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Zawya
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Zawya
‘We were only asking for our rights': Tunisian authorities punish mobilization for socioeconomic and environmental rights
Against the backdrop of a deepening cost of living and environmental crisis and despite repeatedly committing to upholding economic and social justice for the most disadvantaged, over the past five years Tunisia's authorities have targeted individuals from marginalized and impoverished communities for peacefully protesting or striking over socioeconomic and environmental issues, Amnesty International said in a new report published today. The report, ' We were only asking for our rights and dignity', highlights how Tunisia's authorities have arrested, investigated or prosecuted people for peacefully protesting or striking over socioeconomic and environmental issues such as poor working conditions, pollution and access to water using vague charges of 'obstruction.' Between February 2020 and January 2025, the authorities have targeted at least 90 peaceful protesters, activists, trade unionists, and workers simply for exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, to form and join a union, and to organize and participate in strikes. 'The right to freedom of peaceful assembly is fundamental to a thriving society and serves as a crucial means to strengthen human rights and protect workers' rights,' said Sara Hashash, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International. 'This report highlights a worrying pattern of unjust criminalization of peaceful activism, usually at a local level where communities or workers have mobilized for their basic socioeconomic or environmental rights. It is another, less visible, manifestation of the repression of peaceful dissent within a broader crackdown on human rights and the rule of law in Tunisia and further threatens civic space in the country. 'Instead of using vague 'obstruction' charges to stifle or punish expressions of peaceful dissent or dissatisfaction over basic rights related to environmental or labour-related concerns Tunisia's authorities should be working to safeguard and uphold the right to freedom of peaceful assembly in line with their international human rights obligations.' Amnesty International has investigated nine cases as illustrative examples of a wider pattern of criminalization of peaceful assemblies using 'obstruction' charges, cases which are likely to be under-reported due to their localization, the lack of access to human rights organization by affected communities and the fear of reprisals from authorities and employers. The organization interviewed 26 people, eight of their lawyers and four family members to document these cases involving the investigation, arrest or prosecution of 90 people using 'obstruction' charges. These vaguely formulated provisions do not meet the principle of legality and do not proscribe an internationally recognized criminal offence. The legal proceedings were initiated in reprisal against peaceful assemblies or union activism, often affiliated with the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), and have sought to deter protesters and others from participating in future protests and strikes. Among those targeted, 16 were arrested and detained for periods ranging between three days and 20 months. Individuals targeted include residents and environmental rights activists who protested for their right to water and a healthy environment, and workers and unionists who organized protests and strikes over employment and working conditions. As one striking female worker from a shoe factory in Kairouan stated: 'It was the last straw, we decided to take action… We are not protected from chemicals we use in the factory… in the summer we have to work in very high temperatures; there is no water, no respect for our welfare… If you get sick you get a pay cut… You are dismissed if unable to work… There is always a lot of verbal abuse and insults.' She described how they were summoned by police in November 2024 right before the constitutive meeting for a new union: '[They] wanted us to say that [we were] manipulated into doing something illegal, or that we had other suspicious motives, but there was no basis to it. We were only asking for our rights and our dignity.' While most of the individuals concerned were convicted and sentenced to fines or suspended prison terms, or have not been detained pending trial, this pattern has a chilling effect on individuals considering voicing concerns over their social, economic, and environmental rights. A local resident from the town of Bargou in the northern region of Siliana who participated in a protest about access to water in February 2023 stated: 'It was barely a protest, we stood on the side of the road holding signs, there wasn't any disruption. They [the police] summoned dozens of people for that'' A local activist from the eastern region of Sfax, convicted for his involvement in an environmental protest movement in June 2023, told Amnesty International: 'Everyone was taken to court. It was a way to silence us… to say close your mouth or you will go to prison'. In February 2020, authorities summoned a group of women forestry maintenance workers in Sfax following a sit-in to protest their working conditions. Police asked them to sign statements in which they would commit not to protest again, infringing on their right to peaceful assembly. Compounding this, in five of the cases documented, serious violations of the right to a fair trial and due process took place, including instances where defendants' rights to information and adequate defense were denied. In eight of the nine cases investigated, authorities used Article 136 of the Penal Code on 'obstruction of work,' and in one case, they used Article 107 of the Penal Code on 'obstruction of a public service.' 