When police found love messages on the mobile phone of a murdered male university student from Hamam Sousse, his boyfriend Marwan (his surname will not be released) became a chief murder suspect.
He was immediately arrested and interrogated for six days in the Bushusha detention center in Tunis, then forced to undergo an anal examination to prove his sexual orientation. Marwan finally admitted to authorities that he was gay and in a relationship with the murder victim.
When police found love messages on the mobile phone of a murdered male university student from Hamam Sousse, his boyfriend Marwan (his surname will not be released) became a chief murder suspect.
He was immediately arrested and interrogated for six days in the Bushusha detention center in Tunis, then forced to undergo an anal examination to prove his sexual orientation. Marwan finally admitted to authorities that he was gay and in a relationship with the murder victim.
Marwan’s confession caused a public controversy around his forced anal examination as was his sentencing to a year in prison for practicing homosexuality, which is illegal under Article 230 of Tunisian Criminal Law.
“I do not understand why I was sentenced to a year in prison and why I was detained at the beginning without being allowed to contact my lawyer,” Marwan reportedly told his lawyer Fadwa Ibrahim.
Was it legal?
Many associations and high-profile figures including the former President Moncef Marzouki have expressed their objection to forcing people to undergo anal examinations to prove their sexual orientations.
Hadi Sahili, Deputy Head of the Sun Association, which defends the rights and freedoms of homosexuals, said Marwan had undergone ‘full-fledged torture’.
Sahili, who had a look at the case’s file, said, “The policemen took off Marwan’s clothes and the doctor examined him in front of all the other policemen who verbally abused and scolded him.”
Waleed Lukini, the Ministry of Interior’s official spokesperson, denied that the ministry committed any wrongdoing and stressed that all prosecution measures were legal and the suspect was referred to the primary court in Tunisia on September 22, 2015.
As for forcing Marwan to undergo an anal examination in front of policemen, he said: “This is not true. Marwan agreed to undergo the examination after the approval of the general prosecution, which assigned a doctor to perform it. All of these measures were supervised by the Ministry of Justice— the Ministry of Interior has nothing to do with it.”
However, the Minister of Justice Mohamed Saleh Ibn Issa, demanded said that a low criminalizing homosexuality be revoked as it goes against the new Constitution and does not respect personal freedoms.
In June 2012 the troika government refused recommendations of the United Nations Human Rights Council to revoke all penalties imposed by the Tunisian Law which criminalizes homosexuality.
However, the current parliament’s Committee of Rights and Liberties opted for silence and did not comment on Marwan’s story or the issue of homosexuality. Nawfal Jamali, Head of the Committee, said, “We as a committee only consider and examine law drafts and do not judge social issues or incidents.”
Campaign against unconstitutionality
Spurred by Marwan’s case, the Sun Association launched a campaign to call on cancelling what they called ‘the shame examinations’.
The association has been lobbying to revoke Article 230 of the Criminal Law which criminalizes homosexuality and punishes homosexuals with up to three years of imprisonment. The association believes that this article is unconstitutional.
Article 23 of the Tunisian Constitution provides that the state protects people’s dignity and the sacredness of their bodies and prevents moral and material abuse. Article 24 also provides that the state protects people’s private lives.
Sahili said the association’s data estimates that 5% of Tunisians are homosexual, but they do not reveal their sexual orientation to avoid prosecution.
“Despite secrecy, over seven people are sentenced to more than a year of imprisonment for homosexuality charges every year. They are subjected to anal examinations and are humiliated by the police. They are discriminated against in prison and maltreated outside it,” he added.
Some Islamic parties and organizations have ferociously attacked homosexuality. Adel Alami, Head of the Zaitona Islamic Party, went as far as openly calling on killing homosexuals. He even considered the existence of an association that defends their rights as a sign of doomsday.
Ennahda seemed more tolerant and flexible. Ennhada’s leader Rashed Ghannoushi declared that he rejects homosexuality but refuses to criminalize it.
“Every person has his own orientation which we should respect. We should not spy on people in their homes. Every person is accountable to God and the law should not monitor people in their daily and private lives,” he told Correspondents.
