Tunisia
Following the popular uprising in Tunisia that began in December 2010 and saw protests against corruption, poverty, and political repression, culminating in the ousting of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011, Tunisia went through a difficult political transition that resulted in the formation of a democratically elected government under the new Constitution, which was approved by the Constituent National Assembly on 26 January 2014.
The 2013 Law on Establishing and Organizing Transitional Justice established a framework for dealing with past human rights violations by providing for a mechanism to establish the truth, holding perpetrators of human rights violations accountable, and providing for reparations, restitution and guarantees of non-recurrence. Article 4 of the Law provides that in cases of death, missing persons, or enforced disappearance, the fate and whereabouts of the missing must be investigated, in addition to prosecuting perpetrators of acts of disappearance. The Law also stipulates that the state must take sufficient and efficient reparations measures for the benefit of victims of violations, and it establishes an independent Truth and Dignity Commission to examine, among other things, cases of enforced disappearance.
Tunisia is a state party to the major international human rights instruments including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), and the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). It has signed the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED) and also the ACHPR. It became a party to the Rome Statute in 2011.
