Articles for Tunisia

On 26 June, several Tunisian human rights organisations launched a series of events to defend the right to life and human dignity as well as to fight torture in the country on the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture under the slogan "No to torture!" 

On 21 April 2023, Alkarama submitted its contribution to the draft general comment of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) on Article 4 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT).

On 12 April 2023, Alkarama, the Tunisian Association of Victims of Torture (AVTT) and Mr. BHIRI's lawyer Kilani Abdarrazak addressed the UN Special Rapporteur on torture regarding the situation of Mr. Bechir AKREMI, Tunisian magistrate and Mr. Noureddine BHIRI, lawyer and former Minister of Justice, both victims of torture during their arrest and/or detention by the police.

Arrest and detention of Mr. Bechir Akremi

The director of Alkarama, lawyer Rachid Mesli, participated in a conference on the situation of human rights in Tunisia, organised by the Association of Victims of Torture (AVTT) in the margins of the 52nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.    

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has expressed concern over the escalating crackdown in Tunisia against civil society and political opponents of President Kaïs Saïed.

The spokesman for the High Commissioner, Jeremy Lawrence, told reporters in Geneva that at least nine people had reportedly been arrested and some detained-on security and graft charges.

On 07 February 2023, Alkarama and the Association of Victims of Torture in Tunisia (AVTT) submitted to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, the situation of Bechir AKREMI, a Tunisian magistrate arbitrarily suspended and victim of intimidation and reprisals in the exercise of his functions.

The Tunisian judiciary in the hands of the executive

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a process conducted by States within the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, consists of "reviewing the human rights achievements of all UN Member States".

On 17 August 2022, Alkarama and the Association of Victims of Torture in Tunisia (AVTT) addressed the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression regarding the case of Mr Salah Attia, a journalist and political analyst, who was sentenced on Tuesday to three months in prison by the Permanent Military Tribunal of Tunis.

Mr Salah Attia was arrested on 11 June 2022 by agents in civilian clothes while he was in a café in the Ibn Khaldoun district.

The human rights situation in Tunisia will be examined for the fourth time in the framework of its next Universal Periodic Review by the United Nations Human Rights Council scheduled for 2-18 November 2022 in Geneva.

On the evening of Monday, 7 March 2022, and after 67 days of detention, the Tunisian authorities released Mr Noureddine Al-Behairi, Ennahda parliamentarian and former Minister of Justice, as well as Mr Fathi Al-Baladi, former adviser to the Ministry of the Interior. Following their arrests, Alkarama had referred their cases to UN experts.