Tunisia to stop 'anal test' for homosexuality

Citizens accused of homosexuality in Tunisia will no longer be forced to undergo any anal test.

Although the date when this goes into effect has not been announced, the move is an important step toward ending degrading, discriminatory, and unscientific “testing” for evidence of homosexual conduct.

According to the Minister of Human Rights, Mehdi Ben Gharbia, this test may be requested by a judge but those involved will have the right to refuse it. Forced anal exams violate the Convention against Torture, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

The UN Committee Against Torture condemned the use of anal exams in Tunisia in May 2016, and the European External Action Service asked Tunisia to immediately stop conducting these examinations at an EU-Tunisia human rights dialogue in January 2017.