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Tunisia

Capital city — Tunis

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Contributor(s)Avocats sans frontières / independent experts

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A study published by the Sanad Centre- OMCT in 2016 reported that a quarter of cases of torture or abuse take place in prisons. This number is the same for cases identified in police custody. Persons accused of terrorism are particularly vulnerable to torture or abuse. They can be held in police custody for up to 15 days. Lawyers can be barred from visiting them for up to a maximum of 48 hours.
In 2021, the National Authority for the Prevention of Torture (INPT) described the harsh conditions in correctional facilities. They reported cases of abuse, torture or arbitrary detention against detainees.
Lawyers without Borders report that “prison overpopulation is the main cause of prison conditions that fail to meet international standards”1. In this way, overpopulation constitutes a form of abuse.

  1. Lawyers without Borders, “Lutter contre la surpopulation carcérale en Tunisie”, September 2019, p 2. ↩

  • The public prosecution service ordered the opening of an inquiry after a prison officer assaulted a prisoner at the Mahdia civil prison. The initial statements given by the prisoner confirm the assault. The officer has been summoned for questioning in the case.

    i
    06/08/2022
    / Kapitalis

Number of recorded violent acts between prisoners

-

  • A prisoner assaulted in August by a fellow prisoner at the Mahdia civil prison succumbed to his injuries. The assailant was already serving a life sentence when he attacked his fellow prisoner in the eye and face with a broom, over “a trivial dispute”, witnesses say. The victim was transported to intensive care at the Tahar Sfar hospital before passing away on Thursday 22 September. The assailant was disciplined and charged with premeditated homicide.

    i
    22/09/2022
    / Kapitalis

Tunisian prisons lack equipment and medical staff. The country has about 15 state-qualified nurses working in prisons. The authorities call on 400 prison officers, trained for three months by the Military Medical School, to assist them.
There are also nursing assistants. Some of them are seconded from the civil service, while others are part of the prison’s staff. Prisoners may act as nursing assistants.[^manual]

The medical unit of Mornaguia prison has better infrastructure. The number of health personnel remains insufficient.

  • The filmmaker Issam Bouguerra, who has been in remand detention for over a year in the Mornaguia prison, has encountered significant health issues. His father told Radio IFM that his son’s health was deteriorating by the day. The prisoner was reportedly considering suicide. However, prison management continued to refuse him medical care.

    i
    04/10/2022
    / Kapitalis

Overcrowding is an issue for specific types of prison facilities

no

Overcrowding affects all types of prison facilities.

  • The Directorate-General of prisons and rehabilitation announced on Monday 18 July that prisoners would be transferred from the Mornaguia prison to the Oudhna and Saouaf detention units in order to reduce prison overcrowding. This decision was a result of the Minister’s visit on 12 July.

    i
    18/07/2022
    / MosaïqueFM for Marsad

Sentencing judges are authorised to monitor detention conditions and interview prisoners. In practice, however, they are not often available to do this. They are spread across a number of prisons and have to balance their time between various judicial activities.[^ judges] Since 2013, The Tunisian Human Rights League has undertaken visits to monitor compliance with prisoners’ rights. Several international organisations within the UN system support these monitoring visits, specifically to observe detention conditions and give advice on prison reforms. These organisations include the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

[^ judges]: OMCT Tunisia, “Report on the implementation of a complaints system in Tunisia’s prisons”, 2015, p. 11.

  • On Saturday 8 October 2022, the Minister of Justice, Leïla Jeffal, carried out a surprise visit of the Siliana civil prison. During her visit, the Minister talked to several prisoners about their imprisonment conditions. After inspecting various buildings, she ordered the transfer of several prisoners to the Sers civil prison to relieve overcrowding at the Siliana prison. The Minister laid emphasis on the role of support offices as well as the implementation of alternative sentences such as electronic bracelets.

    i
    09/10/2022
    / Direct info

  • On Tuesday 12 July, the Tunisian Minister of Justice, Leïla Jeffal, carried out a surprise visit of the Mornaguia prison. The Minister visited the various wings of the facility in order to better understand the prisoners’ imprisonment conditions. Jeffal was shown meals served to prisoners as well as the conditions for storing food supplies and how hygiene rules are enforced. After some discussions with the prisoners, the Minister highlighted the importance of respecting international standards and indicated the Ministry’s commitment to this issue. The Minister recommended the improvement of the judicial and prison systems to ensure that the rights of prisoners are respected.

