NNWN/05-08-2020

The Human Rights Watch has strongly reacted to the conviction of two men accused of sodomy. The international rights body said that the conviction was in contradiction to the rights to privacy and non discrimination under the international law which are also enshrined in Tunisia's 2014 constitution.
The two men ( both 26) were arrested by the police in June on the suspicion of same-sex conduct in Le Kef, a city 175 kilometers southwest of Tunis, after one of them filed a complaint against the other regarding an outstanding loan. The first instance court in Le Kef sentenced both men on June 6 to two years in prison for sodomy under article 230 of the penal code, which punishes consensual same-sex conduct with up to three years in prison. The lower court’s decision, which Human Rights Watch reviewed, was based on the defendants’ alleged “confessions” during the police investigation to engaging in same-sex relations, which both defendants repudiated before that court.
“The court’s insistence on upholding sodomy charges against the defendants and locking them up for one year is a grave injustice,” said Rasha Younes, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Tunisia needs to step up to its image as a guardian of individual freedoms and stop convicting people under article 230, while acting swiftly to abolish this law altogether.”
According to HRW Tunisia’s parliament should repeal penal code article 230, and the Justice Ministry should direct public prosecutors to abandon prosecutions under article 230 and issue a directive ordering prosecutors to stop sending detainees for anal examinations, “consensual” or not, as part of investigative procedures to determine suspects’ sexual behavior. Tunisia’s health minister should also direct all forensic doctors under the ministry’s authority to cease all anal examinations for these purposes and to respect people’s right to physical dignity and integrity.

How does Tunisian court's decision violate human rights of two convicts explains HRW

According to HRW Prosecutions for consensual sex in private between adults violate the rights to privacy and nondiscrimination guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Tunisia is a state party. The UN Human Rights Committee, which monitors compliance with the covenant, has made clear that sexual orientation is a status protected against discrimination under the ICCPR. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has found that arrests for same-sex conduct between consenting adults are, by definition, arbitrary.

“The Tunisian appeals court’s convictions of these men violate basic human rights principles, including the rights to privacy and nondiscrimination protected by the 2014 constitution,” Younes said.