'Obstruction' charges have at times also been used as part of a set of charges brought against prominent political and civil society figures who expressed their opposition to President Kais Said, such as judge Anas Hmedi and opposition party leader Abir Moussi. 'The arbitrary application of these vaguely worded 'obstruction' legal provisions, coupled with fair trial violations, violates Tunisia's international human rights obligations and sends a chilling message to anyone daring to speak out for their rights,' said Sara Hashash. 'Tunisia's authorities must immediately quash convictions and drop charges in all cases relating t individuals' participation in peaceful street protests and labour strikes. They must also repeal Articles 107 and 136 of the Penal Code or amend them in line with international human rights standards.' Following President Kais Saied's power grab on 25 July 2021, Tunisian authorities have escalated a wider crackdown on human rights including the right to freedom of expression and all forms of dissent, using repressive laws and unfounded charges to prosecute and arbitrarily detain political opponents, journalists, human rights defenders and civil society activists, lawyers and other perceived critics, while eroding judicial independence and the rule of law. The rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are guaranteed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, to which Tunisia is a state party. Under international human rights law, states have an obligation to tolerate temporary obstruction caused by a peaceful assembly, such as disruption of road traffic, pedestrian movements, or economic activity. The mere obstruction of movement or traffic cannot be equated with violence. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Amnesty International.
Zawya
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Zawya
Tunisia: Year-long arbitrary detention of human rights defenders working with refugees and migrants
Tunisian authorities must immediately release human rights defenders, NGO workers, and former local officials who have been held in arbitrary pre-trial detention for one year because of their legitimate support for refugees and migrants, Amnesty International said today. The ongoing crackdown, part of a broader assault on civil society in Tunisia, was fueled by escalating xenophobia and has severely disrupted crucial assistance for refugees and migrants. Since May 2024, Tunisian authorities have raided at least three NGOs providing critical assistance to refugees and migrants, arresting and detaining at least eight NGO workers, as well as two former local officials who cooperated with them. They also opened criminal investigations into at least 40 other individuals in relation to legitimate NGO work to support refugees and migrants. 'It is deeply shocking that these human rights defenders have now spent over a year in arbitrary detention, for simply assisting refugees and migrants in precarious situations. They should have never been arrested in the first place,' said Sara Hashash, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International. 'This reckless crackdown on the staff of organizations operating under Tunisian law has had devastating humanitarian consequences for refugees and migrants in the country and represents a deeply harmful setback for human rights in Tunisia. The Tunisian authorities must immediately release and drop all charges against those detained solely for their human rights and humanitarian work.' On 3 and 4 May 2024, Tunisian police arrested Mustapha Djemali and Abderrazak Krimi, respectively director and project manager of the Tunisian Council for Refugees (CTR), a Tunisian NGO working with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the Tunisian authorities to pre-register asylum seekers and provide essential assistance to refugees and asylum seekers. Authorities have held them under successive pretrial detention orders for over a year now, while investigating them for 'assisting the clandestine entry' of foreign nationals and 'providing [them] shelter', solely based on their work for the CTR. From 7 to 13 May 2024, the police arrested Sherifa Riahi, Yadh Bousselmi and Mohamed Joo, respectively former director, director and administrative and financial director of Terre d'asile Tunisie, the Tunisian branch of French NGO France Terre d'asile. Judicial authorities have held them in pretrial detention since then and are prosecuting them on charges of 'sheltering individuals illegally entering or leaving the territory' and 