Tunisian Association of Defending Individual Liberties –TADIL

1. TADIL’S PRESENTATION:

1.1. CREATION
As a non-profit association, TADIL has been conceived and created after January 14th, 2011. The creation of the TADIL is

situated within the liberties context, in particular the right to organize which reigned from January 14th, 2011. This

initiative was guided by a will to emphasize individual liberties. These liberties which are strictly related to the

individual and which remain relatively ignored even marginalized with regard to the collective and public liberties.

Indeed, the post -January 14th period was characterized by a strong politicization of social life. This has led to renewed

interest of all the freedoms, civil and political rights notably the right to create  associations, political parties and

syndicates. But, in a way, this politicization brushed aside the Individual: all debates turned around the rights of

various groups (NGO, political parties and syndicates).

This sphere of influence, emphasizing the rights of groups and collective liberties was strengthened during the electoral

period when the Individual, hiss rights and his liberties were absent in the campaign.

Recognizing  that the individual (his rights and his liberties) are at the heart of any democratic process and are a

driving force of civic life, a group of citizens (jurists and non jurists) opted for the creation of an association of

defending individual liberties. The association deposited its file of constitution at the Ministry of the Interior on

March 7th , 2011 (No. 2773) and three months later it issued its announcement of create in the Official  Gazette No. 91 of

July 30th, 2011 (n°2011T04214APSF1 ).

1.2. INVOLVED PEOPLE AND ENTITIES

The TADIL, is created by a group of 6 people (university professors, lawyers, judge and designer) and remains opened to

any citizen wishing to join and share its objectives and principles.

Since its creation, the TADIL has contacted all national participants in the field of human rights and fundamental

liberties, and that, to establish contacts or conclude cooperation and mutual aid agreements (Tunisian League of Human

Rights, the Association of Democratic Women, the Tunisian Association against AIDS ...).

Structurally, the TADIL is composed of:

- A directory board (composed of 6 members: President / Vice President, Secretary General / Deputy Secretary General,

Treasurer / Deputy Treasurer). The board meets once a month and whenever the necessity of work requires it;

- An assembly (composed of all TADIL’s members, affiliated for years at least), which meets once a year to discuss and

decide strategic lines and TADIL’s annual projects;

- A permanent staff, a program officer and an executive secretary and that from January 2012;

- An observatory of individual liberties in Tunisia: the observatory will consist of volunteers from various disciplines

(lawyers, sociologists, psychologists, state employees, artists, journalists, students ...). The Observatory's mission is

to archive cases of infringement on individual liberties, to press releases and publishing the TADIL Journal every three

months on the status of individual liberties.

2. BACKGROUND AND BASIS:

The Tunisian revolution opened the way to a new era which was characterized by more liberties and rights (creation of over

1000 association, more than 120 political parties, about twenty syndicates, twenty new newspapers, new radio and

television channels ...) These new liberties, while strengthening the of human rights system in Tunisia, were too focused

on public liberties and collective rights.

Likewise, the post January 14th period knew a big wave of prosecutions against the former president‘s relatives and

ministers. This wave of trials was accompanied by abuses in human rights and individual liberties .These abuses have

revealed the fragility even the ignorance of these liberties.

We thus asked the following question: What is the individual liberties status in law and in society in Tunisia?

Our initial observations and assumptions (not yet verified) have allowed us the following conclusions:

-  In terms of texts, Tunisian law reflects a mixed approach in this matter: indeed, the notion of individual liberties is

ignored by the Tunisian law. However, some of its implications are truly devoted. This is the case of the inviolability of

the individual, freedom of conscience, freedom of religious worship, the inviolability of the home, the confidentiality of

correspondence, the protection of personal data, freedom of movement and free choice of residence (articles 5, 8, 9 and 10

of the Constitution of June 1st, 1959). However, these consecrations in principle suffer from a set of both legal and

practical limits.

- in terms of legal plan, all liberties constitutionally recognized remain exercised within the limits set by the law and

provided that they " do not disturb public order ". Thus, reading the various infra constitutional legal texts show of a

set of limits on individual liberties (for example the Tunisian penal code continues to adopt an approach very repressive

of individual liberties. It adopts a rather distant approach from the democratic approach of human rights and liberties.

Indeed, the penal code is stuffed with examples of incriminations of personal choices of the private life. Incriminations

that are no longer justified in a State that claims to be democratic and respectful of the human rights in their global,

universal, complementary and interdependent meaning of a word.

-  in terms of practice, the Tunisian society remains mainly a society which does not conceive Individual as holders of

individual liberties inherent to his person. The Individual continues to be perceived as a part of a group. Thus, rights

and liberties are better dedicated in the collective frame than individual. This conception can be strengthened with the

arrival to power of political parties lauding collective rights, and ignoring even opposing individual liberties.

-  So with the new stage of political life in Tunisia which will be marked by the writing the new constitution, the risk

of obscuring or of marginalizing individual liberties is present. A work of raising awareness, trainings and mediatization

is imperative to maintain the  former constitution’s gains of and strengthen the conception of individual liberties in an

approach of human rights and democracy.

3. PRESENTATION OF THE PROJECT:TO STRENGHTEN INDIVIDUAL LIBERTIES:

Strengthening individual liberties will certainly pass by the following steps:

3.1. KNOWLEDGE OF THE INVENTORY:

This knowledge requires the census of the various perceptions and images of individual liberties in legal texts,

judgments, mass media, textbooks ... this census will give us an idea on ​​the individual liberties ‘perception. Through the

ongoing studies, we will determine what the enshrined, ignored or excluded liberties are. We shall so have an idea on ​​the

Tunisian legal reality with regard to international standards of human rights in general and in terms of individual

liberties in particular. All these studies will be publicly presented, mediatized and published by the ADLI and posted on

its Web site and its facebook page.

3.2. AN INFORMATION COMPAIGN AND AWARENESS

The information campaigns and awareness pass certainly through TADIL website, public presentations and media studies and

reports prepared by / for TADIL. Likewise TADIL press releases or observatory. The TADIL is going to conceive and to

elaborate training courses (in the form of workshop) for jurists certainly, and for teachers, students, pupils, security

guards...

This pressure will be a coordinated and collaborative work with stakeholders in the field of human rights and freedoms.

Not to mention that members of the Constituent Assembly will be invited to take part in various activities of the ADLI.

Within the framework of the elaboration of a new constitution, the TADIL will exercise certain lobbying on the

constituent. Indeed, TADIL’s work, its conclusions, its reports and its surveys will serve as database for the exercise of

a certain pressure on the constituent. This pressure will be a coordinated and arranged work with the various participants

in human rights and liberties field. Without forgetting that the constituent members will be invited to take part in

TADIL’s various activities.

3.3. THE HELPLINE FOR MONOTORING AND ASSISTANCE:

This unit will play an investigator’s role on the various individual liberties abuses. The cell will provide the necessary

support to affected people (or might be) in their individual liberties. This support can be: socio-psychological and / or

legal.