Tunisia: courts issue 11 death sentences in 15 days

The courts in Tunisia have issued 11 death sentences in less than 15 days, an anti-death penalty organisation has revealed. The Tunisian Coalition for the Abolition of the Death Penalty (CTCPM) said that the number of death sentences has increased dramatically since the start of this year.

The CTCPM has called on the Tunisian authorities to review both the civil and military legal systems as part of the necessary reforms in the country. Change is required, it says, to ensure compliance of the national legislation with international conventions for the protection of human rights.

The coalition warned against the negative repercussions of increasing the number of death sentences. Tunisia, it pointed out, is due to conduct the Universal Periodic Review before the Human Rights Council in May, and will be called upon to vote in December on the UN General Assembly resolution for a moratorium on the death penalty around the world.

According to the CTCPM, the retention of death sentences in Tunisia contradicts the general abolition of the death penalty in the majority of countries. Even those states which have retained the ultimate penalty in law, it noted, have basically abolished it in practice.

The death penalty, it added, deflects Tunisia from the positive path on which it embarked 30 years ago, and has remained faithful to post-revolution. Tunisia voted in favour of the UN General Assembly producing a resolution for the global suspension of the death penalty.

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