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Tunisia: Halt Prosecution of Prominent Activist

Accused of Inciting Hatred in a Facebook Post

(Tunis) – Tunisian authorities should drop the prosecution of a prominent activist on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights (LGBT) over a post on Facebook perceived as offensive to Islam. The counterterrorism…
Mounir Baatour, lawyer and president of Shams association, a group that defends sexual minorities.
News

Tunisia: Repressive Laws Cloud Rights Gains

Lack of a Constitutional Court Hinders Rights

(Tunis) – Tunisia still faces numerous hurdles to protecting its human rights gains nine years after Tunisians ousted the authoritarian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2020.    The…
A Tunisian woman walks past a graffiti that reads "Freedom is a daily practice" in Tunis April 26, 2011.
News

Tunisia: New Parliament’s Rights Priorities

Establishing Constitutional Court Should Top Agenda

  (Tunis) – Tunisia’s parliament should carry out a reform agenda to address ongoing human rights problems in the country, Human Rights Watch said today as the new People’s Assembly is inaugurated.    …
A general view of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People in Tunis, Tunisia, May 2016.
News

A Hopeful Speech, but Will Tunisia’s President Deliver?

Kais Saied Should Back Words with Action on Key Rights Issues

In his inaugural speech on October 23, Tunisia’s new president, Kais Saied, pledged to “honor Tunisia’s obligations under international law.” This was an unexpected turn, given his hostility towards human rights treaties during his…
Kais Saied during the sworn ceremony in Bardo, Tunis, Tunisia on October 23, 2019.
News

Tunisia: Prosecutions for Online Commentary

Repressive Laws Sap Free Expression

(Tunis) – Tunisian authorities are using laws on criminal defamation, “spreading false information,” and “harming others via public telecommunications networks” to prosecute people for their online commentary, Human Rights Watch said…
Revolutionary graffiti adorns a wall of the Prime Minister's office in Tunis, January 22, 2011.
News

Tunisia: 2 Months On, No Answers on Death in Custody

Vendor in Bouhajla Died after Dispute with Police

(Tunis) – Tunisia has not released an autopsy report on the death of a man in police custody though two months have passed, Human Rights Watch said today. Tunisian authorities should complete their investigation into the death of Abderrazek Selmi,…
Abderrazek Selmi © Private
News

Tunisia: Café Owner Jailed Over Ramadan Hours

Vague Morality Charges for Staying Open During the Day

(Tunis) – A café owner in Tunisia was convicted of publicly offending morality on May 29, 2019 for keeping his café open during Ramadan fasting hours, Human Rights Watch said today. Such prosecutions, using a vague provision that is applied sporadically…
Imed Zaghouani outside his café in Kairouan, Tunisia.
News

Tunisia: End Persecution of LGBT People

Homophobia, Transphobia Dominate Government Policies

Update: On May 20, the Court of Appeal in Tunis ruled in favor of the LGBT rights group Shams, finding that the government did not have grounds to shut the organization down. (Tunis) – Tunisia should revise its laws and…
© 2018 Human Rights Watch
News

Tunisia: Truth Commission Outlines Decades of Abuse

Identifies High-Level Suspects; Recommends Overhaul of Judiciary, Security

(Tunis) – Tunisia’s Truth and Dignity Commission on March 26, 2019 made public its five-volume report analyzing and exposing the institutional networks that enabled human rights abuses over five decades, Human Rights Watch said today.…
The first public hearing held by the Truth and Dignity Commission (TDC), at Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia on November 17, 2016.
News

Tunisia: Protester Alleges Beating, Sexual Assault

Police Dispersed Demonstration Over Health Care

(Tunis) – Tunisian authorities should investigate allegations that police beat and sexually assaulted a protester while breaking up a sit in in Tunis on March 12, 2019, Human Rights Watch said today.  Wajdi Mahouachi, 31,…
Protestors demonstrating in front of Goverment Square on March 12, 2019 in Tunis, Tunisia.
News

Tunisia: Effort to Shut Down LGBT Group

Move Comes after Court Upheld Group’s Legality

(Tunis) – The Tunisian government should halt its attempt to fight a court ruling that gave an LGBT association the right to operate, Human Rights Watch said today. The Tunis-based Shams association has vocally advocated the repeal of…
People enter the Tunis hall of justice, Friday May, 26, 2017.
News

Tunisia: Emergency Powers Bill Threatens Rights

Executive Can Impose House Arrests, Suspend Associations

(Tunis) – Tunisia’s Parliament should abandon or substantially revise a bill that would give the government sweeping powers to restrict rights during declared states of emergency, Human Rights Watch said today. The…
Riot police patrols the district of Intilaka, north of Tunis, Tunisia, Thursday Jan. 11, 2018. © 2018 Amine Landoulsi/AP Images
News

Tunisia: Citizens Testing Right-to-Information Law

Law’s Reach Depends on Enforcement

(Tunis) – Tunisia’s first freedom of information law, approaching its third anniversary, significantly advances the rights of citizens to get information from publicly funded institutions, Human Rights Watch said today. The law’s real…
The standard form for filing a request for information under Tunisia’s 2016 “Right to Access Information Law” (Law No. 2016-22).
News

Victim Lands Behind Bars in Tunisia

End ‘Sodomy’ Prosecutions, Forced Anal Examinations

  Correction/Clarification: Contrary to what Human Rights Watch initially reported, the authorities arrested and prosecuted the alleged assailants along with A.F., the complainant. The court sentenced all three on February 11…
© 2018 Human Rights Watch
News

Tunisia: Scant Help to Bring Home ISIS Members’ Children

200 Held in Squalid Camps and Prisons in Libya, Syria, Iraq

(Tunis) – Tunisian officials have been dragging their feet on helping bring home Tunisian children held without charge in foreign camps and prisons for families of Islamic State (also known as ISIS) members, Human Rights Watch said…
A woman walks with a child in Roj camp, which holds foreign wives and children of Islamic State (ISIS) members, in northeast Syria, September 2018. © 2018 Delil Souleiman/AFP/Getty Images
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Video: Children of ISIS Members Trapped in Squalid Camps and Prisons

(Tunis, February 12, 2019) – Tunisian officials have been dragging their feet on helping bring home Tunisian children held without charge in foreign camps and prisons for families of Islamic State (also known as ISIS) members, Human Rights Watch said…
News

Tunisia: Bloggers Held for Criticizing Officials

Arrests, Charges Lead to Self-Censorship

(Tunis) – Tunisian authorities are investigating, charging, and in some cases detaining bloggers and social media activists merely for their peaceful criticism of public officials, Human Rights Watch said today. Several said they have begun to…
Revolutionary graffiti adorns a wall of the Prime Minister's office in Tunis, January 22, 2011.
News

Transitional Justice in Tunisia—a Transition to What?

  January 14, the anniversary of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s 2011 ouster, is a now a national holiday in Tunisia. It is also a moment to examine how things are going in the country that ignited “the Arab…
The first public hearing held by the Truth and Dignity Commission (TDC), at Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia on November 17, 2016.