Report submitted by Tunisia

Part of Tunisia's report deals with progress made in diffusing a culture of Human Rights.

43. In accordance with the objectives laid down in international human rights instruments, human rights education has been introduced as widely as possible while appropriate programmes for the revision of all school curricula, including all textbooks without exception, have been implemented at the various levels of primary and secondary education. Human rights education has also been extended to all higher education bachelor’s or master’s degrees, in the form of compulsory cross-cutting modules.

44. Efforts in this regard have been aimed, in particular, at rooting out all forms of indoctrination from curricula and restoring the core mission of schools and the various educational institutions in accordance with the 1991 Act on the education system, namely:

• “To prepare young people for a life that leaves no room for any form of discrimination or segregation based on sex, social origin, race or religion”  
• “To offer pupils the right to develop their personality and help them to achieve their own maturity in such a way that they become educated in the values of tolerance and moderation”.

These strategic guidelines were reaffirmed and strengthened in 2002 in the context of the education system reform aimed at enabling schools to provide education based on the promotion of human rights, the rejection of discrimination, extremism and all forms of fanaticism.

45. By way of illustration, Tunisian religious instruction manuals, in particular those intended for upper secondary school pupils, place emphasis, inter alia, on the following themes: “the need to avoid religious conflict”, “knowledge as a bulwark against fanaticism”, “education as a factor of freedom and harmonization of religion and modernity”, “education as the enemy of dictatorship”, “the Age of Enlightenment in Europe”, “the importance of consultation, tolerance and dialogue”.

46. These same guidelines are applied in higher education where human rights education, in accordance with Tunisian legislation and international instruments, and in the context of the implementation of the new Bachelor’s/Master’s/Doctorate reform, is a compulsory cross-cutting module in all bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

47. A culture of human rights is also spread through the training and retraining programmes of a number of occupational groups, notably judges, lawyers, law-enforcement officials, prison personnel, health workers including psychologists, and social workers. Thus, two decisions of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights dated 26 June 1993 introduced this subject into the training programmes implemented by the Higher Institute of the Judiciary for serving judges, junior magistrates and judicial officials acting as a public officer. Other institutions are participating in these programmes, such as the Centre for Legal and Judicial Studies (established in 1992) and the Prisons and Rehabilitation Training School (established in 1996).

48. In the context of its commitment to the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004) and of the implementation of the first phase of its new programme (2005-2007), the Government supported organizations and associations in such activities as studies, training courses, seminars and other events for awareness-raising, teaching and dissemination of human rights values and rules.

 

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NGO Contributions - Tunisia

Many NGOs have submitted reports, two of them concerning education:  the Congrès Mondial Amazigh and Tamazgha

AKHR: Al Karama for Human Rights;

AI: Amnesty International;

ARSIC: Association de Recherches en Sciences de l’Information et de la Communication;

APT: Association des Parlementaires Tunisiens;

ATUCOM: Association Tunisienne de Communication;

ATCT: Association Tunisienne de la Culture Numérique;

ATDE: Association Tunisienne des Droits de l’Enfant;

ATSIDA: Association Tunisienne de lutte contre les maladies sexuellement transmissibles et le SIDA;

ATSN: Association Tunisienne de Solidarité Numérique;

ATM: Association Tunisienne des Mères;

ATIM: Association Tunisienne d’Internet et de Multimédia;

ATTR: Association Tunisienne pour le développement de la Technologie numérique et des Ressources humaines;

ATLAS: Association Tunisienne pour l’Auto-Développement et la Solidarité;

ATPNE: Association Tunisienne pour la Protection de la Nature et de l’Environnement;

ATVT: Association tunisienne pour les victimes de terrorisme;

CMA: Congrès Mondial Amazigh;

FTSS: Fédération de Tunis pour la Solidarité Social;

FIDH/CNLT/LTDH: Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l’Homme/Conseil national pour les libertés en Tunisie/Ligue tunisienne des droits de l’Homme, rapport conjoint;

FL: Front Line Defenders of Human Rights defenders - International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders;

GIECP: Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children; HRW: Human Rights Watch;

ILGA: (ILGA-Europe, Pan African ILGA, Coalition of African Lesbians, The Rainbow Project, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission and ARC International), rapport conjoint;

ICJ: International Commission of Jurists;

PEN: International PEN, International Publishers’ Association, World Press Freedom Committee;

IHRC: Islamic Human Rights Commission;

La Fondation El Kef pour le Développement Régional;

ONET: Organisation Nationale de l’Enfance Tunisienne;

Organisation Tunisienne de Défense du Consommateur;

Organisation Tunisienne de l’Education de la Famille;

Organisation Tunisienne des Jeunes Médecins Sans Frontières (Association Tunisienne des Diabétiques);

Panafrican Federation of Disable Peoples;

RSF: Reporters sans Frontières;

Tamazgha;

TMG: Tunisia Monitoring Group;

Union Nationale de la Femme Tunisienne;

Union Tunisienne d’Aide aux Insuffisants Mentaux;

VA: Vérité Action;

OMCT: World Organisation Against Torture;

National Human Rights Institution: CSDHLFT: Comité Supérieur des Droits de l’Homme et des Libertés Fondamentales de Tunisie.

HRC Summary - Tunisia

Education has been dealt with twice.

 7. In its contribution, the Amazigh World Congress (CMA) expressed concern at the fact that legislation and institutional practice try to promote the Arab-Islamic identity exclusively and that, in its view, Tunisia simply denies the very existence of hundreds of thousands of Tunisian Amazighs, who comprise an indigenous non-Arabic population with its own identity (language, traditions, culture, etc). Similar concerns were raised by Tamazgha, which further indicated that the Berber language is not taught in the Tunisian educational system and that textbooks do not cover the Berbers’ history or civilization. Tamazgha further added that the Berber culture is not one of the targets for cultural development, promotion and support projects.

