Samir Dilou

Samir Dilou

Samir Dilou is a Tunisian politician. He serves as the Minister of human rights, transitional justice and government spokesperson under Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali.[1][2][3]

Biography

Early life

Samir Dilou was born in Tunis in 1966.[2] He graduated from the University of Sousse in 1991.[2] He was sentenced to ten years in prison as a result of his political involvement with the students' union Union Générale des Etudiants de Tunisie (UGET).[2]

Career

He is a lawyer and a member of the Executive Committee of the Ennahda Movement.[2] He is one of the founders of the International Organization to Defend Political Prisoners and a member of Truth and Work Organization in Switzerland.[2] On 20 December 2011, he joined the Jebali Cabinet as Minister of Human Rights and Transitional Justice and Spokesperson of the Government.[2]

Minister

Some opposition sources claim that in February 2012, he criticised freedom of the press.[4] His opponents claim that he later added that freedom of expression and strikes were a privilege, not a right.[5] He also decided to remove the police from the campus of Manouba University in Manouba, where students have been demonstrating to wear the niquab.[5]

His opponents maintain also that in the same month, he said on Samir El-Wafi's program on national television that homosexuality was not a human rights issue, but a condition in need of medical treatment.[6][7] Amnesty International condemned this statement.[6][7] In June 2012, he rejected the United Nations Human Rights Council's recommendation to decriminalize same-sex intercourse, arguing it was a Western concept at odds with Islam, Tunisian culture and traditions.[3] Critics have argued the anti-gay legislation was passed under French Tunisia.[3]

References

  1. ↑ CIA World Leaders
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Ahmed Lachheb, Samir Dilou, Tunisia Live, 15 August 2011
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Dan Littauer, Tunisia rejects UNHRC recommendation to decriminalise gay sex, Pink News, 6 June 2012
  4. ↑ Samir Dilou se livre à un lynchage frénétique des journalistes, Business News, 20 February 2012
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Sana Ajmi, Government Spokesman Samir Dilou Addresses State of Tunisia in Transition, Tunisia Live, 8 January 2012
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Dan Littauer, Tunisian human rights minister: No free speech for gays, Pink News, 6 February 2012
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Tunisian official's rhetoric undermines human rights, Amnesty International, 24 February 2012
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