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TITLE: TUNISIA HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1993
DATE: JANUARY 31, 1994
AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
TUNISIA
Tunisia is a republic in which the Constitution provides for a
parliamentary democracy with separation of the executive,
legislative, and judicial powers. In practice, the President
and his party dominate decisionmaking at all levels. The
President appoints the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, and the 23
regional governors. His Constitutional Democratic Rally Party
(RCD) holds all 141 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. The
banned Islamist party, An-Nahda, was dealt a severe blow in
1992 when 265 of its senior members were sentenced to prison
terms for plotting to assassinate the President and overthrow
the Government. Arrests of Islamists and some extreme leftists
continued in 1993.
Tunisia's internal security is maintained by civilian services
which include a paramilitary national guard. These services
continued to be responsible for widespread human rights abuses,
including torture, although not on the scale of previous
years. Police presence, while not as oppressive as in 1991 or
1992, remained heavy in urban areas and on university
campuses.
Tunisia has a mixed economy dependent principally on revenues
from agricultural products, tourism, petroleum, textile,
clothing and other manufactured exports, and remittances from
workers abroad. It is now in the 7th year of a structural
adjustment program designed to make the economy more market
oriented, reduce staple food subsidies, and increase the role
of the private sector. Average annual real growth over the
past 6 years has been approximately 4.9 percent, but
unemployment has been high and now stands at about 13 percent.
In 1993 Tunisia enacted a number of legal reforms to enhance
the protection of human rights. Nevertheless, many of the
reforms have not yet been translated into real improvement, and
many basic rights continued to be restricted. The Government
continued to seek out and arrest suspected members of the
banned Islamist party, An-Nahda, and the banned Communist
Workers' Party (POCT) and to harass their relatives and persons
suspected of involvement with their organizations. The
prosecution of leading members of organizations critical of the
Government, as well as the Government's harsh reaction to the
circulation of a petition protesting human rights abuses, had a
chilling effect on freedom of speech. Despite amendments to
the Press Code, press freedom also remained restricted. Other
significant problems include: incommunicado detention, police
abuse of detainees, the Government's refusal to publish
detailed and specific information on the punishment of abusers,
interference with the right to privacy, and the inability of
citizens to change their government. Amendments to the
Personal Status Code, including an amendment granting women the
right to transmit Tunisian nationality even when married to a
foreigner and living abroad, further enhanced women's rights in
1993. A new electoral code will ensure limited opposition
representation in the Chamber of Deputies to be selected in
March 1994 elections. The legal length of pretrial detention
was reduced, forced prison labor was abolished, and some
prisoners detained for membership in an illegal organization
were pardoned.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
There were no reports of political or extrajudicial killing.
The Government did not release any information cocerning the
progress of its investigation into the death of Faisal Barakat
or the judicial investigation into the deaths "under suspicious
circumstances" of six others named in the 1992 Driss Report.
b. Disappearance
One case of disappearance came to light in 1993. Relatives and
coworkers of Kamel Ben Ali Matmati reported he was taken by
police from his place of work in late 1991 and has not been
seen since. Family members believe he was taken to the Gabes
police station, tortured, and died in custody. Responding to
inquiries, the Government stated that Matmati was convicted in
absentia in May 1992 and remains a fugitive.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
Tunisian law forbids ill-treatment of detainees. However,
there continued to be credible reports that security forces
sometimes mistreated detainees, particularly Islamists and
extreme leftists suspected of antigovernment activities. The
beating of detainees is believed to remain widespread. Many of
the defendants in Islamist trials alleged their confessions
were extracted through torture. Human rights monitors in
Tunisia, including those appointed by the Government, and
oppositionists abroad generally agree that the practice of
torture persists but not on a systematic and regular basis as
was alleged during widespread roundups of Islamists in late
1991 and early 1992.
Amnesty International (AI) reported in June that women
relatives of imprisoned Islamists were harassed, tortured, and
sexually abused in substantial numbers by security forces. The
Government immediately denounced the report as false, as did
several opposition parties and government-affiliated women's
groups.
