Tunisia

Status

Tunisia acceded to the OPCAT in June 2011 and, after several discussions, a consensus emerged to establish a new specialised institution to perform the functions of NPM: the National Authority for the Prevention of Torture (Instance Nationale de la Prévention de la Torture). The Organic Law N° 2013-43 establishing the NPM was published in the Official Gazette of Tunisia in October 2013. The plenary of the National Constituent Assembly voted on a series of amendments proposed by members of the parliament, including increasing the length of the mandate to 7 years.

The draft law has been negotiated in a participatory process involving experts from civil society and the public administration and drawing on international best practices. Tunisia is the first State in North Africa and the Middle East to create a National Preventive Mechanism (NPM).

In November 2013, the transitory parliament of Tunisia launched the first public call for candidates for membership in the NPM. However, due to a lack of applications, the call for candidates was renewed several times throughout 2014 and 2015. In March 2016, the 16 members of the NPM were selected by the House of People’s Representatives.

The SPT carried out an NPM advisory visit to Tunisia from 12 to 14 April 2016. The SPT report has not been sent to the Tunisia authorities yet.

The SPT member who is the SPT Focal Point for Tunisia is available here.