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The Middle East's Women Are Championing Their Own Change

Despite setbacks for women’s rights around the globe in 2017, some of the most exciting reforms and positive momentum emerged from the Middle East and North Africa. Tunisian women have new protections against violence. Migrant domestic workers in…
Demonstration outside Parliament on December 6, 2016, with women in white dresses and wrapped in bandages, calling for the repeal of article 522 of the penal code.
News

Tunisian Police Shut Down Dissent

LGBT and Secular Protestors Targeted

When Tunisian police shut down a planned demonstration on January 27, they claimed they did it for the protesters’ safety. “We had information that they were going to be targeted,” said an interior ministry spokesperson, according to…
Tunisian and rainbow flags were raised at a march against terrorism during the World Social Forum in Tunis, March 2015.
News

Tunisia: Abusive Treatment During Protests

Investigate Abuse by Police; End Prosecutions for Criticism of Government

(Tunis) – In trying to quell the social protests that gripped much of Tunisia during January 2018, police sometimes beat those arrested and denied their right to a lawyer under Tunisian law, Human Rights Watch said. They also arrested some people for…
Police officers fire tear gas to break up a protest during demonstrations against rising prices and tax increases, in Tunis, Tunisia, January 10, 2018.
News

Tunisia: Parliament Member Prosecuted for Insulting Army

Military Courts Shouldn’t Try Civilians

  (Tunis, January 23, 2018) – A Tunisian blogger who recently won election to parliament is facing two military court trials for criticizing the army and its top brass on social media, Human Rights Watch said today. …
Tunisian protesters stand outside a military court in Tunis as they demonstrate in support of blogger Yassine Ayari during his appeal hearing on March 3, 2015.
News

Top 5 Reforms Middle East Governments Can Make in 2018

Respond to Youth Demands, Gain Respect in the World

(Beirut) – Middle East and North Africa (MENA) governments can respond to the popular demands of the region’s youth for reform by implementing five changes in 2018 to arbitrary, outdated legal systems that infringe upon citizens’ rights and liberties,…
Demonstration outside Parliament on December 6, 2016, with women in white dresses and wrapped in bandages, calling for the repeal of article 522 of the penal code.
News

Tunisia: Slow Reform Pace Undermines Rights

Regressive Laws Adopted; No Action to Create Constitutional Court

  (Tunis) – Tunisia stalled during 2017 on reforming repressive laws and establishing key institutions to protect human rights, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing its World Report 2018. While progress was made on…
Tunisians demonstrate against a bill that would protect those accused of corruption from prosecution on Habib Bourguiba Avenue in Tunis, Tunisia, May 13, 2017. © 2017 REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
News

Global Medical Body Condemns Forced Anal Exams

Doctors Worldwide Should Halt Abusive ‘Homosexuality Tests’

  (Nairobi, October 17, 2017) – Doctors, medical professionals, and national medical associations should heed the World Medical Association’s October 2017 resolution to end forced anal examinations on people…
A medical report filled out by a doctor in Kampala, Uganda, after conducting a forced anal examination on a man suspected of consensual same-sex conduct.
News

New Reconciliation Law Threatens Tunisia’s Democracy

On Sept. 13, the Tunisian parliament adopted a law that could threaten its hard-won fledgling democracy. The “administrative reconciliation law” will grant complete impunity to civil servants who were implicated in corruption under former dictator Zine El…
A Tunisian woman holds up a flag during a march to celebrate International Women's Day in Tunis March 8, 2014. © 2014 Reuters
News

Beginning of End for Forced Anal Exams

Tunisia and Kenya Move to Consign Discredited Medical Procedure to History Books

It’s shocking that in 2017 people are still subjected to forced anal testing to try to “prove” their sexual orientation. But Tunisia and Kenya are the latest countries to take steps toward ending these archaic and abusive exams,…
Poster by Shams, a Tunisian activist group, condemning the use of forced anal exams.
News

