Tunisian parliament to consider criminalizing racial discrimination
Though Tunisia was one of the first countries to abolish slavery, violence and discrimination against its black minority continues to plague the country, and proponents say an anti-discrimination law is long overdue.
TUNISIA — In an Aug. 29 joint press conference with the Association of Ivorian Students and Interns in Tunisia, Yemina Thabet, the head of the Tunisian Association for the Support of Minorities, called on the Tunisian parliament to speed up the ratification of the draft law criminalizing racism. Eight Ivorians were physically and verbally abused by Tunisians in late August.
The Tunisian Forum on Economic and Social Rights, the Euro-Mediterranean Network and the Committee for the Respect of Freedoms and Human Rights first proposed a bill to criminalize racial discrimination in Tunisia at a press conference in March 2016. In June 2016, the bill was submitted to the various parliamentary blocs.
