Tunisia
(1999)
Section I. Freedom of Religion
Islam is the state religion. The Constitution provides
for the free exercise of other religions that do not disturb the public
order, and the Government generally observes and enforces this right;
however, it does not permit proselytizing and partially limits the
religious freedom of Baha'is.
The Government controls and subsidizes mosques and pays
the salaries of prayer leaders. The President appoints the Grand Mufti of
the Republic. The 1988 Law on Mosques provides that only personnel
appointed by the Government may lead activities in mosques, and stipulates
that mosques must remain closed except during prayer times and other
authorized religious ceremonies, such as marriages or funerals. New mosques
may be built in accordance with national urban planning regulations but
become the property of the State. The Constitution stipulates that the
President of the Republic must be a Muslim. The Government also partially
subsidizes the Jewish community.
The Government recognizes all Christian and Jewish
religious organizations that were established before independence in 1956,
but does not permit Christian groups to establish new churches.
The vast majority of the population of 9.2 million is
nominally Muslim. There is no reliable data on the number of practicing
Muslims. The nominal Christian community--composed of foreign temporary and
permanent residents and a small group of native-born citizens of both
European and Arab origin--numbers approximately 20,000 and is dispersed
throughout the country. According to church leaders, the practicing
Christian population numbers approximately 2,000 and includes an estimated
200 native-born ethnic Arab citizens who have converted to Christianity.
The Catholic Church operates 5 churches, 14 private schools, and 7 cultural
centers throughout the country, as well as 1 hospital in Tunis, the
capital. It has approximately 1,400 practicing members, composed of
temporary and permanent foreign residents and a small number of native-born
citizens of European and Arab origin. In addition to holding religious
services, the Catholic Church also freely organizes cultural activities and
performs charitable work throughout the country. The Russian Orthodox
Church has 340 practicing members and operates two churches--one in Tunis
and one in Bizerte. The French Reform Church operates one church in Tunis,
with a congregation of 140 primarily foreign members. The Anglican Church
has approximately 50 foreign members who worship in a church in Tunis. The
30-member Greek Orthodox Church maintains 1 church each in Tunis, Sousse,
and Jerba. A community of 43 Jehovah's Witnesses, of which about half are
foreign residents and half are native-born citizens, also exists. Although
the Government permits these Christian churches to operate freely, only the
Catholic Church has formal recognition from the post-independence
Government. The other churches operate under land grants signed by the Bey
of Tunis in the 18th and 19th centuries, which are respected by the post-
independence Government.
With 1,800 adherents split nearly equally between the
capital and the island of Jerba, the Jewish community is the country's
largest indigenous religious minority. The Government allows the Jewish
community freedom of worship and pays the salary of the Grand Rabbi. It
also partially subsidizes restoration and maintenance costs for some
synagogues. Since independence in 1956, the Jewish community has operated
freely under a provisional status agreement with the Government, which is
to be converted to a permanent status agreement after the community chooses
to hold its internal elections. The Government permits the Jewish community
to operate private religious schools and allows Jewish children on the
island of Jerba to split their academic day between secular public schools
and private religious schools. The Government also encourages Jewish
emigres to return for the annual Jewish pilgrimage to the historic El-Ghriba
Synagogue on the island of Jerba.
The Government regards the Baha'i Faith as a heretical
sect of Islam and permits its 150 adherents to practice their faith only in
private. Although the Government permits Baha'is to hold meetings of their
National Council in private homes, it reportedly has prohibited them from
organizing local councils. The Government reportedly pressures Baha'is to
eschew organized religious activities.
In general the Government does not permit Christian
groups to establish new churches, and proselytizing is viewed as an act
against the public order. Foreign missionary organizations and groups do
not operate in the country. Authorities ask foreigners suspected of
proselytizing to depart the country and do not permit them to return. There
were no reported cases of official action against persons suspected of
proselytizing during the period covered by this report.
