Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, 1957 (No. 107) - Tunisia (Ratification: 1962)

The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report contains no reply to its previous comments. It hopes that the next report will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous comments initially made in 2014.

Repetition

Articles 1, 3, 4 and 5 of the Convention. General policy. In reply to the direct request of 2013, the Government states that the Berber population mainly live in a number of communities in southern Tunisia. The Committee also takes notes of the adoption, in 2014, of a new Constitution. The Government assures that article 42 of the Constitution guarantees the State’s support for the national culture in its renewal and diversity. The Committee invites the Government to provide detailed information on the measures taken or envisaged to guarantee the protection of the institutions, religions and culture of the Berber population.

Articles 2, 6 and 27. The Committee recalls that, under these Articles of the Convention, it is the responsibility of the Government to implement, in so far as necessary, coordinated and systematic action for the protection of the populations concerned. It invites the Government to indicate whether programmes of this nature have been envisaged or adopted.

Article 5(a). The Committee invites the Government once again to provide information on the measures taken to seek the collaboration of representatives of the Berber population, in applying the provisions of the Convention as envisaged in Article 5(a). Please supply information on any difficulties encountered and the results obtained.

Articles 7–10. The Committee recalls that, under these Articles of the Convention, measures shall be taken to ensure that customary laws of the population concerned are taken into account, as well as their methods of social control, in the definition of the rights and obligations of these populations, and so that persons belonging to the populations concerned are safeguarded against the improper application of preventive detention. The Committee requests the Government once again to indicate the measures envisaged regarding the Berber population.

Article 11. Land. The Committee invites the Government to specify the regions in which the right of ownership, collective or individual, of the members of the populations concerned over the lands which they traditionally occupy is recognized, and the populations concerned. In the case of collective ownership, please indicate the principal forms in which these rights are recognized by law and are exercised. In the case of individual ownership, please indicate whether there is any common use of land (for example, cooperative farming), and any legal basis for it.

Articles 12–14. The Committee invites the Government to specify the provisions of the national legislation which guarantee that the populations concerned cannot be removed from their habitual territory without their free consent, and to provide specific information on all circumstances in which populations have been removed from their territories, specifying the reason for their removal and the arrangements for the compensation of any resulting loss or damages.

Articles 16–18. Vocational training, handicrafts and rural industries. The Government states that the national vocational training system provides opportunities for apprenticeships and vocational training throughout the national territory, for young persons seeking training without any discrimination whatsoever, in areas relevant to all sectors of economic activity. Please indicate whether specific vocational training programmes have been implemented by the Tunisian Vocational Training Agency for the Berber Population, and whether handicrafts and rural industries are encouraged as factors in the economic development of this population.

Article 20. Social security and health. Please supply detailed information on the number and nature of the health services available for the populations concerned, the regions in which they operate, their staffing and the number of people who benefit from these services.

Articles 21–26. Education and means of communication. Please indicate the number and kinds of schools, and the number of teachers serving the Berber population, the regions in which the schools operate and the number of pupils.

Revision of the Convention. The Committee recalls that, at its 270th Session (November 1997), the Governing Body invited the States parties to the Convention to contemplate ratifying the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), which would, ipso jure, involve the immediate denunciation of Convention No. 107(GB.270/LILS/3(Rev.1), paragraph 85). The Committee notes that, while awaiting such a ratification, the Government remains bound to give effect to the provisions of the Convention that remain relevant, particularly on the matters raised in this direct request. The Committee invites the Government to include information on any consultations that might have been held with the social partners on the possibility of ratifying the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169).