Chokri Mefteh

Summary

Chokri Meftah is a young Tunisian man who was arrested at a late hour on October 22, 2021, by a patrol of the National. That is when he was subjected to assault by one of the officers and transferred to the police station. After experiencing pain due to the violence, Chokri was taken to a Hospital in Menzel Temim, where he passed away on January 18, 2022, almost three months after his admission.

Personal Information

Name: Chokri Meftah

Nationality: Tunisian

Occupation: Tunisian young man

Incidents of Violation

In the late hour of October 21, 2021, Chokri Mefteh was arrested by a patrol of the National Guard in the region of Dhahret Al-Zawiya in the Mida region of Nabeul governorate after inspecting the car in which he and his brothers were present. The victim was initially assaulted by police officers who slapped and punched him in various parts of his body and brutally beat and kicked him, which was reported by his brother, who described the incident as a savage attack. Subsequently, the police officers placed the victim in the administrative vehicle and continued the assault inside it until it reached the National Guard station in the region.

On the same night, the victim felt severe pain, which led to transferring him urgently by one of his relatives to the Hospital of Menzel Tamim. He underwent a medical examination and was issued an initial medical certificate recommending 45-day medical leave. His condition obliged him to remain hospitalized in intensive unit care. Chokri remained bedridden for three months until he passed away on January 18, 2022, due to suffering from injuries resulting from the violence the National Guard officers had subjected to him.

Human Rights Violations

The assault on Chokri is a violation of the right to bodily integrity, which is one of the fundamental human rights guaranteed by the Tunisian constitution under Article 23, which states, “The State shall protect human dignity and the inviolability of the body and shall prohibit moral and physical torture, and torture shall not be subject to a statute of limitations.” Moreover, it is also entrenched within several international agreements, especially the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (under Article 5) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Under Article 7), which states that “No one shall be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

Sources

To document this case, Intersection Association relied on the Tunisian Organization Against Torture’s articles, some media articles, and the victim’s brother’s testimony to one of the media outlets.