Individual Corruption
The police are ranked as the most corrupt institution in Tunisia, with more than two-thirds of surveyed households perceiving the police to be corrupt, as reported by Transparency International’s
Global Corruption Barometer 2013
. According to the
US Department of State 2010
, there have reportedly been incidents where police
extorted
money from families of detainees in return for dropping charges against them. According to the Overseas Security Advisory Council’s
Tunisia Crime and Safety Report 2011
, in January 2011, two emergency hotlines, + 216 80 101 111 and + 216 71 335 000, were set up by the government to handle inquiries about how to handle incidents of police detention, corruption,
bribery
or harassment.
In September 2012, an incident involving three police officials stirred protests across the country. According to an October 2012 article by
CNN
, during an evening patrol in the capital of Tunis, three officers approached a couple sitting in their car for what the latter thought was a routine check, yet turned into
extortion
and rape. Following document verification, one officer violently forced the fiancé to a nearby ATM to extort money from him, an amount that totalled approximately USD 200, while the two other officers dragged the girl into the police car and raped her. To add insult to injury, the article further notes that during the investigation, the police tried to turn the case around in court by charging the victims with "intentional indecent behaviour", an allegation which could lead to six months in prison. The victims denied the charges and investigations are still pending. According to a December 2013 article by
Tunisia Live
the trial has been adjourned.