The Government denies that torture is practiced as a matter of
state policy, but acknowledges that unsanctioned abuses have
occurred. However, it continued to refuse to identify
offending officers by name and provide information on sentences
imposed, causing human rights monitors to question its
professed desire to put an end to abuses. In early 1993, the
press reported that nine police and national guard officers
were convicted and sentenced to prison terms of 6 months to 5
years in cases that date back several years. Government
officials claimed that other officers have been punished as
well. A 1992 report by Presidential Human Rights Commissioner
Rashid Driss reported that 116 police officers had been
implicated in 105 cases of abuse and that 55 officers were
subject to disciplinary procedures. The Government released no
further information on those cases.
As part of a campaign, initiated in 1992, to halt such abuses,
the Government provides special human rights training for
police, who are now required to sign a statement that they are
aware of Tunisian and international human rights standards and
will abide by them. Police officers are provided with a manual
including the texts of human rights documents, and human rights
directives are posted in police stations. In December the
Justice Minister added a two-semester human rights training
course on the scope and applicability of international treaties
and conventions to the curriculum of the Magistrates'
Institute, which trains all judges and prosecutors. The
Interior Minister in December also distributed human rights
training material to nonpolice personnel.
Prison conditions were generally adequate and did not threaten
life or health. Human Rights Commissioner Driss was given
authority to conduct unannounced prison inspections and
reported that conditions were improving, though very few visits
actually were made. In July the President ordered the
abolition of forced labor for prison inmates as punishment for
misconduct.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
Under Tunisian law, arrests may be made without a warrant in
cases of felonies or crimes-in-progress. These arrests must be
reported immediately to the court, which determines if a
detainee should be held or released. Under a law adopted in
1987, prearraignment detention is limited to no more than 10
days (4 days initially, followed by an additional 4, and then
an additional 2 if authorized by the prosecutor). Attorneys,
human rights monitors (including those appointed by the
Government), and former detainees charged that this limit was
frequently circumvented simply by delaying registration of the
arrestee. International human rights groups report
falsification of arrest records is widespread. Legally, an
accused person must be informed of the grounds for arrest
before questioning. A detainee may request an examination by a
medical doctor but may otherwise be held incommunicado.
During prearraignment detention, detainees do not have the
right to a lawyer. They do have a right to a lawyer at their
arraignment, and the Government provides legal representation
to indigents. In certain instances, such as cases involving
national security or felony indictments, pretrial detention may
be for 6 months, renewable by an arraignment judge for up to
two additional 4-month periods. Prior to penal code reforms
enacted in November, preventive detention for a total of 18
months was allowed (an initial period of 6 months, renewable
for two 6-month periods). The examining magistrate at the
preliminary hearing, which is supposed to occur within 10 days
of arrest, decides whether to invoke pretrial detention. While
the law provides for bail, in practice it is very rarely
granted. In May and June, trials were held for at least 76
Islamist defendants who had been in custody since December 1991.
Tunisian law specifies that no citizen shall be exiled from the
country, and there were no reports of government-imposed exile
in 1993.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
Tunisia's court system, modeled on the French system, is
composed of regular (civil and criminal) courts, with appellate
and supreme courts, and a Military Tribunal. A state security
court was abolished in 1987. The Constitution provides for the
presumption of innocence and states that the accused will be
accorded "necessary guarantees" (not further specified in the
Constitution) for his defense.
The regular court system is highly centralized under the
Justice Ministry. An elected Supreme Council of the
Magistrature, representing the judges, decides on matters of
transfer and judicial discipline. However, in practice, the
executive branch retains control in naming, assigning, granting
tenure, and transferring judges, thus making them susceptible
to pressure in politically sensitive cases.
Police, prosecutors, and judges work closely together, and
trials, rather than an adversarial proceeding, are dominated by
the presiding judge. Defendants have the right to be present
and to be represented by counsel, at public expense if
necessary. Witnesses may be confronted. However, the role of
the defense attorney in such examinations is usually minimal.
Although the court system is overloaded, in normal criminal
cases the rights of the accused are generally respected. There
were again complaints in 1993, however, that the rights of
those accused of involvement in cases of a political or
security nature were not always observed or that their lawyers
were given insufficient time to prepare for trial.
