Tunisia: LGBT activist’s assault by police seen as a pattern

By FRANCESCA EBEL
Associated Press

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Police violence is among the myriad challenges that LGBTQ people experience in Tunisia, and observers say officers who can dispense beatings with impunity are becoming increasingly brazen. A prominent LGBTQ activist has reported that two men, one dressed in police uniform, threw him to the ground, beat and kicked him in downtown Tunis. He says the men told him the beating was punishment for his attempts to file complaints about previous misconduct. Human rights activists say the October assault is part of a pattern of police harassment of LGBTQ individuals. Homosexual activity in the North African country remains a criminal offense punishable by up to three years in prison.