Tunisian minister denies prison torture

Tunisian Justice Minister Noureddine Bhiri has denied reports that his country's prisons are used to torture detainees. An Amnesty International report, backed by other international human rights organisations accused Tunisian police of torturing prisoners. Bhiri used the case of prisoner Hassan Ben Brik, an Islamist arrested after an attack on the US embassy in Tunis on September 14. Ben Brik said that contrary to reports, he was not tortured during his time in prison. Despite the minister's retort, Tunisian prisoners have been going on hunger strikes which led to the death of two young Salafists who did not eat for 57 days. Furthermore, a number of lawyers have said that Tunisian prisons are a hotbed for drugs, torture and pornographic films. Bhiri met a delegation from the International Federation for Human Rights led by Martin Bradl and president of Freedom House, David Kramer. The duo expressed their willingness to support the efforts of Tunisia in its quest to reform the judicial system and assist them in implementing its strategic plan for justice reform. The Ministry of Justice was given a report with observations and proposals on judicial and democratic change. Bhiri was keen to stress upon the principle of independence of the judiciary.