Tunisia: Whether the army in Tunisia practises torture; information on military detention centres; whether "army" and "national guard" are synonymous
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 December 2003 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | TUN42234.FE |
| Reference | 1 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Tunisia: Whether the army in Tunisia practises torture; information on military detention centres; whether "army" and "national guard" are synonymous, 1 December 2003, TUN42234.FE, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/403dd21e0.html [accessed 4 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
No information on whether the army or members of the military in Tunisia practise torture could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints for this Response. However, all the sources consulted that mention torture did state that it was used by one of the numerous police forces under the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior (FIDH Nov. 1998, intro.; AI 2003, 252; Country Reports 2002 31 Mar. 2003, intro.).
It is worth noting that Tunisia is a signatory to the United Nations Convention against Torture (AI 2 Nov. 1995, 3). Starting in 1987, the Tunisian government, under Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, promised a return to respect for human rights by adopting new laws against torture and by freeing thousands of political prisoners (ibid.). Nevertheless, since the government launched a campaign to suppress members and supporters of the Islamist opposition party, En Nahda, in 1990, the human rights situation in Tunisia has deteriorated considerably (ibid., 4). Despite the fact that, since then, the government has created new commissions defending human rights, cases of torture have never been properly investigated (ibid., 7). Judicial reforms introduced in 1999 to reduce the chances of torture and of arbitrary detention and arrest had little effect (Freedom House 9 July 2003). Several non-governmental organizations indicated that the perpetrators of acts of torture enjoy absolute impunity, which only seems to encourage the practice (Beau and Tuquoi 1999, 106-107; AI 11 July 2003; CNLT 15 Mar. 2000, 14).
Toward the end of the 1980s, torture had become common practice at offices of the National Guard (L'Autre Tunisie 27 Sept. 2003). Merely a decade later, the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) had a long list of locations where torture was practised, including
[translation]
. . . the Ministry of the Interior offices in Tunis, Bouchoucha and Mornag; in police stations (Soukra, Den Den, Bardo, Ariana, Jendouba, Sousse, Monastir, Kebili, Downtown Tunis, Sfax, Beja, Kasserine, Sidi Thabet, Krib, Metlaoui, El Fahs, Metline, Sakiet Eddaïr...); in offices of the security force (Jbiniana); in National Guard offices (Nabeul, El Aouina; in El Kef); in military detention centres (Remada); and in prisons. Special facilities exist at the DSE [State Security Directorate] offices attached to the Ministry of the Interior in Tunis, in downtown Bouchoucha and Mornag, and at the Aouina National Guard office. Certain prisons are equipped with rooms reserved specifically for torture: there are two at the 9 avril prison in Tunis (in pavilion E and under the central garden). "Villas" have been converted into secret torture centres in Naassen (Governorate of Ben Arous). When the commissary has no special location, the torture takes place in offices... (Nov. 1998, intro.).
No other mention of military detention centres, other than that in the FIDH report cited above, could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. The National Council for Liberties in Tunisia indicated that some locations have become [translation] "torture factories" and mentioned more specifically the commissaries, the Ministry of the Interior and the Bouchoucha police station (15 Mar. 2000, 14). Since General Ben Ali's 1987 coup, [translation] "the offices of the Ministry of the Interior have been transformed into a detention and torture centre" (L'Autre Tunisie 27 Sept. 2003).
According to the FIDH, torture is practised by several groups, in particular [translation] "government officials, employees of the Ministry of the Interior, the National Guard, the police, and individuals acting under their influence" (Nov. 1998). In 1986, General Habib Ammar, former Minister of the Interior, created the National Directorate of Special Services, which is responsible for torturing hundreds of people who opposed the Tunisian government (L'Autre Tunisie 27 Sept. 2003).
It is important to note that, according to numerous sources, arrests are typically made by plainclothes officers (AI 7 May 2003; HRW Mar. 2000). Furthermore, the anonymity of the arresting officers is protected because Tunisian law does not require them to produce arrest warrants or to identify themselves (AI Mar. 1992, 6).
So that they have no right of appeal, people who are arrested are often forced to appear before military courts rather than civil courts (BBC 10 June 2003; Freedom House 9 July 2003). The enormous power of the military courts is drawn from Article 5 of the Tunisian Code of Military Justice, which grants them jurisdiction over all matters of national security (even if the accused is a civilian), and from Article 9, which states that "the military court has absolute authority to decide whether or not an offence falls under its jurisdiction" (LCHR Oct. 1993, 30). Those who appear before a military court are made to wait in the same detention centres as those who appear before a civil court (AI Sept. 1992, 9). Torture commonly occurs during the three-day maximum "garde à vue" period (which is generally illegally extended), while the accused is being held in custody before his or her court date (HRW Mar. 2000, Sec. IV).
