24 January 2008
Tunis — During a ceremony attended by members of the Diplomatic Corps in Tunisia, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali announced, Thursday, January 24, 2008, that the Higher Committee for human rights and fundamental freedoms will gain autonomous status and larger prerogatives.
He said, "we will ensure the further evolution of the Higher Committee for Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms by elevating the provisions organizing it to the level of law, by endowing it, as a national human rights institution, with its administrative and financial autonomy, by reviewing its composition in such a way as to strengthen communication between the state and civil society components, and by consolidating its prerogatives in order to emphasize its role in the promotion and protection of human rights."
The Tunisian President also reiterated his commitment to the promotion of human rights and freedoms. "We will endeavor to further promote the system of human rights and fundamental freedoms in our country, in consolidation of our national choices in this field and in line with the constant principles underlying our reform process," he declared.
Established by decree on January 7, 1991, the higher committee for human rights and fundamental freedoms works to promote human rights and freedoms in Tunisia, by expressing its views on issues submitted to it by the President of the Republic, proposing measures to consolidate such rights and freedoms, and undertaking research and studies in this regard. The prerogatives of the committee have been regularly strengthened based on initiatives by President Ben Ali. The president of the committee is entitled to receiving complaints from citizens and civil society organizations regarding human rights and freedoms. He also undertakes surprise visits to prisons, temporary detention facilities and boarding and re-education centers for minors, and submits a report to the President of the Republic after each visit. The committee also periodically publishes a national report on human rights in Tunisia.
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