عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

Tunisia Hands out Prisoners' Rights Guide

All detainees and guards in Tunisian prisons are set to have access a guide outlining prisoners' rights by the end of March 2020. (AFP)
All detainees and guards in Tunisian prisons are set to have access a guide outlining prisoners' rights by the end of March 2020. (AFP)
TT
TT

Tunisia Hands out Prisoners' Rights Guide

All detainees and guards in Tunisian prisons are set to have access a guide outlining prisoners' rights by the end of March 2020. (AFP)
All detainees and guards in Tunisian prisons are set to have access a guide outlining prisoners' rights by the end of March 2020. (AFP)

Tunisian authorities on Tuesday began distributing a guide outlining prisoners' rights to be kept in all detention facilities, AFP witnessed.

The guide was handed out to detainees at Mornaguia, the main prison in central Tunisia, close to the capital Tunis.

The 120-page manual contains 255 simple questions, ranging from "What disciplinary punishments can be imposed?" to "How often are inmates allowed access to a shower?".

All detainees and guards are set to have access the document by the end of March 2020.

Alongside the distribution of a more technical document to relevant professionals, the initiative aims to "spread the culture of human rights in prisons", according to Justice Minister Karim Jamoussi.

Nine years after a revolution that put an end to a police state in which torture and arbitrary detention were widespread, formal justice reform has been slow to materialize.

The penal code and procedures are in the process of being amended, and in the last 12 months key organizations, including state and rights bodies, have worked together to draft laws from existing texts.

Tunisia's director general of prisons, Elyes Zalleg, said, "the manual should improve guards' ethics".

Most Viewed

 
 
Varieties

New Zealanders Save More Than 30 Stranded Whales by Lifting Them on Sheets

Rescuers and volunteers try to save killer whales stranded at the mouth of the Bolshaya Vorovskaya River at the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, on the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia October 2, 2024. Head of the Sobolevsky Municipal District of the Kamchatka Region Andrei Vorovskiy via VK/Handout via REUTERS
Rescuers and volunteers try to save killer whales stranded at the mouth of the Bolshaya Vorovskaya River at the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, on the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia October 2, 2024. Head of the Sobolevsky Municipal District of the Kamchatka Region Andrei Vorovskiy via VK/Handout via REUTERS
TT
TT

New Zealanders Save More Than 30 Stranded Whales by Lifting Them on Sheets

Rescuers and volunteers try to save killer whales stranded at the mouth of the Bolshaya Vorovskaya River at the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, on the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia October 2, 2024. Head of the Sobolevsky Municipal District of the Kamchatka Region Andrei Vorovskiy via VK/Handout via REUTERS
Rescuers and volunteers try to save killer whales stranded at the mouth of the Bolshaya Vorovskaya River at the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, on the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia October 2, 2024. Head of the Sobolevsky Municipal District of the Kamchatka Region Andrei Vorovskiy via VK/Handout via REUTERS

More than 30 pilot whales that stranded themselves on a beach in New Zealand were safely returned to the ocean after conservation workers and residents helped to refloat them by lifting them on sheets. Four of the pilot whales died, New Zealand’s conservation agency said.
New Zealand is a whale stranding hotspot and pilot whales are especially prolific stranders.
A team was monitoring Ruakākā Beach near the city of Whangārei in New Zealand’s north on Monday to ensure there were no signs of the whales saved Sunday stranding again, the Department of Conservation told The Associated Press. The agency praised as “incredible” the efforts made by hundreds of people to help save the foundering pod.
“It’s amazing to witness the genuine care and compassion people have shown toward these magnificent animals,” Joel Lauterbach, a Department of Conservation spokesperson, said in a statement. “This response demonstrates the deep connection we all share with our marine environment.”
A Māori cultural ceremony for the three adult whales and one calf that died in the stranding took place on Monday. New Zealand’s Indigenous people consider whales a taonga — a sacred treasure — of cultural significance.
New Zealand has recorded more than 5,000 whale strandings since 1840. The largest pilot whale stranding was of an estimated 1,000 whales at the Chatham Islands in 1918, according to the Department of Conservation.
It's often not clear why strandings happen but the island nation's geography is believed to be a factor. Both the North and South Islands feature stretches of protruding coastline with shallow, sloping beaches that can confuse species such as pilot whales — which rely on echolocation to navigate.