The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has urged Tunisia to halt the escalating crackdown targeting civil society organizations, journalists, human rights defenders, opposition figures, activists, and judges through criminal prosecutions and administrative restrictions.
In a statement, Türk said: “The continued repression and restrictions imposed on civic space by the Tunisian authorities undermine the rights guaranteed to citizens under the Constitution, as well as Tunisia’s international human rights commitments.”
The Office of the High Commissioner pointed to the temporary suspension of several major human rights and civil society organizations as an example of this repression. A Tunisian court ordered the suspension, for a period of 30 days, of the activities of the international organization Lawyers Without Borders, citing alleged breaches of regulatory requirements. The decision came just days after a similar measure was taken against the Tunisian League for Human Rights. The authorities generally justify such decisions by referring to alleged irregularities related to funding and audits, measures that can effectively paralyze these organizations’ core human rights work.
The High Commissioner added: “We are seeing an increasing tendency by the Tunisian authorities to rely on judicial sanctions to restrict the exercise of the right to freedom of association, without fully observing the principles of legality, necessity, and proportionality that are essential for such restrictions to comply with the law.”
Türk called on the Tunisian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all individuals detained or imprisoned for expressing views protected under international human rights law, and to lift all arbitrary restrictions imposed on freedom of expression and association. He also stressed that the absence of a fully operational Constitutional Court remains a serious institutional shortcoming that prevents the establishment of effective human rights safeguards.
He further emphasized the importance of preserving the democratic gains and human rights progress achieved by Tunisia after 2011, rather than gradually dismantling them.
Alkarama’s activities
For its part, Alkarama continues, in cooperation with Tunisian civil society organizations active in the field of human rights, to document what it describes as “systematic violations” committed in the country. Through this joint work, several cases involving political detainees have been brought before international bodies through United Nations mechanisms. In legal submissions presented to UN bodies, Alkarama succeeded in obtaining explicit recognition that the wave of arrests targeting opposition leaders and judges fails to meet the minimum guarantees of a fair trial. Alkarama considers the use of the judiciary to prosecute political opponents to be a serious setback for the country’s human rights achievements.
In a landmark decision numbered 63/2025, adopted on 10 November 2025 by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), the Tunisian authorities were officially condemned for the arbitrary detention of former speaker of the dissolved Parliament, Rached Ghannouchi. The decision, issued following a complaint filed by Alkarama and the Association of Victims of Torture in Tunisia, found that Ghannouchi’s detention since the raid on his home on 17 April 2023 constitutes a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Working Group also concluded that the proceedings brought against him were politically motivated and called for his immediate release and compensation.
Mr. Ghannouchi’s arrest took place within the framework of the exceptional measures adopted by President Kaïs Saïed beginning on 25 July 2021, when he dismissed the Prime Minister, suspended Parliament, lifted parliamentary immunity, and restricted several individual and collective freedoms in violation of the Tunisian Constitution.
The political situation in Tunisia subsequently deteriorated further with arbitrary arrests, the dismissal of government officials and judges, and the implementation of a repressive policy targeting the opposition as a whole, particularly members of the Ennahdha movement.
Since December 2022, at least 17 current or former members of the party have been arrested, including Rached Ghannouchi, who continued to publicly and peacefully denounce attacks on the rule of law and to call for a return to constitutional legitimacy and the democratic process.
Previously, Alkarama had also secured an important United Nations position regarding the case of Judge Bechir Akremi, arrested on 12 February 2023. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued Opinion No. 2/2025 concerning Bechir Akremi, a former prosecutor and academic arbitrarily detained in Tunisia, following a joint complaint filed on 31 January 2024 by Alkarama and the Association of Victims of Torture in Tunisia (AVTT).
In its decision, the Working Group stressed that the detention of a judge on accusations linked to the exercise of his judicial duties undermines the very principle of the rule of law. It also found that the circumstances surrounding Mr. Bechir Akremi’s case — notably his arrest after refusing external pressure in sensitive cases, his placement in a psychiatric institution without apparent justification, and the prosecutions initiated against him in cases that had already been dismissed or closed without further action — reflect a troubling pattern of judicial intimidation extending beyond Mr. Akremi’s individual case and threatening the integrity of the Tunisian judicial system as a whole. According to the Working Group, these measures risk sending a message of intimidation to all judges seeking to preserve their independence in the face of political pressure.
Alkarama also monitored the case of former minister and Ennahdha leader Noureddine Bhiri, who was violently arrested on 13 February 2023. In its submissions, the organization argued that the continued targeting of Mr. Bhiri constitutes a violation of Tunisia’s international obligations.