Human Rights in the Era post Arab-Spring: Hope and Deception. The Case of Tunisia.

Professor Dr Buchra Belhaj Hmida (Faculty of law, University of Tunis)

Bochra Belhaj Hmida holds a graduate degree in law. In 1989, she co-created the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (Association tunisienne des femmes démocrates – ATFD) and was President of the organisation from 1994 to 1998. She joined the Democratic Forum for Labour and Liberties (Forum démocratique pour le travail et les libertés) in 2011.

Bochra Belhaj Hmida is President of the Individual Freedoms and Equality Commission (Commission des libertés individuelles et de l’égalité – Colibe), which was created by the Tunisian President Béji Caïd Essebsi on 13 August 2017. The Commission aims to construct a report concerning legislative reforms for individual freedom and equality, as required by the 2014 Constitution and by international human rights norms. As President of this Commission, Bochra Belhaj Hmida is spearheading a reform proposal of equal inheritance between men and women, which is the source of intense polemic in Tunisia.

On 13 August 2018, National Women’s Day, Bochra Belhaj Hmida was distinguished with the Tunisia-Insignia of Commander of the Order of Republic (Ordre de la République tunisienne), by the Tunisian President. On 27 September 2018, she received an award from the Global Hope Coalition. She was also named «Politician of the Year» in 2018 by the Tunisian press. In 2019, she was awarded the Fatima al-Fihriya Prize in recognition of her involvement in the advocating for individual freedoms and equality in Tunisia.