Tunisia: Government Lifts Restrictions on Women's Rights Treaty

(Beirut) - Tunisia's lifting of key reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is an important step toward gender equality, Human Rights Watch said today. The Tunisian government should next ensure that all domestic laws conform to international standards and eliminate all forms of discrimination against women, Human Rights Watch said.

Tunisia is the first country in the region to withdraw all of its specific reservations to the treaty. These reservations had enabled it to opt out of certain provisions even though it had ratified the treaty.

The Tunisian Council of Ministers adopted a draft decree on August 16, 2011, to lift the reservations. 'Many of the reservations limited women's equality within their families, and their removal finally recognizes that women are equal partners in marriage and in making decisions about their children,' said Nadya Khalife, Middle East women's rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. 'The Tunisian government, by lifting major reservations to CEDAW, is proclaiming its commitment to advance women's rights.'

The August 16 decree lifts all reservations except a general declaration that Tunisia'shall not take any organizational or legislative decision in conformity with the requirements of this Convention where such a decision would conflict with the provisions of Chapter I of the Tunisian Constitution.' Chapter I establishes Islam as the state religion. This declaration should also be removed, as no state should use its own constitution as an excuse for not complying with international standards, Human Rights Watch said. But Tunisia has not used the declaration to attempt to justify maintaining laws or practices that violate CEDAW, Human Rights Watch said. more on >>

Source: http://www.ippf.org