Tunisia: End Persecution of LGBTQ People
Tunisia should revise its laws and practices to recognise and protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, Human Rights Watch said on the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia.
Human Rights Watch joined the Civil Coalition for Individual Freedoms in Tunisia May 17th 2019 in issuing a statement that called on the government to decriminalise consensual same-sex conduct, end forced anal examinations, recognise transgender people, and stop harassing LGBTQ organisations.
«Tunisia has taken rhetorical steps toward ending institutionalised discrimination against LGBTQ people, by agreeing to end forced anal exams and establishing a presidential commission that called for decriminalisation of same-sex conduct», said Neela Ghoshal, senior LGBTQ rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. «But arrests and forced anal exams continue, while the state attempts to silence one of the groups vocally condemning these practices».
The Tunisian government has taken steps to withdraw the legal registration of a leading Tunisian LGBTQ rights organisation, Shams, claiming its work on behalf of sexual minorities contravenes «Tunisian society’s Islamic values» and laws that criminalise homosexual acts. A court of appeal is expected to issue a ruling in the case on May 20.
Article 230 of the penal code punishes consensual same-sex relations with up to three years in prison. Tunisian law also punishes any act the authorities perceive as contrary to «morality» and «decency». The coalition noted that the police frequently arrest people solely on the basis of non-normative gender expression.
While the Tunisian authorities in 2017 committed to ending anal tests as evidence in homosexuality prosecutions, the courts continue to order this practice, which has no scientific basis and has been condemned by international experts as torture.
Crimes against people perceived to be homosexual or transgender continue in an atmosphere of impunity, the coalition said. Unchecked discrimination prevents LGBTQ people from enjoying their most basic rights to health, education, work, and to seek legal action against abusers.
The coalition issued a series of recommendations to the Tunisian government. It called on parliament to adopt the draft Code of Individual Freedoms, which was put forward by a group of parliament members in October 2018. The code would provide for decriminalisation of homosexual acts and a rights-respecting process by which trans people could change their sex marker on legal documents.
It also called on judges to bar the use of anal testing, and for doctors to refuse to conduct anal tests.