Kamel Jendoubi (Arabic: كمال الجندوبي; born 8 August 1952 in

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

) is a Tunisian politician and

human rights activist A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...

Biography

Jendoubi holds a degree from the

IAE Paris IAE Paris Sorbonne Business School (also known in French as IAE Paris, short for Institut d'administration des entreprises de Paris) is a public business school, part of the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne, University of Paris 1 Panthéon ...

and a Master of Advanced Studies from

University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

. He is a member and the president of several human rights organizations, including the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network since 2003. In 2011, he was elected by the High Authority for the achievement of the objectives of the revolution, political reform and democratic transition as the President of the Independent

Higher Authority for Realisation of the Objectives of the Revolution, Political Reform and Democratic Transition The Higher Authority for Realisation of the Objectives of the Revolution, Political Reform and Democratic Transition (, ') was a transitional authority in the aftermath of the Tunisian Revolution. It was created on 15 March 2011 by merging of ...

. In October 2012, Kamel Jendoubi was again in charge of organizing elections of 2013, following a

troika Troika or troyka (from Russian тройка, meaning 'a set of three' or the digit '3') may refer to: * Troika (driving), a traditional Russian harness driving combination, a cultural icon of Russia Politics * Triumvirate, a political regime rul ...

agreement on the future political regime. However, the voting was postponed and Chafik Sarsar, a university lecturer in

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...

, was finally elected president of the new independent Higher Authority for elections. On 23 January 2015, in the government of Habib Essid, he was appointed as help to the prime minister,

Head of Government of Tunisia The president of Tunisia, officially the president of the Republic of Tunisia (), is the executive head of state of Tunisia. The president exercises executive power with the assistance of a government headed by the prime minister in a president ...

, for Relations with Constitutional Institutions and Civil Society. On 6 January 2016, he also became responsible for human rights. On 5 December 2017, he was appointed by the

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is a department of the United Nations Secretariat that works to promote and protect human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Univers ...

to lead a group of international and regional experts to investigate on human rights violations in

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

Education

Kamel Jendoubi enrolled at the

University of Tunis Tunis University (, ) is a public university in Tunis, Tunisia. It was founded in 1960 on the basis of earlier educational establishments. The University of Tunis is a member of the Mediterranean University Union (UNIMED) and of Agence univers ...

in the late 1960s to pursue studies in

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

. A year later, in 1971, he moved to Paris, but failed to enroll in medical school. He therefore pursued pharmacy studies. During this time, he got to know many Tunisian immigrants and decided to leave his studies for the benefit of his human rights activities. In 1979, Kamel Jendoubi, after a short return to Tunisia, returned to France to resume studies in mathematics this time, before reorienting again, In Paris after IAE he started at Sorbonne.

Smear campaign

Jendoubi was the target of a smear campaign reportedly launched by the government of the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

, which sought to tie him to the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...

and Islamic extremist groups. As part of the effort, the UAE government employed the services of Alp Services SA, a Swiss private intelligence firm. Alp manufactured false news stories about Jendoubi which were added to articles about him on

English Wikipedia The English Wikipedia is the primary English-language edition of Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. It was created by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger on 15 January 2001, as Wikipedia's first edition. English Wikipedia is hosted alongside o ...

and

French Wikipedia The French Wikipedia () is the French-language edition of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. This edition was started on 23 March 2001, two months after the official creation of Wikipedia. It has :fr:Special:Statistics, encyclopedia artic ...

Honours and awards

* Commander

Order of the Republic (Tunisia) The Order of the Republic is an order of Tunisia, founded 16 March 1959. Some major recipients Grand Cross National * Mohamed Ennaceur * Beji Caid Essebsi. Foreign * : Abdelaziz Bouteflika * : Carlos Menem * : Gamal Abdel Nasser * : Anwar Sad ...

, 2011. * Hermès Prize for the Promotion of

Freedom of Expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

and Exchange of Information in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

Publications

* ''Que vive la République ! Tunisie (1957-2017)'', Tunis, ed. Alif, 2018 * ''Tunisie dix ans et dans dix ans'' (collective work), Tunis, ed. Leaders, 2021 * ''La Tunisie vote, Récit d’un acteur engagé'', Tunis, ed. Nirvana, 2021

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jendoubi, Kamel Tunisian politicians People of the Tunisian revolution Tunisian human rights activists Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas University alumni 1952 births Living people