Killing in the Name of Islam? Assessing the Tunisian Approach to Criminalising Takfir and Incitement to Religious Hatred against International and Regional Human Rights Instruments

Abstract

ABSTRACT The rise of political Islam since the 1970s and the lack of a robust political alternative during the Arab Spring have paved the way for the widespread issuance of accusations of unbelief or takfir against individuals, groups of people, or institutions. These pronouncements fit into the broader context of radical Islamist ideologies spread by systematic hate propaganda, and when the two converge they constitute instigation to murder. The need to address this phenomenon has arisen in states with substantive Muslim populations in order to protect essential human rights. Tunisia has chosen a head-on approach by criminalising accusations of unbelief and incitement to religious hatred and loathing as terrorist offences. While this approach can be seen as an encroachment upon the right to freedom of expression, it has to be balanced against states' positive obligations in protecting competing human rights. Drawing on the jurisprudence of the Human Rights Committee of the ICCPR and the African Commission of the ACHPR as well as literature in the field of human rights, this paper demonstrates the interrelation between the right to life, freedom from fear, security of the person, and the right to dignity, as well as their violations through unfettered takfirism.