Tunisia

Paragraph 460 

The decree of 23 January 1846 freed the slaves and enacted measures to give effect to their emancipation.  

Paragraph 461 

This decree stated, inter alia, that most Tunisians were abusing their property rights over their slaves and were mistreating these harmless creatures that our sacred law gave any slave who was mistreated by his master the right to freedom and that legislation showed a marked trend towards the enlargement of freedom.  

Paragraph 466 

The Decree of 28 May 1890, which consolidated all the various regulations prohibiting and punishing slavery, provided that slavery did not exist and was prohibited in Tunisia; all human beings in the country, without distinction as to nationality or colour, were free and had equal recourse to the law and the magistrates if they felt they had been wronged.  

Paragraph 467 

Persons convicted of having bought, sold or kept any human being as a slave were to be punished with imprisonment for a term of three months to three years. In the event of a second conviction the offender was liable to the maximum penalty, which could even be doubled.  

Paragraph 470 

All the acts mentioned in I.1 are criminal offences punishable under the Decree of 28 May 1890, as stated above, and under the Penal Code… 

Paragraph 940 

Persons who convey slaves in the way described under IV are punishable as accessories.  

Paragraph 941 

Any slave who takes refuge on a Tunisian ship or aircraft or any part of Tunisian soil is ipso facto free.

Article 23 

The state protects human dignity and physical integrity, and prohibits mental and physical torture. Crimes of torture are not subject to any statute of limitations. 

Article 40 

Work is a right for every citizen, male and female. The state shall take the necessary measures to guarantee work on the basis of competence and fairness. 

All citizens, male and female, shall have the right to decent working conditions and to a fair wage.

CONSTITUTION OF TUNISIA 2014 (PDF)

Article 250 

(Amended by Law No. 2005-45 of 6 June 2005). 

Anyone who, without a lawful order, has captured, arrested, detained or sequestered a person is punishable by ten years’ imprisonment and twenty thousand dinars of fines. 

Article 251 

(Amended by Law No. 2005-45 of 6 June 2005). 

The penalty is twenty years’ imprisonment and a fine of twenty thousand dinars: 

(A) if the capture, arrest, detention or kidnapping has been accompanied by violence or threats, 

(B) if the operation was carried out by hand or by several perpetrators, 

(C) if the victim is a civil servant or a member of the diplomatic or consular corps or a member of their families provided that the perpetrator knows the identity of his victim. 

(D) if any of these acts have been accompanied by threats to kill the hostage, to infringe his physical integrity or to continue sequestering him, for the purpose of compelling a third party, whether a State, An international or governmental organization, a natural or legal person or a group of persons, to perform a specified act or to refrain from doing so as an express or tacit condition for the release of the hostage. 

The penalty is life imprisonment if the capture, arrest, detention or sequestration lasted for more than one month or if it resulted in a physical disability or illness or if the operation was intended either to prepare Or facilitate the commission of a crime or offense, or to promote flight or ensure the impunity of perpetrators and accomplices of a crime or offense or to respond to the execution of an order or condition , Or to harm the physical integrity of the victim or victims. 

The death penalty is incurred if these offenses have been accompanied by death. 

Penal Code (PDF)

Art. 2 

For the purposes of this Law, the following terms are used: 

1. Trafficking in persons: Trafficking in persons shall be considered as the trafficking, recruitment, transport, transfer, diversion, repatriation, accommodation or reception of persons, through the use or threat of use of Force or weapons or any other form of coercion, kidnapping, fraud, deceit, abuse of authority or a situation of vulnerability or by the offer or acceptance of sums of money Or benefits or gifts or pledges of gifts in order to obtain the consent of a person having authority over another for the purpose of exploitation, whatever the form, whether that exploitation is committed by the perpetrator or In order to make such person available to a third party

3. Forced labor or service: Any work or service imposed on a person under the threat of any sanction and that person has not agreed to do so voluntarily. 

4. Slavery: Any situation in which all or part of the attributes of the right of ownership are exercised over a person.

5. Practices analogous to slavery:

They include the following: 

– Debt bondage: The situation in which a debtor is obliged to perform work or services by himself or by one of his servants as security for his debt, if the counterpart of such work or services does not, Is not used for the liquidation of the debt or if the nature or duration of the work or service is not limited or if its nature is not determined. 

– Serfdom: The situation in which a person is obliged under an agreement, to live and work on an estate belonging to another person, whether or not the work or service is remunerated and provided that such person Have the freedom to change their situation. 

– Forced marriage of women 

– Forced pregnancy or forced gestation for others. 

– Exploitation of the child in criminal activities or in armed conflict. 

– Adoption of the child for exploitation in any form. 

– Economic or sexual exploitation of children in the course of their employment. 

6. Servitude: The situation in which a person is obliged to perform work or provide services under conditions to which that person cannot escape or change

Art. 5  

The consent of the victim does not count for the assessment of the use of the offense of trafficking in persons if it is committed by the use of one of the means enumerated in the first paragraph of Article 2 Of this Act. 

The use of these means is not required for the constitution of the said offense if the victim is a child or a person incapable or suffering from a mental infirmity. 

The consent of the victim shall not be considered as a circumstance which mitigates the penalties provided for in this Act. 

Art. 8 

Everyone who commits any of the offenses relating to trafficking in persons provided for in the first paragraph of article 2 of this law shall be punished by ten years’ imprisonment and a fine of fifty thousand dinars.  

Art. 9  

Everyone who publicly incites them by any means shall be punished with half of the penalties for trafficking offenses against persons covered by this Act or those related to them. If the penalty is the death penalty or life imprisonment, it is replaced by a term of imprisonment of twenty years.  

Art. 10 

Anyone who adheres or participates, inside or outside the territory of the Republic, in any capacity whatsoever, shall be punished with seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of forty thousand dinars, An organized criminal group or an agreement for the purpose of preparing or arranging or committing any offense of trafficking in persons under this Act. The penalty is fifteen years’ imprisonment and a fine of one hundred thousand dinars for the persons who have formed or directed the organized criminal groups or the aforementioned agreements.

ORGANIC LAW NO 2016-61 ON THE PREVENTION OF TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (PDF)