Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elias
Tunisia formally agreed last week to allow individuals and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to directly access the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) with complaints of human rights violations against Tunisia. Tunisia joins seven other countries that also currently grant the Court the same jurisdiction. [AfCHPR Press Release] The government of Tunisia hosted a delegation of the AfCHPR in the capital city of Tunis on April 13 at which time Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi praised the Court’s work in protecting human rights. [AfCHPR Press Release] AfCHPR President Justice Sylvain Oré commended Tunisia’s decision and encouraged other African countries to follow suit. [AfCHPR Press Release] Tunisia’s acceptance of this jurisdiction comes one month after Rwanda officially withdrew from it. [AfCHPR Press Release] Additionally, in the years following Tunisia’s 2011 revolution, some human rights experts have praised its commitment to human rights and others condemned its rights abuses, particularly those linked to its extended state of emergency, such as the use of torture and restrictions to freedom of movement. [Amnesty International; OHCHR Press Release: Zeid; OHCHR Press Release: Terrorism]
Tunisia’s Declaration to Allow Individual Complaints
Tunisia signed on April 18, 2017, the declaration under Article 34(6) of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which entitles NGOs with observer status before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and individuals to initiate cases directly before the Court against the State that signed the declaration. Tunisia’s decision to sign on to this declaration grants civil society greater ease of access to the Court in order to seek redress for human rights violations. Civil society members have already attempted to approach the African Court, but before the State signed the declaration, cases submitted to the Court by individuals and NGOs were dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. See AfCHPR, Mahmoudi v. Tunisia, App. No. 007/2012, Judgment of 26 June 2012, para. 11.
Signing the declaration followed the Court’s recent sensitization visit to the country. In an effort to promote human rights in Africa, the Court conducts these visits with the objectives of raising awareness about the Court, encouraging the acceptance of its jurisdiction, promoting the signing of the declaration that allows individuals and NGOs to directly access the Court, encouraging the public to utilize the Court, and educating potential applicants on how to do so. [allAfrica] Since December 2010, the Court has conducted 27 such visits, the most recent being to Tunisia and Egypt. [AfCHPR Press Release; allAfrica; Ghana News Agency] While 30 States have accepted the Court’s jurisdiction to hear matters against them, in total only eight States are currently signed on to the declaration: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Tanzania, and Tunisia. [AfCHPR Press Release]
Withdrawal from the Declaration
Although the Protocol outlines no formal withdrawal process, the Court has developed one in the aftermath of Rwanda’s deposit of withdrawal from the declaration on February 29, 2016. The Court determined that a State’s decision to withdraw would have no effect on pending cases and would officially go into effect one year after a deposit of withdrawal. See AfCHPR, Umuhoza v. Rwanda, App. No. 003/2014, Judgment of 3 June 2016, paras. 66–68.
Tunisia’s Human Rights Record
While human rights experts have at times praised Tunisia for adhering to its commitment to human rights following the 2011 revolution, the State continues to face human rights challenges. In early 2015, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, referred to Tunisia’s commitment to human rights and democracy and inclusion of civil society in the democratization process as an example for the rest of the region, particularly noting the positive developments of the 2014 constitution and the parliamentary and presidential elections of the same year. [OHCHR Press Release: Zeid] At that time, Zeid did note the continued challenges of ill-treatment of detainees, the need to complete legal reforms and ensure accountability, and the poor economic situation in the State. [OHCHR Press Release: Zeid]
Later in 2015, Tunisia entered a state of emergency after a bombing in Tunis that killed 12 presidential guards. [News24] In response to this and other armed attacks, Tunisian authorities have employed security measures in a manner that civil society has described as “arbitrary, repressive and discriminatory.” [Amnesty International] After an official country visit in January and February 2017, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism noted the use of ill-treatment and torture, restrictions to freedom of movement, and poor conditions in detention. [OHCHR Press Release: Terrorism]
Civil society has also noted that Tunisia in the last year has engaged in arbitrary arrests and searches without warrants, the excessive use of force against protesters, the prohibition of public demonstrations, and the continued criminalization of same-sex sexual relations. Additionally, civil society has claimed women are not adequately protected against gender-based violence and noted the unrest due to high unemployment in the country. See Amnesty International, World Report 2016/2017: Tunisia (2017).
Tunisia’s Human Rights Obligations
Tunisia has ratified numerous treaties within the African system, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Cultural Charter for Africa, the OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
In the United Nations system, Tunisia is a State party to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD); the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR); the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW); the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Convention against Torture); the Convention on the Rights of the Child; the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED); and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (ICRPD). Tunisia has ratified Optional Protocols and made relevant declarations allowing individuals to submit complaints against Tunisia alleging violations of the ICCPR, CEDAW, Convention against Torture, and ICRPD. Tunisia has also issued a standing invitation to all thematic UN special procedures to visit the country.
Background on the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights
The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which began operating in 2006 and has its seat in Arusha, Tanzania, is a regional tribunal designed to complement the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in its efforts to protect fundamental rights in Africa. To date, 30 States have accepted the Court’s jurisdiction, though only eight currently allow the Court to hear complaints brought by individuals or NGOs. For the remaining 22 States, the Court may only hear complaints against them when brought by the African Commission, other States parties to the protocol establishing the Court, or African intergovernmental organizations. See IJRC, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
During the Court’s recent sensitization mission, Egypt, which has not yet accepted the Court’s jurisdiction, expressed that ratifying the Protocol Establishing the African Court is currently under consideration. [allAfrica] Justice Oré described the visit to Egypt, which took place from April 9–11, as “very much encouraging” and said that he is looking forward to Egypt’s ratification of the Protocol Establishing the African Court. [AfCHPR Press Release; allAfrica]
Additional Information
For more information about the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Human Rights System, or Rwanda’s decision to withdraw from the declaration, visit IJRC’s Online Resource Hub.
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