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Parliament votes to disband Tunisia's truth commission

The Tunisian Truth and Dignity Commission vows to continue its efforts to help victims of human rights violations, despite parliament's efforts to dissolve the group.
Tunisian mothers of a torture victims carry their sons' portraits as they arrive for a hearing before the The Truth and Dignity Commission (IVD) in Tunis on November 17, 2016.
Victims of murder, rape and torture under successive dictatorships started testifying on live television Thursday as Tunisia -- in a rare move for the Arab world -- tries to deal with decades of abuse.

The Truth and Dignity Commission (IVD) has tracked human rights violations committed between July 1955, a year before Tunisia gained
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After the Tunisian parliament voted not to extend the mission of a human rights commission for another year, victims' advocates labeled the vote invalid and warned politicians April 5 to expect repercussions, as commission members pledged to carry on with their work.

The Truth and Dignity Commission is an independent, constitutionally backed body tasked with implementing the transitional justice law by investigating gross human rights violations committed by the government since 1955, largely under the rule of former Presidents Habib Ben Ali Bourguiba and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The commission, which began its work in 2014 after the 2011 Tunisian revolution that launched the Arab Spring in the Middle East and Africa, has received tens of thousands of cases and is also responsible for helping victims recover and receive compensation.

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