PRESS RELEASE
Tunis – on 08 October 2020. Following the violence perpetrated yesterday by the police against the citizens who took part in the peaceful protest which took place in front of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People, a protest the aim of which was to express the rejection of the law project on the repression of attacks against the armed forces and to call on deputies not to ratify it; and in reaction to the arrest of several civil society activists, the signatory associations denounce and strongly condemn such violence and rights’ violations. The latter carries indeed a whiff of a not so distant past that we thought over thanks to the Revolution of Dignity.
Moreover, the associations condemn all messages of violence, hatred and harassment published on social networks by individuals who do not conceal their affiliation with the security services, targeting activists who took part in the demonstration; but also, the smear campaigns directed against certain journalists who covered human rights violations perpetrated by security services.
The signatory associations remind the leaders of the executive power that the right to demonstrate is guaranteed by the Tunisian Constitution and that the State has the obligation to protect the dignity of individuals. In addition, the flagrant encroachments on human rights that took place in front of the ARP and the violent attacks against peaceful demonstrators support the signatory associations in their position of rejecting the law project and consolidate their commitment to implement the reforms necessary to establish the rule of law, the institutions and a republican security system. In that sense, they demand the accountability and the punishment of the security assaulters so that impunity will not be perpetuated.
- Forum Tunisien des Droits Économiques et Sociaux
- Association Tunisienne des Femmes Démocrates
- Damj, l’Association Tunisienne pour la Justice et L’égalité
- Association Tunisienne de défense des libertés individuelles
- Avocats Sans Frontières
- Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture
- Organisation Contre la Torture en Tunisie
- I Watch
- OXFAM
- Association Tunisienne de Lutte Contre les MST et le sida (ATL MST SIDA)
- International Alert
- Association No Peace No Justice
- Euromed Droits
- Fanni Roghman Anni
- Association Al-Karama
- Mobdiun
- Association pour la Promotion du Droit à la Différence
- Mawjoudin
- Democratic Transition & Human Rights Support Center
- Access Now
- Shams
- Free Sight Association
- Association Tunisienne de Prévention Positive
- Calam
- Association Internationale pour le Soutien des Prisonniers Politiques
- Al Karama
- Coordination nationale indépendante de la justice transitionnelle
- Psychologues Du Monde- Tunisie
- Legal Agenda
- Association des Femmes Tunisiennes pour la Recherche sur le Développement