Badr
Baabou

Background and Work

Badr Baabou co-founded Damj, the Tunisian Association for Justice and Equality, and served as its chairman. The organization provides legal aid, health services, and advocacy for LGBTI+ people in Tunisia, operating in a context where same-sex relations remain criminalized under Article 230 of the Penal Code. Damj has documented police abuse, arbitrary detention, and the use of anal examinations as evidence in prosecutions, a practice condemned by United Nations human rights bodies as torture.

Baabou also co-chairs the M-Coalition, a regional network focused on HIV/AIDS advocacy for LGBTI+ communities across the Middle East and North Africa. The coalition addresses the intersection of health access, stigma, and legal vulnerability in countries where both HIV status and sexual orientation expose individuals to criminal prosecution and social exclusion. In 2019, Front Line Defenders honored Baabou with its annual award for human rights defenders at risk.

The Attack

On 21 October 2021, at approximately 9:00 PM, Baabou was walking home in Tunis when he was stopped by two officers. One was a police officer in plain clothes; the other was an internal security officer in uniform. They took his wallet, mobile phone, identification documents, and work laptop, which held confidential data on Damj's beneficiaries. They threatened him with death and verbally abused him, explicitly referencing his work defending LGBTI+ rights.

The officers continued to assault Baabou in public. As bystanders gathered, the officers announced that they were police and that what Baabou was experiencing was the penalty for those who insult the police and file complaints against them. The statement suggested that the attack was retaliatory, connected to his previous advocacy and complaints against security forces.

Legal Action and Response

On 25 October 2021, Baabou filed a complaint at the Public Prosecutor's Office in the First Instance Court in Tunis. He named the two officers involved in the attack, the director general of national security, and the director of the Tunis security region. The complaint documented the assault, the theft of his belongings, and the threats he received.

The attack on Baabou is part of a broader pattern of violence, harassment, and intimidation faced by LGBTI+ rights defenders in Tunisia. Despite constitutional protections for freedom of association and expression adopted after the 2011 revolution, LGBTI+ individuals and advocates continue to face arrest, prosecution under Article 230, and violence from both state and non-state actors. The explicit reference by the officers to his human rights work underscores the targeted nature of the assault.