A/HRC/40/58/Add.1 Annex Report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion and belief on his visit to Tunisia I. Introduction 1. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Mr Ahmed Shaheed undertook an official country visit to Tunisia from 9-19 April 2018 at the invitation of the government. 2. The Special Rapporteur acknowledges the full cooperation extended by the Tunisian authorities to facilitate meetings with government functionaries and to enable unrestricted access to civil society actors, including members of various registered and unregistered religious or belief groups, academics, groups working on gender-related issues, and journalists. He also met with diplomats and representatives of various UN agencies to openly discuss the situation of freedom of religion or belief in the country. These meetings were held in Tunis and in Djerba. He also visited the Mornaguia prison and met with prison officials and several inmates. 3. The Special Rapporteur had the opportunity to meet with the heads of governmental institutions including the Ministers and or senior officials at the ministries of Culture, Education, Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Interior, Justice, Religious Affairs, Women’s Affairs, and Youth. He also met with the Truth and Dignity Commission, the High Authority of Audio-visual communication (HAICA), the National Human Rights Commission, CREDIF, and the Commission of Liberty and Equality. 4. At the end of his mission, the Special Rapporteur was received by the Chief of Government of the Republic of Tunisia, His Excellency Youssef Chahed. Chief of Government Chahed reiterated the Government’s strong commitment to promote respect for freedom of religion or belief for all persons within the state’s jurisdiction and to upholding the country’s international human rights obligations. Chief of Government Chahed highlighted the voluminous extent of the legislation currently being considered by Government bodies for effectuating the guarantees promoted by Tunisia’s new Constitution. The Chief of Government also stressed the fiscal challenges the country was facing in meeting the rising expectations of the Tunisian people with regard to their social and economic rights, and urged the international community to recognise the importance of contributing to the country’s economic development which is integral to consolidating the democratic gains of the revolution. 5. The Special Rapporteur expresses his gratitude to the Government of Tunisia for hosting and facilitating the visit, and thanks all those who engaged in and contributed to activities organized in furtherance of the agenda tasked to him by the Human Rights Council. The Special Rapporteur would also like to thank the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for the support extended to his work through its offices in Geneva, Switzerland and Tunis, Tunisia. II. Cooperation with UN Human Rights Mechanisms 6. The Tunisian Government’s record of cooperation with the UN human rights mechanism has been improving, especially since 2011. The government extended a standing invitation to UN Special Procedures on 28 February 2011, and since then 16 mandate-holders have been granted visits to the country. Tunisia also hosts a country office of the OHCHR in Tunis which has been functioning since 2011. The Special Rapporteur notes the affable and collaborative posture that authorities have taken towards the OHCHR office, and the contributions that the office has been, therefore, able to make to various measures being developed or implemented by the government to strengthen respect for human rights in the country. 2