Special Rapporteur Clément Voule undertook an official country visit to Tunisia from 17 to 28 September 2018. The objective of the mission was to assess the situation of peaceful assembly and association rights within the country.

The findings and recommendations of the Special Rapporteur Voule were presented to the Human Rights Council during its 41st session in June 2019.

The visit came at a time where the country underwent a post-revolutionary and democratic transition phase following the overthrowal of the Ben Ali regime in 2011.

The Special Rapporteur commended the Government for being exemplary in the region in successfully and peacefully leading the country through its democratic transition in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings. The swift adoption of its new constitution in 2014, and the democratic presidential elections held in that same year, followed by municipal elections in 2018 were an important milestone. But he expressed concern that the very fragile nature of the democratization process might trigger a backslide in the country’s democratic development.

The Special Rapporteur welcomed the growing number of civil society associations in the country and stressed that their work should not be hindered by burdensome legal requirements.

Tunisia’s inclusion on a list of high-risk countries in terms of money laundering and financing of terrorism, due to the shortcomings of its banking system when it comes to tracing the origin of funds is partly to blame. The Special Rapporteur urged the Government to ensure associations are not unduly impacted in the implementation of these controls.

The Special Rapporteur noted that a national open dialogue is key in addressing social and economic issues the country faces, and to bolster the people’s trust in the government. However, this dialogue can only truly be fruitful and open if the right to free assembly and association is fully upheld, as this is the right that allows the people to fully express their concerns.

The report goes on to provide a series of specific recommendations to safeguard the democratic advances that have already been made and to facilitate the promotion of an environment that enables the right to association and that is protective of FOAA rights in general.

 

Read UNSR Voule’s End of Mission Statement here

 

Read the full report (A/HRC/41/41/Add.3) in all UN languages here