{"id":34,"area":"Africa","region_name":"Tunisia","iso_2":"TN","region_sub":null,"legal_code_title":"Penal Code of 1913","legal_code_title_citation_1":"Text of the law is available at: https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/ELECTRONIC/61250/60936/F1198127290/TUN-61250.pdf","legal_code_title_citation_2":null,"legal_code_body":"Article 230 - “Sodomy, when not covered by any of the cases provided for in preceding articles, is punishable by three years’ imprisonment.”\n\nArticle 226 - “Anyone found guilty of deliberately and publicly promoting indecency shall be subject to six months’ imprisonment and a fine of 48 dinars.”","legal_code_body_citation_1":"‡ Unofficial translation","legal_code_body_citation_2":"258 Original text: ”La sodomie, si elle ne rentre dans aucun des cas prévus aux articles précédents, est punie de l’emprisonnement pendant trois ans.”","legal_code_body_citation_3":null,"legal_code_body_citation_4":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments":"Despite ardent opposition following its formation as a NGO in June 2015, the Tunisian organisation SHAMS (Sun) managed to get NGO accreditation as the deadline for complaint had expired in May 2015. However, the organisation was court- ordered to suspend its activities for 30 days in early-January 2016. \nSHAMS came to prominence around its December 2015 demonstrations centered on a young gay Tunisian man arrested in September 2015 who had been jailed after undergoing a forced anal exam to establish his sexual orientation. On Human Rights Day 2015 (10 December), six students were each given three years jail time under Article 230, but following an Appeals Court ruling in early-March 2016, their sentences were reduced to time already served. It is reported that one of these students refused to undergo a forced anal examination, and was subsequently tortured. Similar violations have since been reported, such as the arrest of two young men in Sousse in December 2016 and their conviction in early 2017. \nTunisia’s last session at the UPR was in May 2012, where it received (at para. 40) three recommendations to decriminalise same-sex sexual relationships and repeal the Article 230. It rejected all these recommendations, but did give the somewhat positive response that, “Regarding the decriminalization of homosexuality, Tunisia stated that it would be possible to conduct an objective and transparent national dialogue on the subject. However, it was not ready at this stage to adopt a decision”. Tunisia’s 3rd UPR commences in May 2017. \nIn its Concluding Observations on Tunisia in October 2016, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) recommends that the State immediately repeal article 230 of the Penal Code, and train law enforcement officials to respect the diversity of sexual orientation and gender identities (discussion had been raised around freedome of expression regarding SOGI). The Committee Against Torture’s Concluding Observations of November 2016 also called for decriminalization but also stressed the States should “prohibit intrusive medical examinations” [to determine sexual activity] “that have no medical justification and cannot be performed with the free and informed consent of the persons subjected to them, who consequently will then be prosecuted”.","legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_1":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_2":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_3":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_4":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_5":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_6":null,"legal_code_scruff_comments":null,"prison_term_min_length":null,"prison_term_max_length":3,"prison_term_notes":null,"prison_term_not_specified":null,"prison_term_years":true,"prison_term_life":null,"prison_term_mandatory":true,"fine_min_amount":null,"fine_max_amount":null,"fine_currency":null,"fine_notes":null,"fine_not_specified":null,"fine_amount":null,"fine_mandatory":null,"penalty_death":false,"penalty_death_notes":null,"penalty_corporal_punishment":null,"penalty_corporal_punishment_notes":null,"penalty_hard_labor":null,"penalty_hard_labor_notes":null,"penalty_banishment":null,"legal_code_explicitly_references_same_sex_acts":null,"legal_code_explicitly_references_acts_against_nature":null,"legal_code_differentiates_anal_sex_from_other_acts":true,"legal_code_indicates_hiv_as_aggravating_factor":null,"legal_code_indicates_age_of_consent_homosexual_acts_over_18":null,"existing_laws_used_to_target_gays_but_not_anti_gay":null,"islamic_sharia_law":null,"islamic_sharia_law_notes":null,"laws_subregional_variance_or_contradiction":null,"laws_subregional_variance_or_contradiction_notes":null,"laws_not_specifically_homophobic":null,"laws_status_unclear":null,"laws_status_unclear_notes":null,"persecution_non_state_agents":null,"criminalization_under_consideration":null,"recently_decriminalized":null,"propaganda_law_under_consideration":null,"propaganda_law_title":null,"propaganda_law_title_citation_1":null,"propaganda_law_body":null,"propaganda_law_body_citation_1":null,"propaganda_law_ilga_comments":null,"legal_developments_2023_2024_summary":"No current law explicitly criminalises consensual same-sex acts. A bill proposed by MP Mohammed Al-Ma'arafi (April 2023) to criminalise 'sexual deviance' (minimum 6 months' imprisonment plus a fine of up to ~5,300 USD, with added penalties for 'promoting' such conduct) passed Bahrain's House of Representatives in February 2024 and awaited Consultative Council review as of report cutoff.","legal_developments_2023_2024_citations":"ILGA World, Laws On Us: A Global Overview of Legal Progress and Backtracking on SOGIESC, 1st Ed. (Geneva, May 2024), p.49-50.","status_change_type":"Criminalization bill passed lower house, pending upper-house (Consultative Council) review"}