Civilian trials are theoretically open to the public and both
domestic and foreign observers are permitted to attend.
However, access to trials involving Islamists or leftists is
strictly controlled. Family members and other interested
parties must seek advance police approval to attend such
trials.
The Military Tribunal is presided over by a civilian judge from
the Court of Cassation (the highest court) and four military
judges. In addition to hearing cases involving the military,
the Tribunal also may hear cases against civilians when
national security is deemed to be involved. As with the
civilian courts, decisions of the Military Tribunal may be
appealed to the Court of Cassation, the country's highest
court, which, however, limits its review to matters of law and
procedure, not facts.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
The Constitution provides for the inviolability of the person
and the home and privacy in correspondence, "except in
exceptional cases defined by law." Police must have a search
warrant, but this requirement is sometimes ignored in cases in
which the authorities consider that state security is involved
or in which a "flagrant crime" is deemed to have been
committed. Tunisian law specifies that, except in exceptional
circumstances, arrests are to be made between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m.
The authorities continued to surveil Islamists, leftists, and
others believed to associate with them, detaining their
visitors for questioning and searching their homes without
warrants. Several human rights monitors and oppositionists
accused the Government of harassment through acts of vandalism,
theft, and burglary during the year.
There were reports of mail being opened and telephone
conversations monitored, and the Government is believed to
record some telephone conversations.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The Constitution provides for freedom of thought, expression,
and the press. In practice, however, these freedoms are
limited. Tunisians are reluctant to discuss politics and
sensitive issues in public. The Press Code includes
limitations on subversion and defamation based on broad
internal and external security concerns, which are neither
defined nor subject to judicial review. These laws have been
used against opposition members, particularly for alleged
possession or circulation of illegal political tracts or
correspondence. Such charges were filed against some
defendants in Islamist and leftist trials.
In February the Government reacted harshly to the circulation
of a petition critical of its human rights record. The
organizer was jailed for 2 weeks, a foreign national was
dismissed from his government job and threatened with
deportation, and the remaining 16 signers were called in by the
police for interrogation. In contrast, the Government took no
action in April against over 200 signers after another petition
critical of its policies was published. In 1993 a student
leader was arrested on drug charges, the head of a journalists'
association was prosecuted on bad check charges, and a
journalist who wrote an article deemed critical of the
Government for a French publication faced formal disciplinary
proceedings at work. Questions remain regarding the validity
of these charges, and these actions have had a chilling effect
on freedom of speech and the press.
Freedom of the press is limited both by restrictive laws and
practices and by self-censorship arising from a fear of
government sanctions. Amendments to the Press Code in 1993
suggested that restrictions were being eased. Nevertheless,
many of the changes so far have been largely cosmetic, and
press freedom remained controlled. The Press Code prohibits
defamation of government officials. The 1993 amendments make
proof that the published material in question is true a valid
defense against a libel charge brought by a minister or a
deputy, as long as it is related to their official duties.
Proof is still not a valid defense, however, in cases of libel
brought by the President. In the past, charges of libel and
spreading false information have been the two main bases for
suits against the media. No new charges were filed in 1993.
In 1993 the Press Code also was amended to expand the
definition of libel to include the expression of opinions based
on racism or religious extremism. Journalists express concern
that the vague language of the amendment gives the Government
another tool that can be used against the press.
In practice, the Government exerted considerable control over
the editorial content of newspapers, providing extensive
advance guidance on important issues and reprimanding editors
when guidelines were crossed, further encouraging
self-censorship. There was, however, some increase in press
coverage of the activities of opposition parties, and several
opposition party newspapers resumed publication with the help
of government subsidies.
Government advertising and subscriptions, an important source
of revenue for some newspapers, is one of the means used to
exert pressure on the press. In January the Government
withdrew its advertising and canceled all its subscriptions to
a weekly news magazine, urging private subscribers and
advertisers to do the same, after the magazine published an
article that was deemed to cast Tunisia in a negative light.
In July, after the Journal appealed to the President, the
Government resumed buying some advertising on a very limited
basis but, at year's end, had yet to renew its subscriptions.
