Tunisia: achieving equality through legal means and lawyers’ support

In 2018, the Tunisian parliament passed a ground-breaking law. A landmark first in the region, the law (organic law no. 2018-50) criminalizes racial discrimination and allows victims to seek justice in the courts for it. However, the law’s potential was limited by the government’s failure to follow through on any of the practical steps foreseen in the law, and to create public awareness and understanding of it.

If victims aren’t aware of avenues to justice, how can they pursue them?

This pushed MRG to reflect with our local Tunisian partners about ways to improve access to justice for victims of racial discrimination. In collaboration with the OHCHR office in Tunisia, we issued a call for lawyers who wanted training on the new law and on the international legal framework on racial discrimination. Within a matter of months, between November 2019 and July 2020, we delivered five trainings to 150 lawyers from across the country.