entry were closed to them. However, irregular LGBTI PEOPLE’S RIGHTS entry continued to be criminalized, leaving The Attorney General also announced many asylum seekers, including children, at national consultations on legislation which risk of detention and/or refoulement, in criminalizes same-sex sexual relationships. A contradiction to international human rights JCPC ruling which could have implications law and standards. for LGBTI rights, was still pending at the end In a positive development, authorities of the year. granted migrants and asylum seekers access to Covid-19 vaccines. 1. Trinidad and Tobago: Protect People Fleeing: Amnesty International VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS Submission for the UN Universal Periodic Review, 39th Session of the UPR Working Group, 1-12 November 2021 (Index: AMR Women and girls continued to be at risk of 49/4554/2021), 5 August gender-based violence and discrimination. Venezuelan women seeking international TUNISIA protection reported that they had been frequent targets of harassment and sexual 1 Republic of Tunisia violence during 2020. In August 2021, according to news reports, a Venezuelan Head of state: Kaïs Saïed woman was kidnapped and threatened with Head of government : Najla Bouden (replaced Hichem rape. Mechichi in September) Venezuelan women remained afraid to report attacks, including because of fear that Tunisia's Covid-19 vaccination programme perpetrators would report them to the police was initially slow and failed to prioritize the or the immigration authorities and, under the most vulnerable, but it improved from July. current legal framework, that they could be In July, the President claimed exceptional detained or deported. powers to legislate and govern. Security Venezuelan women continued to experience forces continued to respond to peaceful a range of crimes associated with trafficking protests with arbitrary arrests and excessive into the sex sector, including deprivation of force with impunity. The military justice their liberty by traffickers, rape and other system increased prosecutions of civilians, forms of sexual violence, labour exploitation including four people for publicly criticizing and debt bondage. However, there remained the president. The authorities imposed insufficient resources for anti-trafficking arbitrary travel bans on at least 50 programmes, including safe shelter, Tunisians and placed at least 11 under healthcare and counselling. arbitrary house arrest. Freedom of Some women seeking asylum sold sex as a expression was curtailed under vague and way to support their livelihoods but often had repressive laws. A refugee was returned to to work long hours in exploitative work Algeria where he was imprisoned. Domestic conditions and had debts to pay off related to violence against women increased. Security their passage to the country. forces assaulted and harassed LGBTI DEATH PENALTY activists. In November, the Attorney General BACKGROUND announced national consultations on the In March, parliament approved a bill to mandatory death penalty, which remained in facilitate the creation of a constitutional court, force and was pending a judgment from the which the President rejected on the grounds Judicial Committee of the Privy Council that the constitutionally mandated deadline (JCPC) in the UK, Trinidad and Tobago’s for creating the court had expired. highest appellate court. Since September 2020, there were at least 718,561 officially recorded Covid-19 cases Amnesty International Report 2021/22 367