Human rights in Tunisia

Member State of the African Union The issue of human rights in Tunisia, is complex, contradictory, and, in some regards, confusing in the wake of the Tunisian revolution that began in January 2011 and overthrew the longstanding rule of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

The situation remains in a state of flux, with different observers providing virtually irreconcilable accounts of the current status of human rights in that country.

[2] A U.S. State Department report, issued in April 2011, depicts the status of human rights in that country on the eve of the revolution, citing "restrictions on freedom of speech, press and association", the "severe" intimidation of journalists, reprisals against critical of the government, questionable conduct of elections, and reports of arbitrary arrest, widespread corruption, official extortion, government influence over the judiciary, extremely poor prison conditions, and the abuse and torture of detainees and prisoners, involving a wide range of torture methods.

[3] Although the principal cause of the revolt was a frustration over the country's dire economic situation, many leaders of the revolution were longtime human-rights activists and many participants shared their hope of replacing autocracy with a democratic government and a civil society in which human rights were respected.

As Christopher de Bellaigue noted in an article posted at the New York Review of Books website on December 18, 2012, Tunisia's new constitution is, "give or take a few vague references to Islam, strikingly secular.

)"[4] The revolution initiated what Amnesty International has described as "a wholesale process of reform" under which "political prisoners, including prisoners of conscience, were released; legal restrictions on political parties and NGOs were eased; the Department of State Security (DSS), notorious for torturing detainees with impunity, was dissolved; Tunisia became party to additional international human rights treaties; and a new National Constituent Assembly was elected with a mandate to draft and agree a new Constitution.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Truth, Justice, Reparations and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence, Pablo de Greiff, urged Tunisian authorities in November 2012 to put human rights front and center in their transitional efforts.

Marzouki admitted that security officials need to undergo a radical change of mindset, while Speaker of the National Constituent Assembly Mustapha Ben Jaafar expressed thanks for the help given to the new regime by a number of human rights organisations.

To be sure, secularists and Islamists exert themselves to ensure that their view of the world carries the day, but I have spoken to hard-liners in both camps who accept that, for as long as the majority opposes them, compromise is inevitable.

"[13] The Tunisian regime has been criticised for its draconian policy on recreational drug use, for instance, issuing automatic 1-year prison sentences for consuming cannabis.

[15] The Amnesty International reported that high-profile Tunisian journalists, parliamentarians, and other political figures, including critics and perceived opponents of President Kais Saied have been targeted for opposing the government.

President Saied repeatedly attacked the independence of the judiciary, and granted himself broad powers to intervene in the appointment and dismissal of judges and prosecutors.

"[20] Before the revolution, according to Freedom House, Tunisia's judiciary "was carefully managed by the executive branch, which controlled the appointment and assignment of judges.

Trials of suspected Islamists, human rights activists, and journalists were typically condemned as grossly unfair and politically biased by domestic and international observers."

"Hygiene was extremely poor, and prisoners rarely had access to showers and washing facilities," according to a U.S. State Department report issued in early 2011.

Defamation of recognized religions also remains a crime, as does "distributing false information", a charge on which the pre-revolutionary government prosecuted dissidents and human rights activists.

The situation soon turned into a fight and several people were injured [33] Ghayda Jeanne Thabet, a communication officer of a minority support group, explained to reporters after the attack "This is not the first time that such a racist assault takes place in Tunisia; it happens often," [33] The Tunisian Government denies that racism exists within the country and yet studies have proven otherwise.

The Revolution was a huge civil rights push that ended up removing the current president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and creating a democratic state with free elections.

Association for Equality and Development (ADAM) and Minorités, and M’nemty all held marches, events, seminars and protest trying to win the support of the public and Tunisian government officials.

[37] In January 2018, Prime Minister Youssef Chahed publicly supported the creation of a draft to criminalize racism by either adding to Articles 21, 25, and 47, or creating an entirely new law altogether.

[39] The event did little more than spark interest, but on Christmas Eve 2016, a racially motivated knife attack in a train station which left three black students wounded provided more reason for people to demand an anti-racism law from the government.

[41] Messaoud Romdhani, head of the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, compared the passing of the law equivalent in value to the abolition of slavery in improving the country and daily lives of its citizens.

For example, the Council of Ministers decided to withdraw Tunisia's reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, though the government suggested "it might not implement reforms that conflict with Islam."

[28] As one observer has noted, in Tunis, unlike many cities in the Muslim world, "unmarried young men and women mingle openly together in coffee shops and restaurants.

The proposed law, which would be incorporated into other legislation and government policies, would introduce sweeping definitions of gender-based violence, covering psychological and economic harm in both the public and domestic spheres.

"While the fall of Ben Ali has afforded a greater space to free expression, not all Tunisian homosexuals are convinced things are headed in the right direction," reported the Tunisia Live website in January 2012.

[48] "Homosexuals in Tunisia celebrated the ouster of dictator Ben Ali, hoping it would improve their situation," noted Deutsche Welle in November 2012, "But in nearly two years, little has changed for the country's gay and lesbian community."

[24][50] In August 2012, a gay Italian tourist identified as Angelo was murdered in the Tunisian resort town of Hammamet by a local who stabbed him 10 times.

"[24][51] Michael Lucas, referring in The Advocate in December 2012 to the closeted gay life of pre-revolutionary Tunisia, claimed that the situation "has gotten even darker in the past two years.

Laws against homosexual activity were rarely enforced under Ben Ali, a pro-Western military leader whose regime helped insulate Tunisia from the rising tide of religious fanaticism that has engulfed much of the Muslim world.