A/HRC/40/58/Add.1 bodies, executive agencies and oversight mechanisms, as provided for by the new Constitution. The unicameral Assembly of the People’s Representatives serves as Tunisia’s legislature, whose members are elected to five-year terms. All laws that relate to freedoms and human rights, the duties of citizens and personal status require an absolute majority of the Assembly’s membership. The President, who is directly elected, invites the party or a coalition of political parties that can command a majority in the Assembly to form the government. The President appoints and dismisses the General Mufti of Tunisia, while the Head of the government selects a Minister for Religious Affairs. The General Mufti is mandated to declare religious holidays, issue certificates of conversion to Islam, respond to citizens’ inquiries about Islam, and offer advice on school curricula and the study of Islam. The duties of the Ministry of Religious Affairs include training, appointment and dismissal of Imams, supervising relations with the religious communities, ensuring the political neutrality of places of worship, and conducting inter-faith dialogues. 31. Article 128 of the Constitution mandates the creation of a Human Rights Commission to oversee respect for, and promotion of, human freedoms and rights, and to make proposals to develop the human rights system. The Constitution requires that the Commission be consulted on draft laws that fall within the domain of its mandate, and that the body examine violations of human rights with a view to addressing or referring them to the competent authorities. Commissioners are appointed to serve a single 6-year term and are required to be independent and impartial. 32. Legislation (Bill no.42-2016) for enacting Article 128 has been before the parliament since 2016. Once adopted and in force, the Commission will replace the High Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which was established by a decree in 1991 and reconstituted by a framework law in 2008.This body was mandated to publish a triennial report but the practice in the pre-revolutionary era was to highlight positive developments. At its last review in 2009, the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions which monitors compliance with the Paris Principles, accorded B status to the Commission for partial non-compliance. On 29 October 2018, the organic law n°2018¬51 in relation to the Human Rights Body was adopted by the parliament. 33. Other oversight bodies with a constitutional mandate that oversee or promote human rights include the Audio-Visual Communication Commission. Article 127 of the Constitution renders the Audio-Visual Communication Commission responsible for the regulation and development of the audio-visual communication sector and tasks it to ensure freedom of expression and information, and the establishment of a pluralistic media sector that functions with integrity. 34. The Special Rapporteur notes that the mandates of several of these overlap and some unresolved questions about financial autonomy and procedures for appointing members to these bodies remain. It would be important to achieve system-wide coherence and to ensure that the independence and autonomy of these bodies are ensured when any new institutions begin to function. 35. A number of independent bodies, created since 2012, are already in operation. These include the National Authority for the Prevention of Torture, which was established pursuant to Tunisia’s ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. It has wide-ranging powers and authority with respect to all places of detention. Its members were elected by the Assembly of Representatives of the People and began functioning in 2016. 36. The Commission on Access to Information is mandated to ensure the right of all citizens to access information related to government affairs and responsible for examining complaints about denials of access to such information. 37. The decree n°2011¬116 of 2 November 2011 on the freedom of audio-visual communication and the creation of the Independent High Authority for Audio-visual Communications (also known by its French acronym ‘HAICA’) seeks to ensure that the exercise of freedom of expression also ‘respects freedom of belief’. The HAICA is set up to regulate the audio-visual sector in accordance with the principle of a plural, diverse and balanced audio-visual media spectrum; strengthening the values of freedom, justice and nondiscrimination. HAICA’s decisions while countering hate speech, including religious-based 7