Prepublication censorship under the 1988 Press Code, which is
still valid, requires the printer to deposit copies of all
publications prepared in Tunisia with the Secretary of State
for Information and the Interior and Justice Ministries prior
to public release. The Interior Minister may order seizure of
all copies of a single issue of a publication if the Ministry
deems the issue would "disturb public order." The ruling on
the publication has to be made within 3 days from the time of
submission and may be appealed to an administrative court.
Political tracts must also be submitted for approval. In 1991
the Government announced the President's decision not to
enforce prepublication censorship, but it has retained the
right to do so.
Although publications are no longer routinely censored prior to
publication, the possibility of seizure without compensation
after publication significantly increases the financial risk to
publishers. In 1993 there was a reduction in the censorship of
foreign newspapers, although the Government at times delayed
circulation of papers containing negative articles for 1 or 2
days, lessening the demand for them and thus their readership.
The Government also banned the sale of a French magazine
containing an article, written by two Tunisians, considered
critical of the Government.
The Government controls television and radio, and media
coverage of the Government is consistently favorable. The
Italian state television channel Rai Uno is available to
viewers in much of the country, as is a French state channel,
France 2, on which Tunisian news was substituted for French
news. Some French newscasts were resumed in July after having
been replaced with local programs since December 1992.
Licenses for satellite dishes are freely granted, and more than
10,000 homes and multifamily dwellings had them in 1993.
While there are no official limitations on academic freedom,
professors often practiced a form of self-censorship, avoiding
classroom discussions that were either critical of the
Government or supportive of An-Nahda. Police presence on
campus was heavy at times. However, the police did not
interfere when small-scale student strikes were held in March
to protest academic reforms. The president of the Tunisian
General Student Association was later arrested and convicted on
a drug charge. While some described the charge as "trumped
up," the Government claimed it was unrelated to his political
role. After appeals on his behalf, the court permitted him to
remain free pending his appeal, which had not been heard by
year's end.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Constitution provides for freedom of assembly, but any
group wishing to hold a public meeting, rally, or march must
apply to the Government for a permit 3 days in advance. The
Government normally approves such permits, except in cases
involving proscribed political parties or associations.
The Law on Political Parties stipulates that every political
party must reject all forms of violence, including fanaticism
and racism and other discrimination. No party may claim to
represent a religion, race, sex, or region. No party may
receive funds from a foreign party or material aid directly or
indirectly from foreign countries or foreigners. All party
members must have been Tunisian citizens for at least 5 years.
There are seven legal parties. No new parties registered in
1993, but the Tunisian Communist Party transformed itself into
a leftist grouping under a new name, the Renewal Movement
Party. In addition, there are several unrecognized parties,
including the Islamist An-Nahda Party, which claims a large
membership and aspires to recognition, and the extreme left
Tunisian Communist Workers' Party ("POCT"), a smaller
organization which remains underground. An-Nahda is ineligible
for recognition because it is a party that claims to represent
a religion.
In March 1992, the Government amended the Law on Associations
making it illegal for an officer in a political party to serve
as an officer of a private "general" association and also for
such an association to reject membership applications. The
result of this amendment was the closure for several months of
the Tunisian Human Rights League from June 1992 to March 1993.
The League was permitted to resume its operations pending a
judicial ruling on its status. The law is not known to have
been applied against any other organization. (See also Section
4.) Human rights monitors claim that this amendment is one of
the means by which the Government seeks to control all
associations. Other means include the threat of arrest or
prosecution of association leaders and the provision of
subsidies which make organizations financially beholden to the
Government.
c. Freedom of Religion
The Constitution establishes Islam as the state religion but
allows the practice of most other religions. Since 1984 there
has been a ban on public Baha'i religious activities because
the Government considers this faith a heretical sect of Islam.
Moreover, proselytizing for religions other than Islam is
prohibited, although no specific sanctions are prescribed.
Foreigners caught proselytizing have been threatened with
expulsion. The Constitution calls on all political parties to
respect and defend Tunisia's Arab-Muslim identity, and the
President as well as the parents and grandparents of the
President must be Muslim. The Government controls the mosques
and pays the salaries of the prayer leaders. According to the
1988 Law on Mosques, only government-appointed personnel may
lead activities in the mosques, except with permission from the
Prime Minister's office.
