Political Prisoners:¶

Tunisian law does not recognise a unique status for political prisoners. Dissidents are charged with infractions against ‘moral principles’, ‘public morality’, or ‘public decency’. These people are not systematically separated from those charged under common law. Prisoners who once occupied political posts or important government positions are held in specific wings.

All prisons are administered by the central management of the DGPR. The DGPR consists of several divisions¹:

• Executive Directorate
• Inspection of Prison Services
• Department of Prison Units
• Department of Security
• Department of Support Services
• Department for Criminal Cases
• Department of Rehabilitation and Discharge
• Health Division

The Director of the DGPR is appointed by the Minister of Justice.

There are three categories of prison facilities (Article 3):

• Prisons for prisoners awaiting trial
• Prisons for those who are convicted.
• Semi-open prisons, for those convicted of misdemeanours. These facilities are authorised to undertake agricultural work

This system of classification is merely administrative. In reality, people awaiting trial and those who have been convicted are not separated.

Prison facilities are classified according to their capacity (Prisons Act of 2001, article 15):

• Category A: more than 4000 places
• Category B: between 1000 and 4000 places
• Category C: less than 1000 places

Mornaguia prison, which is close to the capital, is the biggest in the country. As of 1 January 2019, 6,039 people are incarcerated there in a facility with 5,130 places. Prisoners awaiting trial account for 76% of this figure.¹ Mornaguia is the only prison in category A.

There are six prison facilities in category B and 20 in category C.

Eddir prison is the smallest with 106 places.

As of 2019, most of Tunisia’s prison facilities are dilapidated buildings dating back to the colonial period. They are often humid and unsanitary old colonial structures that suffered significant damage during the 2011 revolutionary uprising: With the support of international actors, the Tunisian government is undertaking a reconstruction and modernisation programme with the following goals¹:

• The renovation of damaged facilities
• An increase in the capacity of the prisons at Sfax, Mahdia, Messadine, Monastir, Gabès, Mornaguia and Borj El Amri
• The opening of a new semi-open facility with a capacity of 500 places in February 2020
• The opening of a new facility in 2020 in the city of Béja
• Renovation works at the Bourj al-Roumi prison, including 1000 new places, to be completed in 2021

With the completion of these construction works, prisoners are to be housed together in barracks. Space in which to walk, work, or engage in social and educational activities will remain limited.

Prison officers undertake nine months of training at the National School for Prisons and Rehabilitation (École nationale des prisons et de la rehabilitation), followed by a year-long placement at a prison facility. Candidates must have attained at least a baccalauréat (high school diploma). The training consists of a safety unit (military training, weapon handling, and people management) and a theoretical unit (criminal law and human rights).

DGPR officers and administrative staff must have obtained education to the level of bac+2 (equivalent to an associate’s degree). Their training program is one year long.

Staff wages are not in line with the cost of living and living conditions.

The prison management appoints a person in charge among the prisoners in each dormitory. This person (called a cabrane) is responsible for maintaining order in their dormitory of up to 100 people. They are in charge of distributing beds and organising cleaning rosters, the commissary, and medical appointments, among other duties. “Prison guards rarely enter the dormitories”.¹
The ‘cabrane’ also serves as the intermediary between the incarcerated population and the prison staff (relaying daily headcount figures, reporting incidents, and collecting other information). The power granted by the administration to these dormitory supervisors is at the source of many abuses.