Amnesty International released a report in February that said police used arrests, house searches, and travel restrictions to target individuals they perceived as radicalized due to their appearance or religious beliefs.
On May 10, a court in Tozeur sentenced two journalists – a brother and sister – to six months in prison for “insulting public servants during the performance of their duties,” after the brother and sister criticized security forces for regularly raiding their home, allegedly on suspicion that their sibling was affiliated with extremist religious groups.
According to media reports, in April authorities in Nabeul shut down a nightclub and detained its owner after videos appeared in social media of a British DJ playing a remix of the Islamic call to prayer at the club. A court sentenced the DJ to one year in prison for public indecency and offending public morality, although he had already left the country by the time of the sentence. He reportedly deleted his Facebook account after receiving death threats.
On June 1, during Ramadan, police arrested four individuals in Bizerte for public indecency for eating in public during daytime, and a court subsequently sentenced them to one month in prison. The same court in Bizerte issued the same sentence to an individual who was arrested for smoking in public during Ramadan. Following these arrests, there were several protests in Tunis against what the protestors described as the violation of personal freedoms. While the Tunis governor stated publicly on May 29 there was no campaign to close cafes during Ramadan, and the minister of interior reiterated this during his June 2 public condemnation of the court’s decision to jail the four men, media reported sporadic harassment of restaurant and cafe owners, and individuals eating in public during daylight hours.
On September 15, community leaders reported police detained a 20-year-old Bahai student without a criminal record and interrogated him at the Monastir police station for three hours, with the majority of the questions related to his religious beliefs, practices, and connections in the Bahai community. The youth was released without charge. Bahai community leaders stated this case represented the lack of government acceptance of their faith.
The court of first instance of Tunis announced on June 6 a one-month suspension of Hizb Ettahrir Party activities for violating the law requiring associations and political parties to respect the rule of law and basic democratic principles, and prohibiting them from encouraging violence, hatred, intolerance, or discrimination on the basis of religion. Hizb Ettahrir’s platform includes the establishment of an Islamic caliphate that, according to media reports, would impose its religious beliefs on other citizens in contravention of the protections of religious freedom established in and provided by the constitution. The court concurred with the claim submitted by the office in charge of political parties and associations that the party had incited hatred and advocated the establishment of an Islamic state. The party resumed its activities following the one-month suspension. This followed a number of earlier cases against the party, including warnings that it violated the law. The party is banned in a number of other countries in the region, but successfully challenged a previous attempt by the government to ban it. At that time, the party released a statement saying the government would “soon have its hands and heads cut (off).” The party maintained a limited following, with no elected office holders or representation in parliament.
Members of the Bahai Faith cited several instances of restrictions on their ability to practice their faith. In spite of appeals to the government to grant them approval to establish an official association, most recently in 2014, the Prime Minister’s Office twice denied their application. Members of the Bahai Faith noted it was not possible for their community to establish houses of worship or conduct some religious activities while they lacked official recognition. Early in the year, the Bahai community submitted a formal request to the Ministry of Interior for permission for a dedicated cemetery to bury their dead. Without a dedicated cemetery, the Bahais have had to hide their religious affiliation to use cemeteries reserved for adherents of other, recognized faiths. As of the end of the year the ministry had not responded to the Bahai community’s request.
In October Bahais submitted a new request to the government (including the Prime Minister’s and President’s Offices) to recognize the Bahai Faith. Although the government did not officially respond to their request, members of the community noted increased government interest in learning about the Bahai Faith, and they said several constructive dialogues with government officials transpired since the submission of their request and the two public events the community hosted in October. In a November meeting, members of the Bahai Faith provided information about the faith to the Individual Freedoms and Equality Committee, an independent committee tasked by President Beji Caid Essebsi to provide recommendations on changes to existing laws and suggestions for new laws to ensure the country’s legislation protects individual freedoms and human rights.
Salafists said police profiled them on suspicion of terrorism under the continued state of emergency because of their dress and long beards, which they said they wore to emulate the Prophet Muhammad. Since 2014 more than 500 individuals filed complaints with the Tunisian Observatory for Rights and Freedoms, saying the government prevented them from traveling due to suspicion of extremism, and in some cases apparently based on their religious attire. The media also reported police and security forces harassed some women who wore the niqab.
The government publicly urged imams to disseminate messages of moderation and tolerance to counter what it said were threats of violent extremism. On March 20, the MRA launched a public campaign titled “Tomorrow Is Better” to fight extremism and promote tolerance. During the ministry’s press conference, then minister Mohamed Khalil urged imams and religious preachers to promote peace and tolerance as representative of true Islamic values. On October 26, during a seminar organized by the ministry on religious tolerance and coexistence, his successor Minister Ahmed Adhoum emphasized that peace and religious tolerance were essential to countering terrorism. According to several local mosque committees in charge of mosque operations and chosen by congregation members, the government generally allowed the committees to manage the daily affairs of their mosques and choose their own imams, with the exception of imams for Friday prayers, who were selected exclusively by the MRA. Regional MRA representatives within each governorate had to vet, approve, and appoint both the committees and the imams. According to an official from the MRA, the government standardized and enforced mosque opening and closing times, except for certain mosques with cultural or historical significance and very small community mosques.
On December 12, the MRA officially launched its “Hand in Hand” initiative managed by the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy and funded with support by the Canadian government. The imitative began in mid-year with a series of training sessions for imams and other religious figures that focused on strategies for youth engagement and on the promotion of democratic values through dialogues on religion in an effort to counter extremism and terrorism.
Members of the Christian community reported the government allowed churches to operate freely in addition to providing security. The government, however, restricted public religious services or processions outside the churches.
Church members reported several instances of harassment, including prolonged questioning of a Christian during a routine renewal of a passport.
Some Christians reported undergoing mandatory civil procedures for marriage, divorce, and inheritance that contained elements of Islamic practice and thus were not applicable to their faith.
On September 14, the government cancelled a provision of law from 1973 that had prevented the marriage of Muslim women to non-Muslim men unless they presented proof of conversion to Islam. Until then, non-Muslim men – almost exclusively foreigners – who wished to marry Muslim women had to convert to Islam and submit a certificate of their conversion.
Jewish groups said they continued to worship freely, and the government continued to pay the salary of the grand rabbi. The government continued to provide security for synagogues and partially subsidized restoration and maintenance costs. Government employees maintained the Jewish cemetery in Tunis.
Authorities provided a heightened level of security for the annual festival held at the El-Ghriba Synagogue in Djerba in May, including security cameras and personnel around the synagogue.
In accordance with government permits, the Jewish community operated private religious schools, and Jewish children were allowed to split their academic day between public schools and private religious schools or attend either school fulltime. The government-run Essouani School and the Houmt Souk Secondary School in Djerba remained the only public schools where Jewish and Muslim students studied together, primarily because of the small size and geographic concentration of the Jewish community. At these schools, Muslim students attended Islamic education lessons on Saturdays while their Jewish classmates could choose to attend classes on religion at a Jewish school in Djerba.
In October the government approved an application for the creation of the Tunisian Council of Secularism, an openly atheist association with a stated mission to fight for individual rights and liberties, social justice, and peace.