Caretaker President receives chairmen of human rights associations

Interim President Mohamed Moncef Marzouki conferred, on Tuesday at the Carthage Palace, with the chairmen of human rights associations and organisations. Chairwoman of "Liberté et équité" (Freedom and Equity) Association Imen Triki said that the talk had turned on the issues of freedoms and human rights in the country, adding that the President of the Republic had promised he would place this issue among the priorities of the next stage. Chairman of the International Association for the Support of Political Prisoners Samir Dilou specified that the talk with the Head of State had particularly focused on the present situation in the country and provided the opportunity to look at the human rights file in Tunisia and means to vitalise the mechanisms of transitional justice. Chairwoman of the Tunisian Women Democrats Association Ahlem Bel Haj pointed out that she had recommended on behalf of the Association to enshrine women's rights in the new constitution. She went on saying that the issues of fight against violence suffered by women, transitional justice and attacks on human rights activists under the ancien regime had also been reviewed during the meeting. For his part, Director of the Tunis chapter of Amnesty International Lotfi Azouz voiced the organisation's satisfaction at Tunisia's successful transition and its determination to strain every nerve to break away with all forms of violation of human rights and build a new Tunisia, stressing the interest that the President of the Republic grants to the defence of human rights in Tunisia. In turn, Amnesty International's deputy-chairman Jamel Miladi said that the President of the Republic had signed the "Ten-Step" programmes elaborated by the organisation as part of human rights defence, describing this move as an important gain for Tunisia.