Jews comprise the largest religious minority, with a population
of as many as 2,500. The Government assures freedom of worship
for the Jewish community, safeguards its safety, and pays the
salary of the Grand Rabbi of the community. Tunisia encourages
Jewish tourism and gave widespread media coverage to the annual
Jewish pilgrimage to the Tunisian island of Jerba in May.
Tunisia's very small community of Christians is composed mainly
of foreign nationals, who freely attend church services.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
There is freedom of movement within Tunisia, and people are
free to change their place of residence or work at will.
In 1993 there were an increasing number of credible complaints
that the Government withheld passports in certain cases, and
Islamists continued to complain of difficulties in obtaining
international travel documents. The Government stated it
denies passports only to persons with legal problems at home or
abroad and to those persons who are not likely to use them for
tourist purposes. However, lawyers who have defended Islamist
clients and persons associated with leftist or opposition
causes also reported they and their family members were unable
to obtain or renew passports.
There is no arbitrary restriction on emigration or
repatriation. Approximately 570,000 Tunisians are living
abroad. Tunisia does not accept refugees for permanent
resettlement and is not a country of first asylum. There were
no cases of forced repatriation. There are approximately 50
refugees with resident status and approximately 4,000
Palestinians residing in Tunisia. A growing number of
Algerians moved to Tunisia in 1993 as the security situation in
Algeria deteriorated.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
The ability of the citizens of Tunisia to change their
government through democratic means has yet to be
demonstrated. The ruling RCD and its direct predecessor
parties have controlled the political arena since
independence. The largest opposition party, the proscribed
Islamist An-Nahda party, received 18 percent of the vote in the
legislative elections in 1989, when its candidates were
permitted by the Government to run as independents. However,
the party remains illegal and is in disarray following the
conviction in 1992 of nearly all its leaders for plotting to
overthrow the Government. Rachid Ghannouchi, the nominal head
of the party, was sentenced in absentia to life in prison in
1992. In 1993 he was granted political asylum in Great
Britain.
The Constitution provides for a parliamentary democracy with
separation of the executive, legislative, and judicial powers.
The all-RCD legislature remains subordinate to the executive
branch. Portions of the plenary sessions are sometimes
televised. Media representatives, diplomats, and other
visitors are permitted to attend plenary sessions, but
committee debates are in closed sessions and receive little
media coverage.
The President appoints the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, and the
23 governors. The executive is dominated at the national,
regional, and local levels by the President and his party.
Government and RCD mechanisms are hardly distinguishable; the
President of the Republic is also the President of the party,
and the Secretary-General of the party holds the rank of
Minister of State.
At the time of the last legislative elections in 1989, the
Tunisian Electoral Code provided for a majority winner-take-all
system. As a result, the dominant RCD was allotted all
parliamentary seats after winning 80 percent of the popular
vote. In 1993 the Electoral Code was amended to ensure
representation of opposition parties. The winner-take-all
system remains in place, but some 19 additional "national"
seats were added to the chamber which will be reserved
proportionally for parties that do not otherwise win
representation in the chamber. Opposition parties that
participate in the March 20, 1994, elections are assured of at
least token representation in the chamber. Elections for the
Presidency and the Chamber of Deputies are held every 5 years.
Voting is by secret ballot. All legal parties are free to
present candidates. However, to run for president a candidate
must gather the signatures of at least 30 members of the
Chamber of Deputies or presidents of municipalities. In 1993
there was only one person among the authorized opposition
parties who was not a member of the President's RCD. By the
end of 1993, all the legal opposition parties and many
professional organizations and associations had endorsed
President Ben Ali for reelection.
While there are no legal impediments to women's participation
in government and politics, they are underrepresented and hold
very few senior leadership positions. In 1993 the President
promoted one woman to ministerial rank and one to the 13-member
ruling party RCD Politburo There are 6 female members in the
141-seat Chamber of Deputies, and a woman is the second Vice
President of the Chamber. In municipal councils, 11 percent of
the members are women. Ten percent of the members of the
Economic and Social Council are women.