Important steps taken, but human rights violations continue in Tunisia

Item 6 UPR adoption

Tunisians now enjoy their human rights to a greater extent than they did under President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, whom they ousted in 2011. Since 2011, they have adopted a new constitution, held free and fair legislative and presidential elections, and…
A general view of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People in Tunis, Tunisia, May 2016.
News

One Step Forward, One Step Back in Tunisia

Progress on Women’s Rights; Regression on Justice

On September 14, Tunisia took a step forward by abolishing a 1973 Ministry of Justice directive prohibiting marriage between a Tunisian woman and a non-Muslim man. But the news wasn’t all good this week – a day earlier parliament…
A Tunisian woman holds up a flag during a march to celebrate International Women's Day in Tunis March 8, 2014. © 2014 Reuters
News

Middle East on a Roll to Repeal 'Marry the Rapist' Laws

Rape-marriage exoneration laws are relics of the colonial past. It's time to leave them there.

In recent weeks, the Tunisian, Jordanian, and Lebanese parliaments have repealed provisions in their penal codes that allowed rapists to escape punishment by marrying their victims. Provisions like these, largely colonial-era relics, remain on the books…
Demonstration outside Parliament on December 6, 2016, with women in white dresses and wrapped in bandages, calling for the repeal of article 522 of the penal code.
News

Tunisia: Landmark Step to Shield Women from Violence

New Law Offers Protection, but Needs Funding

(Tunis) – The law on violence against women, including domestic violence, approved by the Tunisian parliament on July 26, 2017, is a landmark step for women’s rights, Human Rights Watch said today. Tunisian authorities should…
A Tunisian woman holds up a flag during a march to celebrate International Women's Day in Tunis March 8, 2014. © 2014 Reuters
News

Draft Law Could Return Tunisia to a Police State

Parliament Should Reject Abusive Security Bill

Since the fall of the government of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, Tunisia's nascent democracy has made great strides. These include the adoption of a new constitution, greater media freedom, and free and democratic…
A general view of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People in Tunis, Tunisia, May 2016.
News

Tunisia: From Victims to Accused

Offense of “Insulting the Police” Used as a Retaliation Against Citizens

(Tunis) – Tunisians who complain or question police conduct may find themselves facing retaliatory charges of insulting the police, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch has documented a pattern of cases against people who filed a…
Demonstrators hold flares during a demonstration against a bill that would protect those accused of corruption from prosecution on Habib Bourguiba Avenue in Tunis, Tunisia, May 13, 2017.
News

Tunisia: Secret Detentions Mar Anti-Corruption Effort

Businessman Faces Military Trial, 7 Others Held Incommunicado

(Tunis) – The referral of a businessman to trial before a military court, and the incommunicado detention of seven other men in undisclosed locations, is a threat to human rights in Tunisia, Human Rights Watch said today. …
A picture taken on October 31, 2014 in Tunis shows Tunisian businessman Chafik Jarraya arriving for a meeting in Tunis.
News

States should protect LGBTI persons from violence and discrimination; Philippines should cooperate with UN executions mandate

Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions

We welcome the first report of the Independent Expert on SOGI-related violence and discrimination. We recognize that some States opposed creation of the mandate, but are encouraged that it was reaffirmed by the General Assembly with support from all UN…
Delegates arrive for the 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, February 27, 2017.
News

The Law That Could be the Final Blow to Tunisia’s Transition

Six years after the fall of the Ben Ali regime in Tunisia, transitional justice is going through hard times. Impunity for human rights violations persists. The most senior officials responsible for the repression have escaped…
Tunisians demonstrate against a bill that would protect from prosecution those accused of corruption, on Habib Bourguiba Avenue in Tunis, Tunisia April 29, 2017. The sign reads "No. We will not forgive."
News

‘Consent’ or No, Anal Testing in Tunisia Must Go

At an evaluation of Tunisia’s human rights record before the United Nations Human Rights Council on May 2, the government was taken to task for criminalizing consensual sex between adults of the same sex and forcing people accused of homosexuality to…
Poster by Shams, a Tunisian activist group, condemning the use of forced anal exams.