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On Wednesday, the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), an international coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), called on Tunisian authorities to eliminate torture and fight against impunity for torture cases.

This came for the first time in Tunisia during a press conference in the capital Tunis on the occasion of the annual meeting of the OMCT’s executive council, on 2 and 3 October.

During the meeting, Mokhtar Al-Trifi, the vice president of the organisation (its headquarters in Geneva), said in press statements that “Tunisia has made progress at the level of freedoms, human rights and fighting against torture regarding the Constitution and laws. But, this remains incomplete unless torture is effectively fought, through the elimination of impunity for torture crimes.”

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He added: “We noticed that a large number of those who were subjected to torture lodge complaints to courts, but their complaints are often not seriously considered.”

He continued saying that “the organisation has filed a large number of torture crimes documents, through its offices in the provinces of Sidi Bouzid (centre) and El Kef (northwest), and the vast majority of these cases are still pending.”

Al-Trifi added also that “it is strange that no case related to torture crime has been handed down and no one has ever been sentenced to a final verdict of torture.”

“During the meeting that we held two days ago with Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi and Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, we stressed that the security and judicial system must be reformed so that Tunisia meets its commitments in terms of the international conventions against torture that state that the country must put all its capabilities to prosecute torture, take care of the victims and compensate them, which has not been done yet,” explained Al-Trifi.

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From her part, during the conference, Head of the OMCT Hina Jilani noticed “a great progress in establishing a good legal framework against torture, but there is still impunity… Many cases and complaints before the courts have not been resolved yet.”

She added: “During our meeting with Beji Caid Essebsi and Yousef Chahed, we expressed our concern over continuous torture crimes and impunity.”

At its annual meeting in Tunisia, the organisation launched a new global initiative, “Civil Society Against Torture,” in order to urge worldwide civil society organisations to fight torture.