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Tunisia Page 1 of 18 Tunisia Page 1 of 18 Tunisia Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2007 Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor March 11, 2008 Tunisia is a constitutional republic with a population of approximately 10 million, dominated by a single political party, the Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD). Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has been the president since 1987. In the 2004 presidential election, President Ben Ali ran against three opposition candidates and was declared the winner with approximately 94 percent of the popular vote. Official turnout was higher than 90 percent, although observers regarded these figures as substantially inflated. In concurrent parliamentary elections, the RCD gained 152 of the 189 seats. The 2005 indirect elections for the Chamber of Advisors, one of two legislative bodies, resulted in a heavily pro-RCD body. The civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces. There were significant limitations on citizens' right to change their government. Local and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported that security forces tortured and physically abused prisoners and detainees and arbitrarily arrested and detained individuals. Security forces acted with impunity sanctioned by high-ranking officials. Lengthy pretrial and incommunicado detention remained serious problems. The government infringed on citizens' privacy rights and continued to impose severe restrictions on freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and association. The government remained intolerant of public criticism and used intimidation, criminal investigations, the court system, arbitrary arrests, residential restrictions, and travel controls to discourage criticism by human rights and opposition activists. Corruption was a problem. RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From: a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life The government or its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings. In March 2006, according to the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), Bechir Rahali, chief of police of Cite Ennour, El Ouradia IV, Tunis, reportedly killed Tarek Ayari by hitting him on the head with the handle of a pickaxe as he fled a police raid. Ayari was left on the scene without assistance and later died from his injuries. Authorities did not conduct any further investigation, and no known charges were filed. b. Disappearance There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances. c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment The law prohibits such practices; however, according to human rights organizations, security forces tortured detainees to elicit confessions and discourage resistance. Reported abuses included sexual abuse; sleep deprivation; electric shock; submersion of the head in water; beatings with hands, sticks, and police batons; suspension, sometimes manacled, from cell doors and rods resulting in loss of consciousness; and cigarette burns. According to Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Watch (HRW), police and prison officials on occasion used sexual assault and threats of sexual assault against prisoners' wives and daughters to extract information, intimidate, and punish. Charges of torture in specific cases were difficult to prove, and authorities generally did not take steps to investigate allegations or punish perpetrators. Authorities often allegedly denied victims of torture access to medical care until evidence of abuse disappeared. The government maintained that it investigated all complaints of torture and mistreatment filed with the prosecutor's office and noted that alleged victims sometimes accused police of torture without filing a complaint, a prerequisite for an investigation. However, according to defense attorneys and local and international human http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100607.htm 3/26/2008 Tunisia Page 2 of 18 rights groups, police routinely refused to register complaints. In addition, judges dismissed complaints without investigation and accepted as evidence confessions allegedly extracted through torture. The government can open an administrative investigation of allegations of torture or mistreatment of prisoners without a formal complaint; however, in those cases the results were not made public or available to the lawyers of affected prisoners. Consistent with an effort to extract information or coerce confessions, reports of torture were more frequently associated with the initial phases of interrogation/investigation and in pretrial detention centers more than prisons. Human rights activists, citing prisoner accounts, identified facilities at the Ministry of Interior (MOI) as the most common location for torture. Political prisoners, Islamists, and persons detained on terrorism-related charges allegedly received harsher treatment than other prisoners and detainees. Several domestic and international NGOs reported multiple torture cases throughout the year. According to the National Council for Liberties in Tunisia (CNLT), between December 2006 and January 22, authorities blindfolded, bound, and beat with electric cables Mohamed Amine Jaziri while he was in police custody. At year's end there were no further developments. On April 6, according to the International Association for the Support of Political Prisoners (AISPP), prison officials hit on the head and body Oualid Layouni, who had been detained at Mornaguia Prison since January 16. Officials reportedly confined Layouni to a small space without natural light or aeration and subjected him to sleep deprivation. According to a November 2 AI press release, on October 16, guards tortured Ousama Abbadi, Mohammed Amine Jaziri, Ramzi el Aifi, Oualid Layouni, and Mahdi Ben Elhaj Ali, who were in pretrial detention at Mornaguia Prison on terrorism- related charges. Guards reportedly restrained, punched, and kicked the men. Ousama Abbadi's injuries resulted in internal bleeding in his right eye and an open wound on his leg. The November 2 AI release also stated that authorities stripped individuals detained in Mornaguia Prison and dragged them through a corridor. One prisoner was reported to have been raped with a staff. On December 30, the Tunis Court of First Instance sentenced 30 Tunisians on terrorism related charges. The sentences ranged from death to five years in prison. According to press reports, many of the defendants denied the charges against them and stated that they only signed confessions after being tortured by security forces. There were no developments in the June 2006 case of Aymen Ben Belgacem Dridi. The Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH) Section in Bizerte reported that authorities detained Dridi on terrorism-related charges and reportedly beat, kicked, and subjected him to falka (beatings on the soles of the feet) in the Borj er-Roumi prison. Police assaulted human rights and opposition activists throughout the year. The opposition Arabic weekly al-Mowqif reported that on June 13, police attacked labor union leaders in Kasserine during a protest. Police reportedly injured regional union leader Khaled Barhoumi, who was treated for a fractured skull. On August 24, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), 10 plainclothes police officers assaulted journalist Aymen Rezgui as he was leaving a press conference of the opposition Progressive Democratic Party (PDP). Rezgui's hand was reportedly injured, and all his notes and equipment confiscated. In May 2006, according to multiple witnesses and human rights groups, police assaulted lawyers staging a three-week sit- in to protest a new law that created a training institute for lawyers. Police allegedly attacked several lawyers during the sit- in, including Ayachi Hammami, Abderraouf Ayadi, and Abderrazak Kilani, all of whom were hospitalized, according to a communique released by CNLT. Prison and Detention Center Conditions Prison conditions generally did not meet international standards. Overcrowding and limited medical care posed a significant threat to prisoners' health. During the year there were credible reports that injured or sick prisoners were denied prompt access to medical care. The government permits the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to prisons, but not other independent human rights observers. According to human rights organizations, prison conditions in the country continued to fall short of minimum adequate standards. Hygiene was extremely poor, and prisoners rarely had access to showers and washing facilities. Sources reported that 40 to 50 prisoners were typically confined to a single 194-square-foot cell, and up to 140 prisoners shared a 323-square-foot cell. Most prisoners were forced to share beds or sleep on the floor. Current and former prisoners reported that lack of basic facilities forced inmates to share a single water and toilet facility with more than 100 cellmates, creating http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100607.htm 3/26/2008 Tunisia Page 3 of 18 serious sanitation problems. Contagious diseases, particularly scabies, were widespread, and prisoners did not have access to adequate medical care. Additional discriminatory and arbitrary measures such as restrictions on family visits worsened the conditions of detention, particularly when prisoners sought redress for grievances about treatment and conditions. As the result of a 2005 HRW report describing the government practice of holding political prisoners in prolonged solitary confinement,
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