Islam and human rights: The constitutional debate in Tunisia

The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief and concise overview of some of the main actors who took part in the constitutional debate of Tunisia; it is not a comprehensive analysis of all aspects of the constitutional process in Tunisia.

The paper is divided into three parts: the first part provides a historical perspective; the second part presents the context, process and actors of constitution-making in Tunisia; and the third part addresses the discussion of the role of Islam in the drafting and in the final result of the 2014 Constitution of Tunisia. The paper ends with some concluding remarks on the Tunisian case.

Authors

Senior Adviser at the Danish Institute for Human Rights, Annali Kristiansen holds a degree in Law and she has more than 20 years of experience and appreciated knowledge in human rights.She has experience in strategic planning,legal analysis as well as institution building. In addition, she has experience with human rights endeavours in fragile states in Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa. Furthermore shehas co-coordinated the publication ' The Constitutional Protection of Human Rights ' and hasspent time in Tunisia.

Originally a historian and political scientist, Mazen Shaqoura has morethan20 years ofexperience in the fields of human rights, democratic development andgood governance in fragile states and post-conflict contexts. Hisfocus isonprogramme management and implementation of human rights throughstrategy, capacity development,and institution building primarily inthe Middle East and North Africa.Over the years he has gainedexpertise inlegal analysis-and commentaryfrom a human rights and rule of law perspective.