Collective Aivil for FreedomsIndividuals welcomes the press release issued by the Council of the Order of Physicians on April 3, 2017. The latter confirms and strengthens its honorable position of September 28, 2015, in the "Marouane" case. He considers that " the practice of a genital or anal examination to verify or confirm the nature of a person's sexual practices without their free and informed consent is an affront to their dignity. » ;
The collective appreciates the explicit reference of the Order Council to the Constitution of January 27, 2014, more specifically to its article 23 on the protection of the dignity and integrity of persons and on the imprescriptibility of the crime of torture. He considers this referral as a positive step, which confirms the appropriation by actors of civil society of the ideal of a rule of law, civil and democratic.
The collective supports this position to which it has called since its creation in January 2016. It considers these practices as acts of torture or cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment and calls for their ban from any judicial investigation as a means of proof and recalls that these examinations that have "no medical benefit" have been condemned by the United Nations Committee against Torture, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions.
The Collective expresses its wish to see the Council of the Order of Physicians - which “ strongly condemns any unjustified medical examination and / or affecting the dignity and physical or mental integrity of the person examined ... "- take the measures required by law and the code of medical ethics on offenders among doctors and health professionals.
The Civil Collective for Individual Freedoms calls on magistrates to refrain from ordering this type of examination and to align themselves, like the Council of the Order of Physicians, with the provisions of the 2014 Constitution. He reminds the judges that the supreme text gives them the high magisterium of being the guarantors and guardians of rights and freedoms (articles 49 and 102 of the Constitution of January 27, 2014).
Le collectif rappelle que le Comité contre la torture des Nations Unies a recommandé dans ses observations finales concernant le troisième rapport périodique de la Tunisie (juin 2016) que l’Etat tunisien « should repeal Article 230 of the Criminal Code, which penalizes consensual relations between adults of the same sex. It should also prohibit intrusive medical examinations which have no medical justification and cannot be granted in a free and informed manner by the people who undergo them and who will therefore be prosecuted.« . (CAT/C/TUN/CO/3).
The Civil Collective for Individual Freedoms
The petitioners :
- الجمعية التونسية للنساء الديمقراطيات ATFD
– جمعية بيتي BEITY
– الجمعية التونسية للدفاع عن الحريات الفرديةADLI
– جمعية توحيدة بالشيخ TAWHIDA BEN CHEIKH
– جمعية وعي WAII
– جمعية شمسSHAMS
– جمعية دمج الجمعية التونسية للعدالة والمساواة DAMJ
– جمعية شوفCHOUF
– جمعية الحق في الاختلاف ADD
– الجمعية التونسية لمقاومة الأمراض المنقولة جنسيا والسيدا ATL MST SIDA
– الجمعيةالتونسية للصحةالانجابيةATSR
– الجمعية التونسية للوقاية الإيجابية ATP+
– مبادرة موجودين للمساواة MAWJOUDIN
– جمعية رؤية حرةFREE SIGHT
– التحالف من أجل نساء تونس COALITION POUR LES FEMMES DE TUNISIE
– رابطة الناخبات التونسيات
– الرابطة التونسية للدفاع عن حقوق الإنسانLTDH
– جمعية تحدي TAHADDI
– الشبكة الاورومتوسطيةللحقوقEUROMED DROITS
– الشبكة الاورومتوسطيةللحقوقEUROMED DROITS
– المنظمة الدولية لمناهضة التعذيب OMCT
– الفدرالية الدولية لحقوق الإنسانFIDH
– منظمة أوكسفامOXFAM
– هيومنرايتسووتشHRW
Dated:
Monday, April 10, 2017