The non-governmental organisation Human Rights Watch (HRW) has just released a new report on Tunisia, denouncing the government’s use of arbitrary detention as “a cornerstone of its repressive policy” and claiming it is designed to strip individuals of their civil and political rights.
The NGO says that its research suggests that, since President Kais Saied’s takeover of Tunisia’s state institutions on 25 July 2021, the authorities have dramatically intensified their repression of dissent.
The 42-page report documents the Tunisian government’s increased reliance on arbitrary detention and politically motivated prosecutions to intimidate, punish, and silence its critics.
“Tunisian authorities should immediately release all those arbitrarily detained and stop prosecuting people for exercising their human rights”, the report, titled Tunisia: Arbitrary Detention Crushes Dissent reads.
It continues: "Tunisia’s international partners should urge the government to end its crackdown.
HRW’s researchers documented the cases of 22 people detained on charges that included terrorism - all of the charges relating to their public statements or political activities.
Among those charged are lawyers, political opponents, activists, journalists, social media users, and a human rights defender.
At least 14 of them face the death sentance if convicted, as reported by RFI earlier this year.
Over 50 people were being held on political grounds or for exercising their rights as of January 2025, HRW added.
“Not since the 2011 revolution have Tunisian authorities unleashed such repression,” said Bassam Khawaja, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “President Kais Saied’s government has returned the country to an era of political prisoners, robbing Tunisians of hard-won civil liberties.”
Since early 2023, the authorities have stepped up arbitrary arrests and detentions against people seen as critical of the government, targeting opponents from across the political spectrum.
President Saied fuels security forces’ and judicial authorities’ targeting of dissent, Human Rights Watch found.
The President has often publicly accused government critics and unnamed political adversaries of being “traitors” and even “terrorists,” the NGO’s report explained.
Among those that have been detained are include some of Saied’s main political adversaries and prominent opposition figures, like Abir Moussi, president of the Free Destourian Party (PDL) and Rached Ghannouchi, former president of the Ennahda opposition party and former speaker of parliament.
Sonia Dahmani, a lawyer, and Mohamed Boughalleb, a journalist were also detained for publicly criticising the authorities.
HRW is calling on the Tunisian authorities to release all those arbitrarily detained and drop abusive charges against them. It also calls on thme to stop prosecuting individuals “for exercising their human rights,” the report states.
Tunisia’s international partners should also urge the government to end its crackdown, according to the NGO, and to “protect space for freedom of expression, association, and assembly.”
HRW also calls on the European Union and its member states to publicly express concerns about the “deteriorating human rights situation in Tunisia” and to review any cooperation with Tunisia to ensure it is tied to compliance with international human rights obligations.
The EU has “largely failed to speak up regarding the dire human rights situation,” so far, the report claims.
“Tunisia’s international partners have consistently ignored the deteriorating human rights situation in Tunisia, even as political opponents and critics rack up one heavy-handed prison sentence after another,” Khawaja said.
“The international community has an urgent responsibility to do its utmost to seek the release of all those unjustly detained.”
Tunisia’s authorities have not reacted to the report yet.