There is a small Berber minority, constituting about 3 percent
of the population, which is able to participate freely in the
political process.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
Several human rights organizations are active in Tunisia and
are recognized by the Government, but they are subject to a
variety of restrictions. The Tunisian Human Rights League was
forced to suspend its operations in 1992 following amendments
to the Associations Law (see Section 2.b.), but was permitted
to resume its activities in March pending a judicial
interpretation of the law. Despite the League's resumption, it
has yet to recover fully from its period of suspension. The
League is scheduled to hold its first congress since 1989 in
early 1994. The Arab Institute of Human Rights, founded in
1989, is a collaborative effort of the Tunisian Human Rights
League, the Arab Organization for Human Rights, and the Union
of Arab Lawyers. The International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) operates a regional office in Tunis. The Maghreb Human
Rights League is headquartered in Tunis.
In 1993 the Higher Committee for Human Rights and Basic
Freedoms, formed by President Ben Ali in 1991, released a
report "Human Rights in Tunisia: 1991-1993." The report does
not address specific problems or cases but merely lists the
accomplishment claimed by the Government. Human rights
monitors are skeptical of the independence and effectiveness of
offices created in 1992 to coordinate human rights concerns in
the Interior, Justice, Social Affairs, and Foreign Ministries.
In 1993 AI officials, including its secretary general, met with
the Foreign Minister and other Tunisian officials. Another AI
representative visited Tunisia and issued a report alleging
that security forces were responsible for torture, widespread
harassment, and sexual abuse against women relatives of
incarcerated Islamists. The Government strenuously disputed
the report's findings, as did several of the opposition parties
and prominent women activists.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Disability, Language, or Social Status
Women
In 1993 the Chamber of Deputies adopted major changes to the
1956 Personal Status Code, which established equal rights for
men and women in most fields. The Chamber also amended the
Penal, Labor, and Nationality Codes to further enhance and
protect women's rights. These changes increased the legal
rights and protection enjoyed by women and children, including
allowing women to transmit Tunisian nationality even though
married to a foreigner and living abroad. Criminal penalties
for wife beating were strengthened; labor laws were amended to
further reduce job discrimination based on sex; and a fund was
established to pay child support until delinquent fathers can
be found and made to pay. Inheritance laws are still governed
by Islamic law, which favors male descendants. The husband is
still recognized as the head of the household, even though
maintenance of the family is a joint effort and the wife's
wishes are to be respected.
According to the 1989 census, 48.1 percent of females over the
age of 10 were illiterate, compared with 26.3 percent of
males. There is a significant trend, however, toward greater
educational and professional opportunities for women, and the
number of women in the medical, legal, and other professions
continued to grow steadily. Twenty-five percent of Tunisian
magistrates are women. In 1992 women comprised an estimated 25
percent of the work force, a figure that probably understates
their presence as many women were employed in the informal
sector and seasonally in agriculture. According to figures
released in 1992, 21 percent of civil service employees were
women, who were predominantly found in the fields of education,
health, and social affairs at the lower or middle levels.
Violence against women does occur, but there are no official
statistics or studies on the subject. In 1993 the Government
initiated a survey on violence against women. The media has
begun to break its silence on this issue, which had seldom been
raised publicly given the importance attached to family privacy
in this traditional society. A woman deputy called on the
Religious Affairs Minister to instruct religious leaders to
address the problem in mosques to emphasize that Islam does not
condone violence against women. The Tunisian Association of
Democratic Women (ATFD) operates a small office which provides
counseling services to battered and abused women 6 days a
week. An attorney and psychologist are on duty 2 days a week.
However, very few women have used the organization's services.
No other support groups or shelters are known to exist. A
battered woman was still most likely to seek shelter with her
extended family.
There are several active women's rights groups in Tunisia, the
most influential being the RCD-affiliated National Union of
Tunisian Women (UNFT), the Tunisian Association of Democratic
Women (ATFD), and the Tunisian section of the Worldwide
Movement of Mothers (MMM).
