More than 70 arrested in Tunisia’s anti-LGBT crackdown
LGBT rights advocates declare ‘Queer State of Emergency’ — again.
Tunisia has launched a campaign of arrests targeting the nation’s queer citizens.
The LGBTQ rights advocacy group Damj (the Tunisian Association for Justice and Equality) reports that 71 LGBTQIA+ citizens, mostly transgender women, have been arrested, and 32 have already been sentenced to prison terms ranging from 8 months to 3 years.
This is happened at multiple locations — in Greater Tunis, Medenine, Sousse, and Sfax.
Same-sex intimacy is illegal in Tunisia with sentences of up to three years in prison. In addition, LGBTQ Tunisians are often arrested on charges of violating vaguely defined “indecency” laws that provides for up to six months’ imprisonment.
Damj says that the laws criminalize individuals based on their gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation. Arrests often rely on “evidence” as trivial as lubricant, condoms, women’s clothing, or private conversations on queer dating apps.
For the second time in less than a year, Damj declared a “Queer State of Emergency” and reactivated its central emergency hotline for members of the LGBTQIA+ community to ensure immediate legal intervention. Damj had previously declared an emergency last February in response to a barrage of raids targeting LGBT+ people that was launched by Tunisia’s Ministry of the Interior.March,”
“These violations, reminiscent of medieval inquisitions, mark a deliberate attempt to roll back fundamental freedoms, dismantle human rights progress, and instill fear among LGBTQIA+ individuals and anyone who dares to live or express their identity freely,” Damj said.
In addition, Tunisian authorities have launched a new large-scale campaign to freeze and dissolve associations. These have included Damj allies the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (ATFD), the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES), and independent media platforms such as Nawaat, which Damj said is known for their courageous work on rights and freedoms.
“We are deeply concerned that Damj could be next in this systematic wave of repression. Should this happen, the impact on queer communities in Tunisia would be devastating, as we remain one of the very few organizations still operating openly and directly on LGBTQIA+ rights in the country,” Damj said..
In a Facebook post, Damj stated, “It has become clear that these campaigns are not just random or vengeful practices, but a strategy that the Tunisian state has spoken and insisted on to criminalize gender identities and sexual tendencies, and to apply penalties to substandard individuals who violate the official concept of the so-called ‘morals and public etiquette’. …
“[Damj] strongly condemns the anal examinations that the state is still conducting … and recalls that these tests are torture tests.”
