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Tunisia prepared to accept 10 Guantanamo detainees

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Tunisian Minister of Justice and Human Rights Bechir Tekkari announced Tuesday that the country is prepared to accept the return of 10 Tunisians currently detained at Guantanamo Bay. Tekkari said that Tunisia is capable of conducting fair trials and is "entirely happy to welcome and examine their penal situation according to legal procedures and under the principle of the presumption of innocence." The US has asked Italy to consider taking custody of two Tunisians currently held at Guantanamo and charged in Italy with connection to the Salifist Group for Preaching and Combat rather than returning them to Tunisia. Italy has previously refused to accept any Guantanamo detainees. There has been some concern about the treatment the detainees would potentially face in Tunisia. In December, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) release a report criticizing worsening human rights situations in 12 Arab countries, including Tunisia. In June 2008, Amnesty International released a report accusing Tunisia of committing wide-spread human rights abuses under overly-broad anti-terrorism legislation, and criticizing the US, European and Arab countries for turning over terror suspects to Tunisian authorities despite allegations of torture. In February 2008, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against the deportation of a former Tunisian terrorism suspect, finding he would likely be subjected to torture if returned to Tunisia. In September 2007, Human Rights Watch released a report accusing Tunisian officials of mistreating two former Guantanamo detainees after they were returned to the country.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on May 27, 2009 (boomark / email).