Children
Laws protecting the rights of children are included in statutes
governing education, health, inheritance, adoption, and child
custody. The Personal Status Code, in particular, provides
important guarantees for children in cases of adoption and the
right to custody of minor children in the case of death or
incapacitation of the father. Education is mandatory to age
16. The Government has an ambitious plan to reduce mortality
rates by reducing malnutrition, reducing the incidence of
low-weight births, and reducing iron and vitamin deficiencies
in women.
Indigenous People
The small Berber minority constitutes approximately 3 percent
of the population. Less than half of them have retained their
native language.
People with Disabilities
The rights of the people with disabilities are protected by a
law enacted in 1981 that prohibits discrimination based on
disabilities and mandates that at least 1 percent of public
agency and private sector employees be disabled persons. There
are approximately 10 nongovernmental organizations that address
the rights of disabled persons. These organizations receive
government financing administered by the Ministry of Social
Affairs and operate schools and other social programs for the
benefit of the disabled. They also bring pressure on the
Government to show sensitivity to the problems and rights of
the disabled. The Ministry of Education operates one school
for the deaf and two for the blind. All public buildings
constructed since 1991 must guarantee accessibility to
physically disabled persons. Many cities, including Tunis,
have begun to install wheelchair access ramps on city
sidewalks, and there is a general trend toward making public
transportation more accessible to disabled people. Disabled
persons also receive special cards from the Government which
entitle them to such benefits as unrestricted parking, priority
in receiving medical services, priority on public
transportation, and some discounts. Vehicles purchased to
transport disabled people are exempt from taxes and customs
duties.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The Tunisian Constitution and the Labor Code stipulate the
right of workers to form unions. The central labor federation,
the Tunisian General Federation of Labor (UGTT), claims about
15 percent of the work force as members, including civil
servants and employees of state owned enterprises. The UGTT
and its member unions are legally independent of the
Government, the ruling party, and other political forces but
operate under government regulations which have to some extent
restricted their freedom of action. The UGTT's membership and
officers include persons associated with all political
tendencies. The current leadership follows a policy of
cooperation with the Government, and there are credible reports
that the UGTT receives substantial subsidies from the
Government to supplement the officially mandated monthly union
contributions from UGTT members. Most incumbent UGTT officials
on the national, regional, and federation levels were reelected
in 1993 in voting which some observers claimed was influenced
by the Government.
Dissolution of a union requires action by the courts. There is
no requirement for a single trade union structure; the fact
that Tunisia has a single labor central (the UGTT) is a result
of historical circumstances, not government action. However,
the Government has decreed that UGTT member federations are the
labor negotiators for collective bargaining agreements which
cover 80 percent of the private sector work force, whether
unionized or not (see Section 6.b.).
Unions, including those for civil servants, have the right to
strike, provided 10 days' advance notice is given and the UGTT
approves. The 1993 report of the International Labor
Organization's (ILO) Committee of Experts (COE) cited the Labor
Code provision that the UGTT approve strikes as being
inconsistent with ILO Convention 87 on freedom of association.
However, these restrictions on strikes are rarely observed in
practice. In recent years, the majority of strikes were
illegal because they were not approved in advance. In the
first 6 months of 1993, there were 23 legal strikes and 245
illegal strikes. The Government did not prosecute workers
involved in illegal strike activity. Tunisian law prohibits
retribution against strikers, but some employers punish
strikers who are then forced to pursue costly and
time-consuming legal remedies to protect their rights. Labor
disputes are settled through conciliation panels on which labor
and management are equally represented. If conciliation fails,
arbitration may be pursued, provided both sides agree on an
arbitrator. The need for agreement, however, has meant that
the latter mechanism is rarely used. Nearly all strikes in
1993 were settled through conciliation.
Unions in Tunisia are free to join federations and
international bodies. The UGTT is a member of the
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and various
regional groupings.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The right to organize and bargain collectively is protected by
law and practiced throughout the country. Wages and working
conditions in Tunisia are set through the negotiation by the
UGTT member federations and employer representatives of
approximately 47 collective bargaining agreements which set
standards applicable to entire industries in the private
sector. The UGTT is by law the labor negotiator for these
agreements, which cover 80 percent of the private sector work
force, whether unionized or not. The Government's role in
concluding these agreements is minimal. It has, however, lent
its good offices if talks appear to be stalled. The Government
must approve the collective bargaining agreements (although it
cannot modify them) and publish them in the official journal
before these agreements acquire legal validity. No agreement
between a union and an individual firm may be concluded unless
there already exists an agreement applicable to that firm's
economic sector.
