laws
Organic Law n° 2013-43 dated 21October 2013,
relating to the national authority for the prevention
of torture (1).
In the name of the People,
The National Constituent Assembly having adopted,
The President of the Republic enacts the following
organic law:
TITLE ONE
General Provisions
Article one - Is created a public independent
authority called "the national authority for the
prevention of torture and other pains or cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatments " endowed with the legal entity
and the administrative and financial autonomy, having
its headquarter in Tunis, designated in the organic law
herein " the authority ".
Art. 2 - Within the meaning of the organic law
herein, is meant by the following terms :
Deprivation of liberty : any form of detention or
arrest or imprisonment or placement of a person, on the
order of a jurisdictional or administrative authority or
any other authority, or at its instigation, or with its
express or tacit consent.
Places of detention: This term means any place placed
or which can be placed under the jurisdiction of the
Tunisian State or its control or established following its
approval where persons found deprived of freedom on the
order of a public authority or at its instigation, or with its
express or tacit consent. Are considered places of detention
notably :
1-The civil prisons,
2 -The rehabilitation centers of the minor delinquents,
3 – The shelter or observation centers of the minors,
4 – The care centers,
5 – The psychotherapy establishments,
6 –The accommodation centers for refugees and asylum
seekers,
7 - The immigrant centers,
8 – The trusteeship centers,
9 – The transit zones in the airports and the ports,
10 – The discipline centers,
11 – The means used for the transport of the persons
deprived of their liberty.
__________
(1) Preparatory works :
Discussion and adoption by the national constituent
assembly during its session held on 9 October 2013.
N° 85
TITLE 2
Of the authority
Chapter one
Missions and attributions of the authority
Art. 3 - The authority ensures essentially the following
missions :
1- Conduct periodic and regular visits and other
unexpected without notice and at any chosen time to the
places of detention where are or may be found persons
deprived of liberty,
2- Ensure the existence of specific protection of the
persons with disabilities who are in the reception centers
mentioned above in article 2 of the organic law herein,
3- Ensure the inexistence of the practice of torture and
other pains or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatments in the
detention places and control the compatibility of the
conditions of detention and the execution of pain with the
international standards of the human rights as well as the
national legislation,
4 – Receive complaints and notifications concerning
possible cases of torture and other pains or cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatments in the detention places, ensure the
investigation of these cases and transmit them, according to
the case, to the relevant administrative or jurisdictional
authorities,
5- Give its opinion concerning the texts of draft
laws and regulations relating to the prevention of
torture and the degrading treatments received from the
relevant authorities,
6 - Give recommendations in order to prevent
torture and contribute to the follow-up of their
implementation,
7- Adopt, in coordination with the concerned parties, the
general directives for the prevention of torture and other
pains or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in the
detention places as well as the mechanisms that may detect
them,
8- Create a data base while ensuring the statistics and
data-gathering in order to exploit them in the realization of
the missions which are attributed to it,
9- Contribute to the spread of the social conscience
against the risks of torture and other pains or cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatments, and this, through public
awareness campaigns, organize conferences and seminars,
publish publications and guides, organize training courses
as well as the supervision of the training programs
belonging to its field of competence,
10- Carry out and publish research, studies and reports
relating to the prevention of torture and degrading
treatments as well as the support of other authorities to
realize them,
Official Gazette of the Republic of Tunisia — 25 October 2013
Page 707