8. Concerns were also expressed by CMA at the fact that, as Amazigh society and culture are invisible, Amazigh children go through an education system that falsifies their history, conflicts with their personal beliefs, suppresses their freedom of conscience and despises their culture. CMA notes that the Amazigh do not have the right to form social or cultural associations; Amazigh given names are banned, there is no news in the Amazigh language in the written press or the State broadcast media in Tunisia; no Amazigh cultural activity receives State funding; and Amazigh groups in Tunisia have no right to cultural expression in their own language. Similar concerns were echoed by Tamazgha. Furthermore, according to CMA, he system of police surveillance and “preventive” institutional violence (threats, intimidation) act as effective deterrents, and Amazighs in Tunisia dare not even say openly and without fear that they are Amazighs and they even stop themselves speaking their language in public. They are thus safe from police threats, but at the price of silence and the repression of their identity.

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HRC Recommendations - Tunisia

Of th 12 recommendations received by Tunisia, just one was on education

A.1 Recommends that Tunisia pursue its programmes and consolidated approach in the promotion and protection of all human rights including in the field of education, health and the promotion of the status of women (Syrian Arab Republic) as well as the empowerment of women. (Cuba)

Report submitted by Tunisia 2nd cycle

Tunisia's report deals with education several times, devoting one point (60) to Human Rights Education.

5. Creation of stakeholders in the sphere of human rights

60. Tunisia follows a policy of human rights education consistent with the wider directions of phase two of the 2010-2014 action plan of the World Programme for Human Rights Education, prepared by OHCHR in consultation with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This plan focuses on human rights education in higher education, for teachers, educators and staff, as well as those responsible for law enforcement, including judges, lawyers, prison staff, internal security officials and those employed in the social and military spheres.

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NGO Contributions - Tunisia

The following have contributed to the UPR:

AI Amnesty International, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland;

AISPP Association internationale de soutien aux prisonniers politiques, Tunisia;

Alkarama Alkarama, Geneva, Switzerland;

ATDP Association tunisienne pour le développement politique tunisien, Tunisia;

ATJA Association tunisienne des jeunes avocats, Tunis, Tunisia;

CMA Congrès mondial Amazigh, Paris, France;

CNLT Conseil national pour les Libertés en Tunisie, Tunis, Tunisia;

CTPDPSH Collectif tunisien pour la promotion des droits des personnes en situation de handicap; Tunis, Tunisia;

ECLJ European Centre for Law and Justice, Strasbourg, France;

GIEACPC Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland;

HRW Human Rights Watch, New York, United States of America;

IFEX-TMG International Freedom of Expression Exchange Tunisia Monitoring Group (IFEXTMG) composed of: ARTICLE 19, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), GE.12-11792 13 Cartoonists Rights Network International, Index on Censorship, International Publishers Association (IPA), Norwegian PEN, World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), and the Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of PEN International; Joint Submission;

JS1 Joint Submission 1 submitted by Arab NGO Network for Development; The Forum for Social Sciences in Tunisia; and The Center for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights-Tunisia;

JS2 Joint Submission 2 by Amnesty International - Section de Tunisie, Association internationale de soutien aux prisonniers politiques, Association des juges tunisiens, Association tunisienne des femmes démocrates, Association tunisienne de tolérance, Tunisian Forum For Youth Empowerment, Forum Al Jahed, Union des Diplômés Chômeurs; Tunisia;

JS3 Association tunisienne de lutte contre les maladies sexuellement transmissibles et le sida (ATLMSTSIDA) and Association tunisienne de prévention de la toxicomanie (ATUPRET), Tunisia, Joint Submission; JS4 Observatoire «VIH et droits Humains» and Association tunisienne pour la défense des libértés individuelles, Tunis, Tunisia (joint submission);

LTDH Ligue tunisienne pour la défense des droits de l’homme, Tunis, Tunisia;

OCTT Organisation contre la torture en Tunisie, Tunis, Tunisia.

HRC Summary - Tunisia 2nd cycle

The summary by the High Commissionner for Human Rights talks about education only at point 69.

69. JS1 (1) recommended that Tunisia immediately rehabilitate and support the infrastructure of the damaged schools; guarantee equal access of all citizens in all regions to education; and continue revising the education curricula. 130

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(1) JS1 Joint Submission 1 submitted by Arab NGO Network for Development; The Forum for Social Sciences in Tunisia; and The Center for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights-Tunisia

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HRC Recommendations - Tunisia 2nd cycle

Recommendations which deal with education

19. Enhance measures on public awareness-raising and professional education to support the implementation of the law of 2010 amending article 319 of the Penal Code to remove the clause which provided a legal defence for the use of corporal punishment in child rearing (Indonesia);

21. Continue its efforts in strengthening the education system and the legal framework to protect the rights of children in accordance with its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Singapore);

24. Adopt and implement appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities, particularly women and girls, have access to an inclusive education system, and that they can participate effectively and fully in political and public life on an equal basis with others (Portugal);

70. Continue to seek technical cooperation and assistance in the field of human rights education and training (Thailand);

85. Continue to pursue current policies to ensure the enjoyment of all human rights by all Tunisians, particularly with regard to health and education (Cuba);

91. Pursue and strengthen efforts to eradicate differences between the regions and between urban and rural areas in the sphere of education (Djibouti);

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