Since the human rights situation in Tunisia deteriorated in 1990, a broader range of groups have become the target of torture (FIDH Nov. 1998). Among the thousands of political prisoners, the majority are prisoners of opinion (AI 2 Nov. 1995, 4). According to Freedom House, most of the approximately 1,000 political prisoners are sympathizers of the illegal Islamic group En Nahda (Renaissance) (9 July 2003). Some of these prisoners have been incarcerated for over ten years and live in [translation] "unacceptable" prison conditions (AI 29 Mar. 2002). Anyone suspected of being a member of a political party other than the party in power or of any association, such as [translation] "En Nahdha, Parti communiste des ouvriers de Tunisie [Tunisian Communist Labour Party] and its youth wing, the Union de la jeunesse communiste [Union of Communist Youth], ... Union générale tunisienne des étudiants [Tunisian General Student Union], ... Union générale des étudiants de Tunisie [General Students' Union of Tunisia], Mouvement des démocrates socialistes [Movement of Socialist Democrats]," is at risk of being taken into custody and tortured (FIDH Nov. 1998). Furthermore, the friends and family of such people, [translation] "ordinary citizens ... doctors, journalists, students, academics, ... certain emigrants who are summoned after their return to the country," as well as citizens arrested for minor offences, can also be subjected to torture (ibid.). Torture is used to coerce full confessions from these civilians (BBC 10 June 2003). The authorities base their actions on an
anti-terrorist policy, which has been strengthened since 11 September 2001, to punish all opposition to the government (AI 31 Jan. 2002).
The Tunisian military forces are divided into five branches: army, navy, air force, paramilitary forces and national guard (CIA World Factbook 2003). The National Guard itself is a paramilitary force and shares responsibility for internal security with the national police (also called "national security force") (Country Reports 2002 31 Mar. 2003, intro.; AI Mar. 1992, 6). Country Reports 2002 also indicated that "[t]he police operated in the capital [Tunis] and a few other cities. In outlying areas, their policing duties were shared with, or ceded to, the National Guard" (31 Mar. 2003, intro.). There are also other police forces in Tunisia, such as the Gendarmerie (another name for the National Guard) (L'Autre Tunisie 9 June 2003), the judicial police (a branch of the national security force), the Office of Territorial Surveillance (Direction de la surveillance du territoire, a political police force) and the Public Order Brigade (Brigade d'ordre publique, anti-riot police) (AI Mar. 1992, 6). The police and the National Guard are both under the control of the President of the Republic and the Office of National Security, part of the Ministry of the Interior (Country Reports 2002 31 Mar. 2003, intro.; AI Mar. 1992, 6). The army is under the control of the Minister of Defence and bears primary responsibility for [translation] "ensuring the security and integrity of the country and protecting the public" (Tunisia n.d.).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Amnesty International (AI). 11 July 2003. "Action urgente : craintes de torture/détention au secret." (AI Index: MDE 30/018/2003).
_____. 7 May 2003. "Urgent Action: Fear of Torture or Ill-treatment." (AI Index: MDE 30/004/2003).
_____. 2003. "Tunisia." Amnesty International Report 2003. New York: Amnesty International.
_____. 29 March 2002. "Tunisie : 'parodie de justice' et le tribut de la conscience." (AI Index: MDE 29/03/2002).
_____. 31 January 2002. "Tunisie : un tribunal militaire condamne des civils à de lourdes peines de réclusion." (AI Index: MDE 30/003/02).
_____. 2 November 1995. Tunisie : l'impunité favorise le renforcement de la répression. (AI Index: MDE 30/19/95). London: Amnesty International.
_____. September 1992. Tunisia: Heavy Sentences after Unfair Trials. (AI Index: MDE 30/23/92). London: Amnesty International.
_____. March 1992. Tunisia: Prolonged Incommunicado Detention and Torture. (AI Index: MDE 30/04/92). London: Amnesty International.
L'Autre Tunisie. 27 September 2003. "Sommet mondial sur la Société de l'information : l'OMCT et TRIAL demandent le retrait du Général Habib Ammar."
_____. 9 June 2003. "Interpellation de 14 clandestins en mer."
Beau, Nicolas and Jean-Pierre Tuquoi. 1999. Notre ami Ben Ali : l'envers du « miracle tunisien ». Paris: Éditions La Découverte.
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 10 June 2003. "Tunisia Accused of Rights Abuses."
CIA World Factbook. 2003. "Tunisia."
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2002. 31 March 2003. United States Department of State. Washington, DC.
Freedom House, Washington, DC. 9 July 2003. "Tunisia." Freedom of the World 2003: The Annual Survey of Political and Civil Liberties.
Human Rights Watch (HRW), New York. March 2000. "The Administration of Justice in Tunisia: Torture, Trumped-up Charges and a Tainted Trial."
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Paris. November 1998. No. 267. Rapport - ONU : Comité contre la torture-Tunisie.
Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (LCHR). October 1993. Promise Unfulfilled: Human Rights in Tunisia Since 1987. New York: Lawyers Committee for Human Rights.
National Council for Liberties in Tunisia (Conseil national pour les libertés en Tunisie, CNLT). 15 March 2000. Rapport sur l'état des libertés en Tunisie. Tunisia: National Council for Liberties in Tunisia.
Tunisia. n.d. Ministry of National Defence. "Ministère de la Défense nationale : rôle et attributions."
Additional Sources Consulted
Dialog
IRB Databases
Internet sites, including:
Ananova
Asylum Law, Country Conditions Reports
CNN
Committee for the Respect of Human Rights and Liberties in Tunisia (Comité pour le respect des libertés et des droits de l'homme en Tunisie)
Federation of American Scientists
International Crisis Group
Le Monde
National Criminal Justice Reference Service
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
La Presse (Tunisia)
Reporters sans frontières
Transparency International
United Kingdom, Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND)
United Nations
US Agency for International Development (USAID)
World News
World News Connection
World Organization against Torture (OMCT)
Zeitouna
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