Upon completing a four-day visit to Tunisia, in which she met with human rights defenders, civil society representatives, the Tunisian Judges Association, lawyers, political parties, journalists, victims of human rights violations and families of arbitrarily detained people, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard said:

“It is alarming and distressing to witness the drastic rollback of the human rights progress that Tunisia had made since the 2011 revolution. Three years on since President Kais Saied suspended Parliament and began to seize control of the State, violations that we thought part of Tunisia’s past are becoming more and more discernible and systematic.  

“The institution of justice has been brought to heel, while arrests and arbitrary prosecutions are multiplying, affecting the leaders of the political opposition, journalists, activists, lawyers, magistrates, trade unionists, businesspeople, civil servants, women judges and activists, migrants and refugees. People who have not yet been directly affected told me they fear that their freedom could be curtailed at any time. 

“My visit to Tunisia coincided with the run up to October’s presidential elections. Instead of the vibrant debates of a pluralist political scene, I observed government repression, fuelling fear and dread about what’s to come. Many political opposition leaders and government critics are in arbitrary detention, presidential candidates face restrictions and prosecutions, many journalists and commentators have been sentenced to imprisonment, and civil society is under threat of further repression.

“Most leaders of opposition parties are being held in pre-trial detention. They include Issam Chebbi, secretary general of the Jomhouri party; Ghazi Chaouachi, former secretary general of the Attayar party; Jaouher Ben Mbarek, one of the leaders of the political coalition Salvation Front; Abir Moussi, secretary general of the Free Doustourian party, and many high-level Nahdha leaders, such as Rached Ghannouchi, Noureddine Bhiri, Sahbi Atig and others. They face an array of charges, including some under Tunisia’s counter-terrorism law, that carry heavy sentences. These prosecutions, as part of the crackdown on the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, demonstrate the authorities’ intolerance of any challenge or dissent.

“Amnesty International has documented the drastic steps that authorities have taken to dismantle judicial independence since 25 July 2021. Throughout my visit I witnessed how the rights to a fair trial, freedom of expression and peaceful assembly have been directly impacted.

“While the authorities are intensifying their crackdown, human rights defenders such as Judge Hmedi, president of the Tunisian Judges Association, and his colleagues continue to defend hard-earned guarantees of independence. They do so despite facing reprisals in the form of criminal charges, such as those brought against Judge Hmedi over a judges strike in protest at the president arbitrarily dismissing 57 judges and prosecutors.

“The highlight of my visit was meeting with the independent judges who have refused to compromise, with the lawyers relentlessly fighting the arbitrary prosecutions that political opponents are being subjected to, and with the brave family members of detainees leading the fight for their release.

“The Tunisian authorities are also committing appalling violations against migrants and refugees from sub-Saharan Africa, characterized by racist rhetoric at the highest levels of the State, the normalization of mass deportations at the borders, violent interceptions at sea, and arrests based on racial profiling. Recently, those providing assistance to migrants or advocating for their rights through their work in civil society organizations have also faced arbitrary investigations and, in some cases, arrests and detention.

“Through crude indifference to their obligations under international law, the European Union and its member states have shamefully granted a veneer of legitimacy to this government’s repression in the name of border externalization and counterterrorism. These obligations require European leaders to stand up to the Tunisian authorities’ assault on rights and freedoms, but instead they struck a deal to finance Tunisia’s containment of migrants and refugees, amid a wave of violent racism.”

Amnesty International calls on the Tunisian authorities to:

– Drop the unfounded charges against dissidents and critics and release all those arbitrarily detained solely for the exercise of their human rights;

– Reverse all measures taken to undermine judicial independence, including by repealing decree law 2022-35, which gives the President the authority to summarily dismiss judges; implement the decision of the Administrative Tribunal of 9 August 2022 and reinstate the 57 judges and prosecutors arbitrarily dismissed by the President; stop all interference of the executive in matters concerning the independence of the judiciary; and end all forms of harassment or reprisal against Tunisian judges and lawyers;

– Repeal Presidential Decree-Law 2022-54; release all those prosecuted and detained solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association.

The European Union and its member states must re-assess their engagement with the Tunisian authorities to ensure that cooperation does not lead to complicity in human rights violations against migrants, refugees or government opponents, and instead contributes to progress towards Tunisia’s human rights obligations.

The Tunisian authorities did not respond to requests for meetings with the Amnesty International delegation led by Agnès Callamard during her visit from 16 to 19 July.

Background

Three years after President Kais Saied’s power grab on 25 July 2021, Tunisia continues to witness a significant rollback of the human rights progress following the 2011 revolution.    

Since 2022, authorities have carried out successive waves of arrests targeting political opponents and perceived critics of President Saied. More than 70 people, including political opponents, lawyers, journalists, activists and human rights defenders, have been subjected to arbitrary prosecutions and/or arbitrary detention since the end of 2022. At least 40 people remained arbitrarily detained as of May 2024 in connection with the exercise of their internationally protected rights such as right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. In May 2024, authorities escalated repressive measures against migrants, refugees, and human rights defenders working to protect their rights.    

In July 2023, the European Union signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Tunisia under which, among other things, the EU has agreed to provide technical support to deter Europe-bound migration, including €105 million with a focus on “border management” as well as nearly €1 billion in additional loans and financial support amid Tunisia’s unprecedented economic crisis. This deal, which lacked transparency or parliamentary scrutiny, remains in operation. Amnesty International has repeatedly written to the EU’s leadership raising concerns over the repercussions of cooperation with Tunisia without a prior human rights risk assessment.