Tunisia: Harassment, Arbitrary Detention of LGBT Rights Activist

 | 
03/10/2021

A Tunisian court sentenced a prominent LGBT rights activist on March 4, 2021, to six months in prison and a fine for shouting outside a police station after officers refused to register her harassment complaint, Human Rights Watch said today. The activist, Rania Amdouni, 26, is in a women’s prison in Manouba, west of Tunis, where her lawyer said she has faced harassment by prison guards due to her gender expression. Police arrested Amdouni on February 27 at 8 p.m. after she left the 7 eme police station in downtown Tunis in a distraught state, said her lawyer Hamadi Hanchiri. At the station, Hanchiri said, police officers had refused to register Amdouni’s complaint relating to repeated harassment she said police officers subjected her to on the street and online. Police officers in the station then proceeded to harass her based on her presumed sexual orientation and gender expression. Amdouni began shouting on the street outside the station and cursing the Tunisian police system, Hanchiri reported. “The police response to Amdouni’s complaint keeps her from getting protection and undermines public confidence in law enforcement and the Tunisian justice system,” said Rasha Younes, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Regions: ,

Share this:

Latest Global News

Added on: 04/28/2024
04/27/2024
The Biden administration announced a new rule Friday expanding safeguards against potential discrimination of gay and transgender Americans seeking medical care, in a reversal …
Added on: 04/28/2024
04/27/2024
Violence against women is an “epidemic” in Australia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday, as thousands attended rallies in Sydney and other major …
Added on: 04/28/2024
04/27/2024
The Russian Justice Ministry is looking to ban the “anti-Russian separatist movement” as an extremist organisation, it announced Friday. The movement’s goal is to …

Explore LGBTQ+ Issues

Other News from ,

Added on: 04/27/2024
Ghana, despite its more solid reputation for democracy and respect for human rights than authoritarian Uganda, is joining it in more stringently criminalising homosexuality …
Added on: 04/26/2024
Congolese member of parliament and former presidential candidate Constant Mutamba is standing by his bill that would criminalize gay sex for the first time in …
Added on: 04/25/2024
A UK minister has claimed that Rwanda is a “progressive” country where LGBTQ+ migrants will be safe, despite warnings from queer charities. Illegal migration minister Michael …