Aous

Summary

The queer activist who identifies himself as "Aous" took part in a peaceful demonstration in Tunis on 22 July 2022 with a group of activists and human rights defenders to denounce the referendum process and to protest against the draft constitution that President Kais Saied put to a referendum. These protests saw a number of acts of repression and police violence and numerous abuses against those taking part in the protest; Aous was among those affected, as he was arrested, beaten and harassed.

Personal Information

Name: Aous

Nationality: Tunisian

Age: 19

Status: Queer activist

Incidents of Violation

On 22 July 2022, Aous, aged 19, was on Habib Bourguiba Avenue with the other participants in the protest denouncing the referendum process and the President of the Republic's constitution. When the violence began and police officers used incapacitating gas, everyone moved back to avoid the burning effects of the gas and to avoid arrest, as police officers had begun abducting a number of young people at random, among them Aous, who told us in his testimony: "When the police started targeting the demonstrators with gas, I moved back with the others. More than five police officers came after me, and when they caught me they pushed me to the ground and then took me to one of the police cars there, where one of them sexually harassed me, before I was taken with the other detainees to the Bab Bhar station, 'Le Septième', where one of the officers filmed me with his phone and told me to repeat after him and say 'my mother is a whore'. I refused, so he slapped me and repeated the same sentence again, which I refused to say, and each time he slapped and harassed me."

Human Rights Violations

What happened to queer activist Aous constitutes a violation of the right to peaceful assembly and protest, a human right guaranteed by all international laws and norms. Freedom of demonstration is also a right guaranteed by the 2014 Constitution of the Tunisian Republic, and the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force provide that law enforcement officials shall, as far as possible, apply non-violent means before resorting to the use of force. This was not the approach taken in dealing with the protests of 22 July 2022, in terms of the number of police officers present and the restrictions imposed on demonstrators. In addition, the circumstances of the arrest of the victim, Aous, and what he told us constitute a form of torture and other ill-treatment criminalised by law.

Sources

This case was documented on the basis of the presence of Intersection Association researchers in the field on 22 July 2022 and their observation of the violations committed against the participants, as well as the testimony given by Aous, the victim of the violation, to Intersection Association.