Source: Amnesty International –
Tunisian authorities have increasingly escalated their crackdown on human rights defenders and independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs) through arbitrary arrests, detention, asset freezes, bank restrictions and court-ordered suspensions, all under the pretext of fighting “suspicious” foreign funding and shielding “national interests,” Amnesty International said today.
In an unprecedented step six NGO workers and human rights defenders working for the Tunisian Council for Refugees are being criminally prosecuted on charges solely related to their legitimate work supporting refugees and asylum seekers. The opening trial session on 16 October was adjourned until 24 November.
In the past four months alone, at least 14 Tunisian and international NGOs received court orders to suspend their activities for 30 days. This includes four prominent organizations in the past three weeks; the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (ATFD), the Tunisian Forum for Social and Economic Rights (FTDES), Nawaat and the Tunis branch of the World Organization against Torture (OMCT).
“It is deeply alarming to witness the steady erosion of Tunisia’s once-vibrant civil society, one of the most significant achievements of the 2011 revolution, made possible at the time by the adoption of Decree Law 88 on Associations. Authorities are systematically dismantling the rule of law, shrinking civic space and stifling any form of dissent. This is part of a broader trend of authoritarian practices unfolding in different parts of the world,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns at Amnesty International.
“Instead of targeting organizations working to support economic, social and political rights, Tunisian authorities must end this campaign of intimidation and immediately release all NGO workers and human rights defenders detained or prosecuted in reprisal for exercising their civic rights and lift all related provisional measures, such as asset freezes. They must drop abusive charges, lift arbitrary suspensions, and end criminal prosecutions of organizations lawfully conducting their activities.”
Since 2023, Tunisian authorities have frequently smeared NGOs receiving foreign funding. In May 2024, President Kais Saied accused NGOs working on migration of being “traitors” and “[foreign] agents,” and of seeking the “settlement” of Sub-Saharan migrants in Tunisia.
One day later, the public prosecutor in Tunis announced the opening of an investigation against NGOs for providing “financial support to illegal migrants.” Over the following weeks, Tunisian authorities raided the offices of three NGOs and opened investigations into the finances and activities of at least 12 Tunisian and international organizations working in migration.
This multi-pronged judicial and administrative harassment has created a pervasive climate of fear, restricting the rights to association and freedom of expression and smothering Tunisia’s civic space.
Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International
Police arrested and arbitrarily detained eight directors or staff, and sometimes former staff, of these organizations on accusations linked to supporting irregular migrants or supposed “financial crimes” tied to lawful NGO funding. Two of these organizations have been prosecuted on unfounded criminal charges carrying heavy prison sentences.
In September 2024, shortly before the presidential elections, the crackdown extended to organizations working on election monitoring, corruption and human rights. By October 2024, the Ministry of Finance had opened investigations into at least 10 organizations, including Amnesty International’s International Secretariat Office in Tunis. During the same period at least 20 NGOs started to experience undue banking restrictions and delays that obstructed the receipt of foreign funds.