Articles for Tunisia

Alkarama strongly condemns the unjust and politically motivated verdicts issued on 19 April 2025 by the Court of First Instance in the tunisian capital, Tunis, against over thirty leading opposition figures, following trials that fall far short of basic standards of justice and due process.

On 20 September 2009, Mr. Walid Hosni, a third-year student at the Higher School of Medical Sciences in Tunis, disappeared under circumstances that remain unclear to this day. 

Mr. Hosni, 22 years old, left his home at 6:30 AM as usual to run daily errands, without carrying any identification or a significant amount of money. Since then, his family has had no news of him and remains completely unaware of his fate, despite numerous attempts to obtain information from various authorities. 

Alkarama and the Association of Victims of Torture in Tunisia (AVTT) are following with great concern the continued repression and prosecutions practiced by the Tunisian authorities against political opponents in general and leaders of the Ennahda Movement in particular. The Court of First Instance in Tunis held a trial session for former Minister of Justice and Vice President of the Ennahda Movement, Mr Noureddine Bhiri, on Tuesday, June 5, over a post on Facebook. 

On January 31, 2024, the Association of Victims of Torture in Tunisia (AVTT) and Alkarama submitted to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions (WGAD), the situation of Mr. Bechir AKREMI, magistrate, arbitrarily arrested and held in detention for almost a year today. 

Arrest and continued detention

On 18 December 2023, the Association of Victims of Torture in Tunisia (AVTT) and Alkarama submitted a joint contribution to the United Nations Human Rights Committee as part of the follow-up procedure to the recommendations made by the Committee following the 6th periodic review of Tunisia on the general human rights situation in the country. 

On 5 December 2023, the Association of Victims of Torture in Tunisia (AVTT) and Alkarama submitted to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions, the situation of Mr. Rached GHANNOUCHI, speaker of the Tunisian Parliament and leader of the opposition political movement, Ennahda, sentenced on 15 May, to one year in prison under the pretext of "apology for terrorism". 

On 26 June, several Tunisian human rights organisations launched a series of events to defend the right to life and human dignity as well as to fight torture in the country on the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture under the slogan "No to torture!" 

On 21 April 2023, Alkarama submitted its contribution to the draft general comment of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) on Article 4 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT).

On 12 April 2023, Alkarama, the Tunisian Association of Victims of Torture (AVTT) and Mr. BHIRI's lawyer Kilani Abdarrazak addressed the UN Special Rapporteur on torture regarding the situation of Mr. Bechir AKREMI, Tunisian magistrate and Mr. Noureddine BHIRI, lawyer and former Minister of Justice, both victims of torture during their arrest and/or detention by the police.

Arrest and detention of Mr. Bechir Akremi

The director of Alkarama, lawyer Rachid Mesli, participated in a conference on the situation of human rights in Tunisia, organised by the Association of Victims of Torture (AVTT) in the margins of the 52nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.