Following the murder of Coulibaly Falicou, the President of the Association of Ivorians in Tunisia, hundreds of Sub-Saharan nationals took to Tunis streets to demonstrate against racism .
Indeed, the late Mr Falicou died after an attack with knives. The local authorities said that it was a robbery. But the Sub-Saharan nationals living in Tunisia insist on the fact that it was another racist crime.
Despite the fact that Tunisia 's Parliament has adopted an anti-racism law which criminalizes racist speech , incitement to hatred and discrimination last October, news about racist incidents and crimes multiplied on social media. Non-governmental organisations frequently report attacks on people singled out for the color of their skin.
The law stipulates that : "any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, color (or) ancestry" is prohibited , as any other form of discrimination that leads to "disturbances, or obstruction or privation".Under its provisions, those convicted of using racist language can face one month in prison and a 1000 dinars fine , while those convicted of inciting hatred , making racist threats, spreading and advocating racism or belonging to an organisation that supports discrimination could be imprisoned 1_3 years or fined as much as 3000 dinars . Nevertheless, its implementation remains a big problem.
After the demonstration , we could notice floods of racist commentaries and texts on social media. Several people have been questioning the racist nature of the crime. Others were disgustedly asking Sub-Saharan nationals to leave the country.
For more photos click: here .
