The government increased law enforcement efforts. Tunisia’s anti-trafficking law, Organic Law 2016-61, enacted in July 2016, criminalized sex trafficking and labor trafficking and prescribed penalties of 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 Tunisian dinars (TND) ($16,320) for crimes involving adult victims and 15 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 50,000-100,000 TND ($16,320-$32,640) for those involving child victims. These penalties were sufficiently stringent and, with respect to sex trafficking, commensurate with penalties prescribed for other grave crimes, such as kidnapping. Article 171 of the penal code criminalized begging and using children to beg and prescribed penalties of six months to two years’ imprisonment.
An international organization reported the government frequently charged migrant smugglers under the anti-trafficking law; thus, the government’s reporting of trafficking investigation, prosecution, and conviction data may be conflated with other crimes not involving exploitation through labor trafficking or sex trafficking, such as migrant smuggling. In 2023, the Ministry of Interior (MOI) conducted a total of 241 new investigations, which included 34 cases of sex trafficking, 182 cases of child “economic exploitation” (forced labor) and forced begging, 19 cases of child forced criminality, and six cases of “baby trafficking;” it was not clear if the “baby trafficking” cases were trafficking cases or illegal adoption. This compared with 266 investigations initiated in 2022. The National Authority to Combat Trafficking in Persons (National Authority) – the government’s lead agency coordinating anti-trafficking efforts – reported the government, with the assistance of a legal aid NGO, initiated 53 new prosecutions (48 sex trafficking and six labor trafficking) and continued 109 prosecutions initiated in previous reporting periods. In 2022, the government initiated 29 new prosecutions under the 2016 anti-trafficking law. Courts convicted 84 traffickers in 44 cases in 2023 (11 sex trafficking cases, 27 labor trafficking cases, and six cases involving unspecified forms of trafficking); 12 of the 44 cases were convicted under the anti-trafficking law but the government did not report under which laws the other 32 cases were convicted. Of the 84 convictions, 11 were for sex trafficking, 27 for labor trafficking, and 46 for unspecified forms of exploitation; 81 of the 84 convicted traffickers were Tunisian and the other three foreign nationals. This was a significant increase compared with 59 convictions in 2022 and the largest number of convictions in a single year since the enactment of the 2016 anti-trafficking law. However, the government did not report sentencing data for the second consecutive year. The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit in human trafficking crimes; however, corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes remained significant concerns, inhibiting law enforcement action during the year. Some non-governmental organizations observers alleged that, during migrant expulsions at the Tunisia-Libya border, some Tunisian officials colluded to transfer migrants to Libyan counterparts who then “sold” them to smugglers and traffickers. In addition, some Tunisian officials allegedly accepted bribes from criminal networks to facilitate trafficking and migrant smuggling, ignore potential trafficking crimes, drop investigations, or facilitate the release of arrested traffickers or smugglers.
The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) designated a judge at each tribunal of first instance, for a total of 28 judges, to serve as focal points to prosecute and investigate human trafficking cases. The MOI’s special victims unit included brigades of judicial police and national guard officers throughout the country who specialized in cybercrime and assistance to trafficking and GBV victims. The MOJ continued to monitor and maintain statistics on human trafficking cases brought before the judiciary through a specialized office; this office also had the authority to both conduct research and advise the Minister of Justice on the application of the anti-trafficking law. The National Authority reported working on a project to dismantle human trafficking and migrant smuggling criminal networks including other countries in the region. The government – at times in coordination with international and civil society organizations – conducted a wide variety of anti-trafficking trainings for law enforcement and judicial officials, healthcare practitioners, social workers, and other government officials on identifying and assisting trafficking victims, as well as investigating and prosecuting trafficking cases. Nevertheless, insufficient training of judicial and law enforcement officials continued to hinder investigations and victim identification efforts, and some officials conflated human trafficking and migrant smuggling. The lack of an independent budget and insufficient capacity building hindered the government’s efforts to fully implement the anti-trafficking law. Furthermore, civil society organizations reported a continued low level of awareness among police and judicial authorities on the application of the anti-trafficking law and handling of trafficking cases. Due to their lack of familiarity with the anti-trafficking law, some judicial officials used other laws with more lenient penalties to prosecute and convict trafficking offenders. Observers reported courts dismissed several potential trafficking cases because of a lack of evidence on the exploitative nature of the crime. Prosecutors continued to rely on victim or witness testimony without seeking corroborating evidence in cases where victims chose not to participate in criminal justice proceedings, inhibiting successful prosecutions and convictions.
from 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report – U.S. Department of State
2024 Trafficking in Persons Report – United States Department of State
