Tunisian Parliament adopts new-anti terror law to counter Islamist terrorists

Tunisia’s parliament has approved a new anti-terrorism law in a bid to counter a growing wave of militancy in the African country, which saw two fatal terror attacks claimed by ISIL earlier this year.

The law replaces legislation from 2003 and is designed to facilitate efforts to combat terrorism, but rights groups fear it will give impunity to security forces and sacrifice the achievements of the 2011 revolution for the sake of stability.

Late on Friday, the Tunisian parliamentarians overwhelmingly passed the law, which garnered 174 “Yes” votes and 10 abstentions, while no one voted against it.

In the past few months, militants have switched their focus from attacking security forces to foreign tourists, killing 21 in March attack in Tunis and then last month 38 died at a beach resort.

The president of the assembly, Mohamed Ennaceur, called the passing of the law an “historic” moment and said it would “reassure” the nation’s citizens.

The law will also make it easier for investigators to tap suspects’ phones.

The new powers allow authorities to detain suspects for 15 days without access to a lawyer or appearance before a judge.

Advocacy groups have warned that the law’s definition of terrorist crimes is too vague and they say it fails to safeguard the rights of defendants.

Critics were concerned the law brought back capital punishment for a number of offences, after a de facto quarter-century moratorium on executions.

The Islamic State extremist militia, which is active in neighbouring Libya, Syria and Iraq, claimed responsibility for both the Sousse and Tunis attacks. IS later said it was behind the raid.