    i
    13/07/2022
    / Gnetnews

Number of deaths in custody

-

  • The solicitor Mehdi Zagrouba announced on 13 August that a 73-year-old Frenchman had died in one of the country’s prisons. The man had been granted a release order by a judge but passed away in detention due to a lack of medical care. The solicitor condemned the inhuman imprisonment conditions and the Frenchman’s critical state of health, stating that “blood and pus were running down his legs. His bandages were a suspicious colour. He couldn’t stand up. His body was emitting foul odours.” The prisoner, who required chemotherapy treatments, died on 10 August 2022.

    i
    13/08/2022
    / Espace manager

  • Shems FM reported on Monday 7 November 2022 that the president of the Tunisian Human Rights Watch (Observatoire tunisien des droits de l’homme), Mustapha Abdelkebir, had indicated that seven deaths had already been recorded in Tunisian detention centres and prisons in the second half of 2022.

    i
    07/11/2022
    / Kapitalis

Number of deaths attributed to suicide

-

  • Amongst the 81 women interviewed by Penal Reform International at Manouba Prison, 23% admitted to having attempted suicide or committed self-harm. Asma, one of the prisoners there explained that suicide attempts were “common” in prison, and more often than not they were used in order to put pressure on the prison management.

    i
    01/01/2022
    / Beity et ASF

Some activities dedicated to incarcerated women are organised.

  • Only convicted female prisoners on “good behaviour” would be allowed to take part in activities in Manouba prison. The vast majority of women were on remand and could therefore not take part in any activity.

    i
    01/01/2022
    / Beity and ASF

Untried female prisoners are separated from the convicted

no

  • Asma, a female prisoner in Tunisia, shared her experience of the prison conditions. She claimed that she and her sister were placed in dormitories with people awaiting trial. According to a report released in January 2022 by BEITY and Lawyers without Borders (Avocats Sans Frontières, ASF), the separation of remand and convicted female prisoners was rare.

    i
    12/05/2022
    / Nawaat

The Subcommittee for the Prevention of Torture (SPT) has visited the country

yes, in April 2016

The SPT travels to Tunisia in order to support the establishment of the MNP. The SPT has highlighted, amongst other things, the inadequate financial and material resources made available for the INPT. The SPT also laments the lack of a dedicated budget line in the overall state budget. The SPT is concerned about the lack of independence of INPT members, who may be civil servants or judges in high office.1

  1. Sub-committee for the prevention of torture, “Visit to Tunisia from 11 – 14 April 2016: observations and recommendations made to the National Prevention Mechanism, August 2017, pp. 6–7. ↩

  • From 27 March to 2 April 2022, the Subcomittee on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (SPT) visited Tunisia. The delegation noted some progress since their last visit in 2016. However, SPT was concerned about the persistent overcrowding in prisons, which in particular prevented the separation of remand and convicted prisoners.

    i
    06/04/2022
    / Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Number of death sentences

25

i
2017
/ Amnesty International, ("Global Report on Death Sentences and Executions 2017", 2018, p. 33).

  • Thirteen people had been sentenced to death since 1 January, a record high for the country. More and more pro-death penalty rhetoric had been emerging. Together Against the Death Penalty (Ensemble contre la peine de mort, ECPM) and Tunisian Coalition Against the Death Penalty (La Coalition tunisienne contre la peine de mort, CTCPM) encouraged the Tunisian authorities to respect the moratorium on executions as well as to adopt the universal trend towards abolishing capital punishment.

    i
    07/02/2022
    / ECPM

All inmates are admitted to prison with a valid commitment order

-

  • The Tunisian authorities were reported to use what they call assigned residences to conceal secret detentions on the pretext of a state of emergency. These so called “exceptional” measures had been increasing and were authorised under the state of emergency put in place in 2015. Fathi Beldi, former Interior Ministry employee, and Noureddine Bhiri, former justice minister, were both arrested in similar arbitrary circumstances}. Civil society organisations were concerned about the numerous law violations, including the lack of arrest warrants, the secrecy of where people would be detained and their contact with the outside world. Salsabil Chellali, director of Human Rights Watch, called for transparency from the authorities and hoped “to put an end to these arbitrary detentions”. She added, “these violations undermine judicial power and further erode the principles of the rule of law.”

    i
    09/02/2022
    / Human Rights watch