Persecution of Christians still rampant in Tunisia
A decade after the Tunisian Revolution, a new human rights report details the siege on religious freedom for Christians and other faith minorities in Tunisia, sharing cases where followers of Christ were harassed, dragged into the street, threatened and arrested. The Attalaki Association for Liberty and Equality Committee on Religious Freedom published the annual report on religiouss freedom and belief in Tunisia for 2020.
The latest report affirmed that it had been over ten years since the Tunisian Revolution. This date marked the ending of the then-President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali regime and led to the Arab Spring protests across the Middle East. The date also marked the beginning of Tunisian democracy, but managing pluralism in Tunisia still remains a challenge.
The report shared that Tunisia’s Constitution is the first Arab country’s constitution to “explicitly enshrine freedom of conscience.” Yet, it makes Islam the religion of the state and stipulates the president must be Muslim. Religious minorities are also kept out of positions in the government and military.
Even though the Second Republic’s Constitution states that “the state is the guardian of religion” and “guarantees freedom of belief and conscience,” free exercise of religion in Tunisia for religious minorities is threatened. Tunisia remains a hostile place for Christians due to intense Islamic oppression.
Source: christianpost.com