The UGTT also negotiates with the various ministries and 208
state-run enterprises in the public sector. In 1993 the UGTT
concluded 3-year public and private sector collective
bargaining agreements calling for an average 5 percent annual
wage increase.
Antiunion discrimination by employers against union members and
organizers is prohibited by law, and there are mechanisms for
resolving such disputes. However, the UGTT has complained
about what it claims are increasingly vigorous antiunion
activities by private sector employers, particularly the firing
of union activists and employers' use of temporary workers as a
pretext to avoid unions, which in certain factories, especially
in the textile sector, account for up to 80 percent of the work
force. The Labor Code extends the same worker rights
protection to temporary workers as to permanent workers, but
its enforcement in the case of the former is much more
difficult.
Two export processing zones, authorized by a 1992 law, have not
yet begun operations. Workers in export firms have the same
right to organize, bargain collectively, and strike as those in
nonexport firms. The unionization rate is about the same, even
though export firms are more likely to be antiunion. The State
pays the employer contribution to the social security system if
the firm produces primarily for export.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
Compulsory labor is not specifically prohibited by Tunisian
law, but there have been no reports of its practice in recent
years.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
For manufacturing, the minimum age for employment is 15 years;
in agriculture it is 13. Tunisian children are required to
attend school until age 16. Inspectors from the Social Affairs
Ministry check the records of employees to verify that the
employer complies with the minimum age law. Despite this law,
young children often perform agricultural work in rural areas
and sell food and other items in urban areas. Small
enterprises in the informal sector (which employs approximately
20 percent of the work force) reportedly violate the minimum
age law frequently. The UGTT has expressed concern that child
labor--frequently disguised as apprenticeship--still exists,
principally in the traditional craft sectors such as ceramics
and stone carving. Young girls from rural areas are sometimes
placed as domestics in urban homes by their fathers, who
collect the child's wages. Workers between the ages of 14 and
18 are prohibited from working from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Children
over 14 may work a maximum of 4.5 hours a day. The combination
of school and work may not exceed 7 hours.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The Labor Code provides for a range of administratively
determined minimum wages. Two increases in both the
agricultural and industrial minimum wage in 1993 followed the
rise in the cost of living. Even supplemented by
transportation and family allowances, the minimum wage is
barely adequate to provide a decent living for a worker and his
family. Effective in August 1993, the minimum monthly
industrial wage is roughly $127 (127 Tunisian dinars) for a
40-hour workweek and $145 for a 48-hour week. The minimum
agricultural wage was set at $4.36 per day.
Tunisia's Labor Code sets a standard 48-hour workweek for most
sectors and requires one 24-hour rest period. The workweek is
40 hours for those employed in the energy, transportation,
petrochemical, and metallurgy sectors.
Regional labor inspectors are responsible for enforcing
standards. Most firms are inspected about once every 2 years.
However, the Government often encounters difficulty in
enforcing the minimum wage law, particularly in nonunionized
sectors of the economy. Moreover, a considerable amount of
labor takes place in the informal sector, which falls outside
the purview of labor legislation.
The Social Affairs Ministry has an office with responsibility
for improving health and safety standards in the workplace.
There are special government regulations covering many
hazardous jobs--e.g., mining, petroleum engineering, and
construction. Although the Ministry maintains offices
throughout the country, these regulations are enforced more
strictly in Tunis than in other regions, where much work,
especially in construction, is performed in the informal
sector. Working conditions and standards tend to be better in
firms that are export-oriented than in those producing for the
domestic market. Industrial accidents rose 19 percent to an
annual rate of 36,693 in 1992, despite an intensive public
awareness campaign in the media. Workers are free to remove
themselves from dangerous situations without jeopardizing their
employment. Workers may take legal action against employers
who retaliate for taking such action.
[end of document]
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