TUNIS — Like many of his fellow torture victims, Sami Brahim, a former political prisoner, did not expect much when he testified at the opening of Tunisia’s Truth and Dignity Commission in November.

But to his surprise, he stirred up a storm.

Thousands of letters and messages poured in from rapt Tunisians. He spent two weeks replying to them all. They are still coming. The next day, two of his torturers walked in to the commission and owned up to their crimes.

In eight hearings over five months, the commission has opened a Pandora’s box of emotions for Tunisians. After long averting their gaze from past horrors, Tunisians are now digging deep into the dirt. Even former President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali has been watching the proceedings from exile in Saudi Arabia, according to his lawyer.

Tunisia’s effort, wrenching as it is, may stand as the one bright spot in a region where the promise of the Arab Spring — for democracy and accountability — has been blunted in country after country: new authoritarianism in Egypt, civil war in Syria, chaos in Libya.