Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International warn that civil liberties in Tunisia have sharply declined since President Kais Saied consolidated power in 2021. Authorities have used arrests, asset freezes and suspensions of NGOs — citing alleged foreign funding and national security — to target critics and civic groups. More than 30 people convicted in an April mass trial are appealing on 17 November; dozens face lengthy sentences and several detainees are on hunger strike. Rights groups urge international partners to press Tunisian authorities to reverse convictions and ensure fair trials.
Rights Groups Decry Tunisia's 'Injustice' as Saied's Crackdown Intensifies
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International warn that civil liberties in Tunisia have sharply declined since President Kais Saied consolidated power in 2021. Authorities have used arrests, asset freezes and suspensions of NGOs — citing alleged foreign funding and national security — to target critics and civic groups. More than 30 people convicted in an April mass trial are appealing on 17 November; dozens face lengthy sentences and several detainees are on hunger strike. Rights groups urge international partners to press Tunisian authorities to reverse convictions and ensure fair trials.
11:45 PM, 11/14/2025Politics
Rights groups decry Tunisia’s mounting injustice under President Kais Saied
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International say civil liberties in Tunisia have sharply deteriorated since President Kais Saied consolidated power, accusing authorities of an escalating campaign to silence critics, suppress independent organisations and criminalise civic work.
Amnesty said in a statement that Tunisian authorities have stepped up measures against human rights defenders and independent non-governmental organisations — including arbitrary arrests, prolonged detention, freezes on assets, bank restrictions and court-ordered suspensions — often justified by allegations of “suspicious” foreign funding or the protection of “national interests.”
The NGO added that civil society repression has reached an unprecedented level: six staff and human rights defenders from the Tunisian Council for Refugees are being prosecuted for activities related solely to their legal work supporting refugees and asylum seekers. The case’s opening hearing, originally set for 16 October, was postponed to 24 November.
Observers say the deterioration marks a stark reversal from the promise of the 2011 Arab Spring, when Tunisia was widely seen as the region’s most successful democratic transition. Many point to a sweeping consolidation of power in July 2021, when President Saied dissolved parliament and began ruling by decree — a shift later cemented in a new constitution ratified in a widely boycotted 2022 referendum. Media figures, lawyers and other critics have been prosecuted under a strict “fake news” law introduced the same year.
Amnesty reports that, within the past four months, the authorities temporarily suspended the activities of at least 14 Tunisian and international NGOs, including the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women and the World Organisation Against Torture.
Human Rights Watch said Tunisia’s Court of Appeal is due to hear, on 17 November, the appeal of more than 30 people convicted in a politically charged mass “Conspiracy Case” in April. The NGO reviewed judicial documents and concluded the convictions rest on weak or non-existent evidence.
“This entire case has been a masquerade, from the baseless accusations to a judicial process devoid of fair trial guarantees,”
Bassam Khawaja, deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Human Rights Watch, said, urging the court to overturn the convictions and release those detained.
At least four detainees are reported to be on hunger strike; lawyers say one prisoner was physically assaulted in custody on 11 November. The defendants — a group of 37 individuals that includes opponents of Saied, lawyers, activists and researchers — received prison sentences ranging from four to 66 years on counts such as “conspiracy against state security” and terrorism-related offences.
Jawhar Ben Mbarek, co-founder of the opposition National Salvation Front, began a hunger strike on 29 October to protest what he calls arbitrary detention. Ben Mbarek was sentenced to 18 years on charges of “conspiracy against state security” and “belonging to a terrorist group.”
Prominent opposition figures have joined hunger protests in solidarity. Issam Chebbi, leader of the centrist Republican Party, is detained following conviction in the April mass trial. Rached Ghannouchi, the 84-year-old leader of the Ennahdha party, has also announced a hunger strike. Ghannouchi was convicted in July of “conspiring against state security,” on top of earlier convictions — including money laundering — that together carry more than 20 years in prison; he denies the charges.
Both Amnesty and Human Rights Watch called on Tunisia’s international partners to raise concern publicly, demand that the authorities cease the crackdown, overturn unjust convictions and guarantee fair, independent trials for those prosecuted.
Note: Dates and allegations are reported by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The accused deny the charges. International calls for due process continue as appeals proceed.