Adem Hammami
Student
Summary
Adem Hammami, a Tunisian student and activist in the Tunisian Campaign for the Boycott of and Opposition to Normalisation, was arrested, had his phone seized and was questioned because of his activism and his writing of slogans denouncing the genocide and opposing normalisation.
Personal Information
Name: Adem Hammami
Nationality: Tunisian
Status: Student
Charge: Committing a heinous act against the President of the Republic under Article 67 of the Penal Code
Incidents of Violation
Early on 21 September 2024, student Adem Hammami was arrested because of his activism in support of the Palestinian cause and his writing of the phrase "Boycott, don't fund the genocide" on an advertising billboard.
After he was taken to the police station, he was questioned. The victim of the violation recounts that he was interrogated without a lawyer present, and that all the questions concerned his activism and what he does, which amounts to a form of intimidation and of instilling fear among young people and deterring them from exercising their rights.
Furthermore, Adem's phone was seized: they searched his personal phone and kept it in their possession on the pretext of continuing the investigation and checking the documents and photos it contained, and his room was also searched.
When the technical examination of the phones was completed, and after they found a screenshot of a mural painted by prisoner Rached Tamboura on his friend's device, the victim of the violation received another summons on 16 October 2024 to appear again for questioning. It later emerged that the charges brought against Dhia were based on Article 67 of the Penal Code, which punishes anyone who commits a heinous act against the President of the Republic with up to three years in prison and a fine of 240 dinars, or either of these penalties. Dhia was then left at liberty, and a hearing was set at the Court of First Instance of Bab Bhar in Sfax on 31 October 2024.
Human Rights Violations
Arresting and interrogating citizens because of their political, human rights or civic activity constitutes a flagrant violation of their civil and political rights. In the same vein, the arrest of student Adem Hammami constitutes a violation of his right to freedom of opinion and expression, since what he did is an integral part of his right to expression and peaceful demonstration, and what he wrote is an act of protest and a peaceful expression of his opinions. This is a right guaranteed to all citizens by the 2022 Constitution of the Tunisian Republic, Article 42 of which states that "Freedom of peaceful assembly and demonstration is guaranteed", in addition to the inclusion of this right in the international and regional conventions to which Tunisia is a party.
Moreover, summoning him again after his release and questioning him following the discovery of a screenshot of Rached Tamboura's mural on his friend's phone, and characterising it as the offence of committing a heinous act against the President of the Republic under Article 67 of the Penal Code, constitutes a violation of his right to freedom of expression and a breach of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration, which provides that "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."
These acts also contravene General Comment No. 34 of 2011 of the UN Human Rights Committee, which clarified that paragraph 2 of the above-mentioned Article 19 "protects all forms of expression and the means of their dissemination. Such forms include spoken, written and sign language and such non-verbal expression as images and objects of art. Means of expression include books, newspapers, pamphlets, posters, banners, dress and legal submissions. They include all forms of audio-visual as well as electronic and internet-based modes of expression."
As a member of the African Union, Tunisia is bound to respect the provision of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights in Article 9, paragraph 2, that "Every individual shall have the right to express and disseminate his opinions within the law." At the national level, "Freedom of opinion, thought, expression, information and publication shall be guaranteed."
In addition to these violations, the arrest of student Adem and the questioning and hearing of the victim of the violation without a lawyer present constitute a violation of the rights of persons held in custody contained in Law No. 5 of 2016 of 16 February 2016 amending and supplementing certain provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which explicitly provides in Article 13 septies that "A suspect who is not held in custody by judicial police officers [...] may choose a lawyer to attend with him when he is heard or confronted with others."
The increase in these arrests, the rising number of trials and the spread of charges brought against people on the basis of their opinions and civic activities reflect nothing but the escalation of repression and restrictions on freedoms in Tunisia, and also reflect the State's systematic tendency to restrict public space and increase control over freedoms. Democratic societies and States that respect human rights and seek to protect them cannot follow a systematic pattern against all voices critical of them, whether human rights defenders, activists or citizens from different groups, and attempt to silence them.