Tunisia: Muslim women are free to marry non-Muslims

Before they had to submit a certificate that documented the conversion to Islam of their promised bridegroom. Tunisia in the forefront of human rights: freedom of conscience and greater protection for women.

Tunisia (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Muslim women may marry men of different religious confession, announced Said Garrach, the spokesman Tunisian President, yesterday. "All texts related to the interdict of Tunisian marriages with a foreigner, the 1973 circular and all similar texts have been deleted," he wrote on Facebook. And he added: "Congratulations to the women of Tunisia for the consecration of their right to freedom of choice of their spouse".

Previously, promised brides had to deliver a certificate of conversion of the future husband to Islam. Only a few have been able to recognize their marriages in the absence of such a document, and only at the price of a legal battle.

Tunisia is once again a state-of-the-art country in the protection of human rights. Among the Arab-Islamic countries, its constitution is the only one to guarantee freedom of religion (Article 6) and conscience.

Additionally, in August, Tunis approved a law against gender violence, which also abolished the possibility of rapists to escape justice if they marry their victims. The example was followed by Jordan and Lebanon.

There are still discriminatory norms in Tunisian law, such as those concerning inheritance, which provide that the woman inherits half that of her brothers. But with respect to their "sisters" in the Middle East, they enjoy many rights: they can do any profession, they have rights in many spheres and hold half of the posts in law and medicine. In addition, the law prohibits polygamy and allows the woman to divorce men.

• Tunisia
• Human Rights
• Religious Freedom
• Women's Rights
• Marriage
• Interreligious Marriage
• Freedom of Conscience