librairie el-Kitab in Tunis is now working to establish contacts with publishers to provide books for free to intellectuals and commentators in the country as part of the effort to establish a new democratic Tunisia.

Tunisia's waves of political change seem on the verge of drenching unsuspecting old despots across the North African region, says Gado.

In renewed demonstrations against Tunisia's government, thousands marched from Sidi Bouzid to downtown Tunis on Sunday (23 January), seeking the removal of Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi's interim administration. The 'Caravan of Liberation', which left Sidi Bouzid on Saturday, was just the latest in a wave of demonstrations protesting the continued presence of members of former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's regime.

Tunisia’s former president Zine Abbedine Ben Ali has fled following popular uprising, but will he simply be replaced by another ruling elite, asks Dennis Sammut.

With mounting protests forcing President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country, the Tunisian people's toppling of a deeply unpopular regime may well 'become a watershed date in the modern history of the Arab World', writes Esam al-Amin. Once a key regional ally of Western governments, Ben Ali's fall from grace has been precipitated by an extraordinary wave of sustained protest. Time will tell if the 'Tunisian revolution' attains lasting change and success, al-Amin concludes.