Islamic religious education is mandatory in public
schools, but the religious curriculum for secondary school students also
includes the history of Judaism and Christianity. The Zeitouna Koranic
School is part of the Government's national university system.
Both religious and secular nongovernmental organizations
(NGO's) are governed by the same law and administrative regulations on
association that impose some restrictions on freedom of assembly. For
example, all NGO's are required to notify the Government of meetings to be
held in public spaces at least 3 days in advance and to submit lists of all
meeting participants to the Ministry of Interior. There were credible
reports that two Christian religious organizations did not attempt to
register because they believed that their applications would be rejected,
although they were able to function freely under the auspices of their
respective churches. Neither group believed that it was a victim of
religious discrimination. A third group, composed of foreign Christians
mostly from Sweden and the United Kingdom, is active in providing medical
and social services in the city of Kasserine in the west. Despite its
ambiguous legal status, this group (with 15 to 20 members) reports that it
has been free to pursue its social and medical work without interference
and states that it does not believe that it has been subject to religious
discrimination.
Religious groups are subjected to the same restrictions
on freedom of speech and the press as secular groups. Primary among these
restrictions is "depot legal," the requirement that printers and
publishers provide copies of all publications to the Chief Prosecutor, the
Ministry of Interior, and the Ministry of Culture prior to publication.
Similarly, distributors must deposit copies of publications printed abroad
with the Chief Prosecutor and various ministries prior to their public
release. Although Christian groups reported that they were able to
distribute previously-approved religious publications in European languages
without difficulty, they claimed that the Government generally did not
approve either publication or distribution of Arabic-language Christian
material. Moreover, authorized distribution of religious publications was
limited to existing religious communities, because the Government views
public distribution of both religious and secular documents as a threat to
the public order and hence an illegal act.
The Government promotes interfaith understanding by
sponsoring regular conferences and seminars on religious tolerance and by
facilitating and promoting the annual Jewish pilgrimage to the El-Ghriba
Synagogue.
There was no change in the status of respect for
religious freedom during the period covered by this report.
There were credible reports that one Arab Christian
citizen was beaten, held in police custody for 5 days, and subjected to
periodic harassment by police officials throughout 1998 because of his
religious beliefs and practices. Other credible sources reported that
police officials questioned and searched the home of another recent Arab
convert to Christianity in December 1998. According to human rights
lawyers, the Government regularly questioned Muslims who were observed
praying frequently in mosques. There were no reports of the forced
religious conversion of minor U.S. citizens who have been abducted or
illegally removed from the United States, or of the Government's refusal to
allow such citizens to be returned to the United States.
Section II. Societal Attitudes
Amicable relations exist among all religious
communities.
Section III. U.S. Government Policy
The U.S. Embassy maintains good relations with leaders
of majority and minority religious groups throughout the country, and the
Ambassador and other embassy officials met regularly with Muslim,
Christian, Jewish, and Baha'i religious leaders throughout the period
covered by this report. In May 1998, the Ambassador traveled outside Tunis
to meet with minority religious groups, and one embassy officer attended
the 1998 Jewish pilgrimage to the El-Ghriba synagogue. Embassy
representatives privately discussed religious freedom issues with
government officials in June and September 1998 and again in April 1999.
The Department of State delivered a private demarche on alleged harassment
of the Baha'i community in June 1998, which appears to have resulted in
greater government tolerance of Baha'i activities. Embassy officers have
participated in government-sponsored conferences on religious tolerance.
Since 1997 the United States Information Service (USIS)
has sent Tunisian professors to American universities to attend United
States Information Agency-sponsored seminars on the topic of religion in
America. The program includes sessions on the separation of church and
state, religious pluralism, women and religion, religion and ethnicity
(including Islam in America), religious dissent, religious tolerance,
secular education, and religious considerations in American foreign policy.
In addition, the 1998 participant in the program led a roundtable
discussion on religion in America in October at USIS to share what he had
learned during the program. The audience for this roundtable was drawn from
various campuses in the United States.
Sources: U.S. State Department - Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor |