Freedom of Association in TUNISIA

RECOMMENDATIONS 

1. With regard to the political, democratic and human rights situation

• Act in conformity with the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the norms and principles set forth in the other international instruments on human rights ratified by Tunisia, and to take into account the relevant jurisprudence of the United Nations Committee on Human Right;
• Promote “a climate that will encourage the development of civil society by facilitating the creation of independent associations and by legalizing those that are now forced to operate illegally […] new measures that will fully protect the freedom of opinion and expression, such measures consisting, among other things, in the revision and modification of a number of national laws, in particular those pertaining to the press code and the law on political parties”, as recommended the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the freedom of expression in the course of his mission to Tunisia in December 1999.

2. With regard to the laws and practices pertaining to associations and civil society organizations

• Reform the Law on associations in order to guarantee the full enjoyment of freedom of association, and eliminate all discriminatory provisions, in particular those pertaining to the classification of associations and all those provisions that open the way to abuses of power by the Minister of the Interior;
• Guarantee the impartiality of the authorities regarding the various stages of life of associations, as well as all their endeavours, in order to ensure the equality of all citizens before the law in matters pertaining to the freedom of association;
• Guarantee, to associations and their members, effective access, within a reasonable time, to the judicial system regarding, in particular, remedies in case of abuse of power by the Minister of the Interior.

• Abolish the procedure of prior approval for the registration of associations and establish, de jure and de facto, the declaration system; ensure, whenever the case arise, that the Minister will be able, without suspensive effect on the activities of the association, to initiate judicial proceedings to oppose the registration;
• Impose on the authorities the obligation to issue, within a short period, the receipt for the deposit of a registration request; ensure that, in case of non-response to the deposit by the authorities within a set period, the association will be deemed duly registered, which will allow the publication of the notice in the Journal officiel;
• Subject the registration of modifications of the statutes of the association to a simple declaration;
• Amend articles 29 and 30 that provide for a jail sentence for anyone who participates directly or indirectly to the maintenance or reconstruction of associations that are recognized as non-existent or dissolved.

• Give to judicial tribunals exclusive competence to dissolve or suspend an association ;
• Guarantee access to an effective judicial remedy, with suspensive effect and within a reasonable period, in case of a dissolution pronounced by the authorities.

• Create the offence of violation of the right of assembly, applicable against any individual or government official who intervenes to prohibit the holding of a meeting without having been given a mandate to do so for a legitimate cause;
• Put an end to police surveillance, used to intimidate, of associations members and their premises;
• Bring to justice individuals who physically attack officials of associations;
• Lift all restrictions limiting access to telephone, fax, email and internet services;
• Put an end to all restrictions limiting the free movement of members of associations, except by a duly motivated judicial decision;
• Guarantee the access of associations to the public media (press agencies, radio, television, newspapers, etc);
• Put an end to internet censorship, in particular the blocking of sites that are critical of the government, and control over email. Repeal all legal constraints pertaining to the internet, in particular provisions of the laws governing the postal service and telecommunications;
• Put an end to abusive interference by public telephone operators (such as the interruption of the telephone communications of independent organizations)
• More generally, respect and protect the right to privacy of human rights defenders;
• Guarantee the possibility of accessing effective judicial remedies within a reasonable period in case of violation of the fundamental rights of members of associations and human rights defenders;
• Guarantee the enjoyment by associations of freedom of the press and freedom to publish, in particular by a fair implementation of the procedure on the registration of copyright, that should not include the requirement of prior authorization to publish;
• Widen the possibilities for association to initiate and take part in legal proceedings, in particular by authorizing the associations possessing legal personality to associate themselves to a court action in cases related to their objectives.

• Abolish restrictions limiting the financing of associations, in particular by eliminating membership fee ceilings and by authorizing associations to resort freely to donations (public or private) in a transparent manner and by simply informing the authorities;
• Adopt and implement a system that will provide for the transparent and equitable distribution of public funds;
• Put an end to the practice of blocking or freezing the financing of associations (Ligue tunisienne des droits de l’Homme, l’Association tunisienne des femmes démocrates, Association des femmes tunisiennes pour la Recherche et le développement, etc.), in particular the financing granted by the European Union;
• Modify the provisions of the Law of December 10, 2003, also called the Law to fight terrorism and money laundering, in order end any confusion between terrorism and peaceful opposition.

3. With regard to the climate required for the sustainable development of civil society

• Put an end to all harassment measures against human rights organizations, in particular the Ligue tunisienne des droits de l’Homme, the Conseil national pour les libertés en Tunisie, the Association de lutte contre la torture and the Association Internationale de Solidarité avec les Prisonniers Politiques, and conversely, encourage those organizations to fulfil their mission of monitoring the respect of human rights;

Encourage the participation of civil society to the decision-making process pertaining to policies of public interest.