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Tunisia Human Rights
Tunisia has made progress in respecting human rights since the toppling of dictator Zine el Abidine Ben Ali in 2011. Nonetheless, Tunisian authorities have continued to renew the state of emergency and used it to justify imposing arbitrary restrictions on freedom of movement. Torture and other ill-treatment of detainees continued in an environment of impunity. Police carried out arbitrary arrests and house raids without judicial warrants. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people were arrested and prosecuted for consensual same-sex sexual relations. Prosecutions of peaceful protesters increased in several regions.
Amnesty is campaigning to end these restrictions of movement and other human rights violations and is pressuring the government to ensure the continuation of independent processes for holding perpetrators of past human rights violations accountable.
Good News
Judge says government’s implementation of S17 is unlawful
6 November 2018
Responding to the news that Tunis’ Administrative Court spokesperson has stated that border control measures imposed on thousands of people in the name of security, known as S17 measures, should be considered illegal, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Director Heba Morayef said:
“Yesterday’s statement from judge Imed Ghabri, spokesperson of the Administrative Court finally acknowledges that the arbitrary and discriminatory manner in which S17 travel restrictions are often imposed is unlawful. This is a significant step forward for all those who have campaigned against the way S17 measures are being applied.
“This assessment echoes Amnesty International’s own findings, which indicate that S17 measures are being imposed without judicial oversight and violating hundreds of people’s human rights. Decisions to restrict people’s travel should not be left to the discretion of the Ministry of Interior without judicial approval.
“Tunisian authorities should put this statement into practice by lifting all arbitrary travel restrictions and ensuring any restrictions on freedom of movement are in line with international and Tunisian laws.”
Relevant Links
Tunisia Newsroom
April 2, 2020 • Press Release
Authorities in Tunisia Should Reduce Number of Detainees During COVID-19 Crisis
The Tunisian authorities must urgently consider reducing the number of people detained for breaching emergency health measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Amnesty International warned today.
December 9, 2019 • Press Release
Generation Z Ranks Climate Change Highest as Vital Issue of our Time in Amnesty International Survey
Climate change leads as one of the most important issues facing the world, according to a major new survey of young people published by Amnesty International today to mark Human Rights Day.
February 26, 2019 • Report
Human rights in the Middle East and North Africa: A review of 2018
The international community’s chilling complacency towards wide-scale human rights violations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has emboldened governments to commit appalling violations during 2018 by giving them the sense that they need never fear facing justice, said Amnesty International as it published a review of human rights in the region last year. …
October 24, 2018 • Report
Tunisia: Arbitrary and abusive travel restrictions breach human rights
Travel restrictions introduced by the Tunisian authorities in the name of security are being imposed in an often arbitrary, sweeping and discriminatory manner flouting basic human rights, said Amnesty International in a report today. Since 2013, Tunisia’s Ministry of Interior has restricted the movement of nearly 30,000 people under secretive border control measures known as …
March 17, 2016 • Press Release
Tunisia: Severe restrictions on liberty and movement latest symptoms of repressive emergency law
As Tunisia prepares to extend a nationwide state of emergency on 22 March, Amnesty International has highlighted the government’s disproportionate and repressive use of emergency laws to trample on human rights.
February 22, 2016 • Press Release
Amnesty International’s Annual State of the World Report Slams Governments, Including the U.S., for Global Assault on Freedoms
On the launch of its 2015 State of the World report, Amnesty International USA urged President Obama to use his last year in office to bring U.S. laws and policies in line with international human rights standards.
February 18, 2016 • Report
Amnesty International State of the World 2015-2016
International protection of human rights is in danger of unravelling as short-term national self-interest and draconian security crackdowns have led to a wholesale assault on basic freedoms and rights, warned Amnesty International as it launched its annual assessment of human rights around the world. “Your rights are in jeopardy: they are being treated with utter contempt by many governments around the world,” said Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
February 18, 2016 • Press Release
Your rights in jeopardy, global assault on freedoms, warns Amnesty International
International protection of human rights is in danger of unravelling as short-term national self-interest and draconian security crackdowns have led to a wholesale assault on basic freedoms and rights, warned Amnesty International as it launched its annual assessment of human rights around the world. “Your rights are in jeopardy: they are being treated with utter contempt by many governments around the world,” said Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
January 13, 2016 • Press Release
Evidence of torture and deaths in custody in Tunisia suggest human rights gains of the uprising are sliding into reverse gear
New evidence of deaths in custody and torture collected by Amnesty International suggests that brutal repression is on the rise again in Tunisia exactly five years after the toppling of the previous authoritarian regime by the “Jasmine Revolution”, which sparked a wave of uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa.
December 17, 2015 • Press Release
Five years after the tragedy that sparked an uprising, human rights remain at risk in Tunisia and beyond
Five years since fruit-seller Mohamed Bouazizi sparked wide-ranging protests in Tunisia and the wider region after setting himself alight in protest at police harassment in the town of Sidi Bouzid, ongoing human rights violations across the region are increasingly reminiscent of repressive and abusive measures of the past, Amnesty International warned today.