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The main component of the first phase of support to the establishment of the National Authority for the Prevention of Torture (INPT) in Tunisia ended with the election and the swearing in of members of the new Authority.
The Council of Europe accompanied this process by organising workshops with the main national stakeholders (ARP Electoral Commission headed by Mr. Abdelkafi, Mr. Jendoubi’s ministry for relations with the constitutional bodies, civil society and human rights, relevant NGOs, various members of the ARP and of political parties) where the most important issues were discussed with a view to finding solutions.
Besides, the Council of Europe has taken the lead for setting up a coordination mechanism among the main international actors in the human rights and anti-torture fields who are present in Tunisia such as the European Union, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights (UNHCHR), the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the Association for Prevention of Torture (APT).
On 19 May, the 16 INPT members elected Mrs Hamida Dridi as its Chair, Mrs Nabiha Kefi as Vice-Chair and Mr. Dhia Eddine Mourou as Secretary General. On the same day and just after a meeting between Minister Jendoubi and the INPT members, the Council of Europe’s office in Tunis organised a meeting where the INPT could meet with the above mentioned international partners to moot mutual interest for cooperation.
The Council of Europe delegation comprised the core team set up by Mr Markus Jaeger from the Directorate General for Human Rights and Rule of Law to support the Tunisian fight against torture: Mr Patrick Marest, former Secretary General of the Observatoire international des prisons (OIP), and Mr Jean-Marie Delarue, first Contrôleur général des lieux de privation de liberté who set up this institution in France.
The INPT and the international partners found that there seemed indeed to be room for significant co-operation. They agreed to start working immediately on the draft budget of the INPT by putting relevant comparative information at the disposal of the INPT. A meeting of a working group will be scheduled in the next few weeks. At that meeting the Council of Europe and interested international partners will also submit a proposal of a comprehensive training programme to the INPT for discussion.
