Tunisia’s medical council has banned forced anal examinations for homosexual men, often conducted to establish whether they are gay or not.
Same sex relationships are illegal in the North African country, and those suspected of engaging in homosexuality end up going through the tests.
The country’s National Council of the Medical Order has now decreed that doctors must tell people they have a right to refuse the exams.
The decree has received praise from Human Rights Watch (HRW), with officials there terming it an ‘important” and “courageous” step forward.
“Tunisian doctors have taken a courageous step in opposing the use of these torturous exams,” said Neela Ghoshal, senior LGBT rights researcher at HRW.
“To ensure that forced anal testing in Tunisia ends once and for all, police should stop ordering the exams, and courts should refuse to admit the results into evidence,” he added.
The tests have been going on for at least nine years or longer, but only elicited attention following a series of high profile cases in Tunisia over the recent years.
In December, two men were arrested and subjected to the tests, but despite passing the exams, both were sentenced to eight months in prison in March.
Most African countries have instituted laws against homosexuality, considering it culturally unacceptable, with most having prison terms for persons found guilty of the same.
