Tunis: Demonstration against racism

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. 

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