GENEVA, Switzerland — Several
Western countries urged
Tunisia to guarantee freedom of expression and the
independence of the judiciary, at a UN review Tuesday of the country’s rights
situation.
اضافة اعلان
Tunisian Prime Minister
Najla Bouden addressed the
UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva via video-link, where she said that
“freedom of expression and the right of peaceful assembly are bedrocks” of her
country.
“This is an irrevocable principle of our system,”
she said.
“We have not
refused any request to organize a demonstration. Isolated cases have been
detected of irregularities — and the same can be said of allegations of
torture.”
“Torture is not a state policy, but torture may
occur in isolated cases.”
She nevertheless stressed that “freedom of expression
cannot be used as an incitement to hatred or the spreading of fake news, for
example on the internet.”
Several countries highlighted Tunisia’s progress in
implementing the recommendations made at the last review of the North African
country’s human rights situation in 2017 — notably in combating racial
discrimination and violence against women.
However, Australia, among other countries, said it
was “concerned by the deterioration of the human rights situation” since
parliament was suspended in July 2021, when President Kais Saied staged a
dramatic power grab.
Saied later pushed through a constitution enshrining
his one-man rule, in what critics have called a return to autocracy in the only
democracy to have emerged from the Arab Spring.
NGOs and the opposition have accused the security
services of resorting to methods reminiscent of those of the police state under
the dictatorship of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Many Western nations, including the US, Austria,
Switzerland, and Spain, called on Tunisia to uphold freedom of expression.
Belgium recommended replacing the 1969 law on
demonstrations and ensuring that all allegations of excessive use of force by
state agents during demonstrations are investigated and prosecuted.
Michele Taylor, the US ambassador to the Human
Rights Council, said: “We call on the government to hold free fair and
inclusive parliamentary elections this December, protect human rights and
fundamental freedoms and bring dissenting voices back into the reform process.”
Countries also called on Tunisia to reinstate the
Judicial Council and to stop trying civilians before military courts.
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