Abolition Advocacy for Tunisia: 85th Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
Advocacy
By the Tunisian Coalition Against the Death Penalty, ECPM and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 28 November 2025
Within the framework of the latest public session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), held in Banjul (The Gambia) in October 2025, the Tunisian Republic presented its first periodic report to the ACHPR since 2006. Tunisian abolitionist civil society had also submitted an alternative report and was present to put forward its recommendations regarding the issue of the death penalty.
Death Penalty in Tunisia
Tunisia has had a de facto moratorium in place since 1991; however, death sentences are passed down every year. Between 2015-2025, at least 268 death sentences were handed down in Tunisian courts, and by the end of 2024, at least 166 people, including 8 women, were sentenced to death. Worryingly, since his election in 2019, President Kaïs Saïed has publicly expressed his interest in reinstating executions on several occasions.
The Tunisian legislative system comprises 58 articles providing for the application of capital punishment, divided between the Penal Code, the Code of Military Justice and Organic Law No. 2015-26 of 7 August 2015 on combating terrorism and money laundering. More than half of these provisions prescribe the death penalty for acts that do not fall within the category of the most serious crimes under international and regional law, in particular as interpreted in General Comment N°3 on the African Charter, which provides a detailed interpretation of Article 4 on the right to life.
The topic of the death penalty must be understood in the broader context of a general deterioration in the protection of civic space and respect for human rights. On 7 March 2025, the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad confirmed that Tunisia had withdrawn its declaration accepting the jurisdiction of the African Court to receive complaints from individuals and NGOs holding observer status at the ACHPR. Increasing disengagement from international and regional mechanisms for the protection and defence of human rights continues to feed concern about the overall human rights situation in Tunisia, and how the death penalty may be instrumentalized in this political context.
Advocacy During the Session
The Republic of Tunisia, signatory and party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter), is responsible for submitting a report every two years to the ACHPR. Article 62 of the African Charter specifically states that “each State Party shall undertake to submit every two years, (…) a report on the legislative or other measures taken with a view to giving effect to the rights and freedoms recognized and guaranteed by the present Charter.” While Tunisia is far from the only country out of 54 signatories to the African Charter that is behind on its reporting, closing a reporting gap of nearly 20 years is still a monumental task.
Numerous Tunisian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were present during this session, notably the National Tunisian Coalition Against the Death Penalty and Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM), both members of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty.
The CTCPM and ECPM met with several commissioners to present the recommendations outlined in their alternative report. In the current context, both organizations also insisted on the need to re-establish certain institutions such as the National Authority for Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the High Judicial Council, as well as on the need to respect the principle of separation of powers between the Executive, the Judiciary, and the Legislature. They also stressed the importance of respecting the right to freedom of association and allowing Tunisian civil society organizations to continue their work promoting human rights.