'facilitating the irregular entry, exit, movement or stay of a foreigner', solely for providing critical assistance to refugees and migrants. When closing the investigation, the investigative judge cited a 'European-backed civil society plan to promote the social and economic integration of irregular migrants into Tunisia and their permanent settlement' to support the charge. On 11 May 2024, the police also arrested former deputy mayor of Sousse Imen Ouardani under the same charges, as well as the additional charge of using her position as public official 'to obtain an unjustified advantage or harm the administration,' solely because of the collaboration between the municipality and Terre d'asile Tunisie. Under international law, pretrial detention should only be used as an exception, to avoid undermining the presumption of innocence, and based on an individualized assessment which shows that the detention is necessary and proportionate because of a substantial risk of flight, interference with the investigation, harm to others or reiteration of the alleged offence. The Tunisian authorities have not demonstrated any of these grounds with regard to these individuals. 'Detaining human rights defenders criminalizes essential human rights and humanitarian work. Providing support to refugees and migrants – irrespective of their legal status – is protected under international law and should never be equated with human smuggling or trafficking,' said Sara Hashash. Tunisia is party to the UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocols, which set out precise standards for the definition of human smuggling and trafficking, exempting legitimate human rights and humanitarian work. The May 2024 crackdown took place after xenophobic and racist social media smear campaigns against several organizations including the CTR and Terre d'asile Tunisie, after the CTR published a tender for hotels to shelter asylum seekers and refugees in precarious situations, in response to a request for assistance from UNHCR and local authorities. On 6 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. A day later, a public prosecutor in Tunis announced the opening of an investigation against NGOs for providing 'financial support to illegal migrants'. The crackdown which has involved the detention of NGO staff and freezing of NGOs' bank accounts has triggered the suspension of vital services since May 2024, disrupting access to asylum procedures, shelter, healthcare, child protection, and legal aid. This has left potentially thousands of refugees and migrants, including unaccompanied children, in precarious and uncertain situations and at greater risk of facing human rights violations and abuse. In April 2025, Tunisia's Interior Minister, Khaled Ennouri, said that the authorities were prepared to 'confront all plans to alter the demographic composition of the Tunisian population'. Such comments have contributed to an ongoing spike in racist violence against Black refugees and migrants, notably in border regions. Social media users have shared videos of themselves 'tracking down [Black] Africans' and threatening violence and other abuse against them. Other organizations targeted include anti-racism organization Mnemty – nine of their staff and partners have been under investigation since May 2024 for financial crimes for which the authorities have yet to provide evidence – and the children's rights NGO Children of the Moon of Medenine. Authorities have also detained the executive director of the Association for the Promotion of the Right to Difference (ADD), Salwa Ghrissa, since 12 December 2024, pending investigation into the organization's funding. 'Tunisian authorities must immediately cease the criminalization of human rights and humanitarian work and end the dangerous scapegoating and vilification of civil society,' said Sara Hashash. Background Racist and xenophobic rhetoric has been repeated by Tunisian officials and members of the parliament over the past two years, starting with racist remarks made by President Kais Saied in February 2023. Since May 2024, Tunisian authorities have also continued to carry out forced evictions and unlawful collective expulsions of refugees and migrants to Libya and Algeria regularly. In early April 2025, authorities announced an 'operation of dismantlement' in the eastern region of Sfax, where refugees and migrants had established makeshift camps in the past two years, after having been forcibly evicted and relocated from urban areas by the authorities. The wave of arrests of May 2024 is part of a wider attack on civil society. Ahead of the 2024 October presidential elections, authorities opened investigations into NGOs I Watch and Mourakiboun in relation to their funding and prevented them from observing the elections. Tunisian financial authorities have subsequently opened investigations into at least a dozen organizations over funding and activities protected under the right to freedom of association, while banks have increasingly delayed or obstructed incoming transfers of funds from abroad, demanding excessive documentation regarding the transfers, thereby impeding NGO operations. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Amnesty International.
