Two police officers apparently brutally attacked the director of a Tunis-based LGBT rights group on October 21, 2021, Human Rights Watch said today. The attack on Badr Baabou took place against a backdrop of mounting abuses targeting LGBT activists by…

(Tunis) – Arbitrary and politically motivated acts of repression have proliferated in Tunisia since July 25, 2021, when President Kais Saied suspended parliament, Human Rights Watch said today. He also lifted parliamentary immunity, dismissed the head…

(Tunis) – Tunisian President Kais Saied should safeguard the human rights of all Tunisians and reverse any repressive measures taken since announcing July 25 measures that largely concentrate powers in his office, Human Rights Watch said today. On…

(Beirut) – Governments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) should outlaw the violent discipline of children, Human Rights Watch said today, introducing an index categorizing countries in the region based on their laws and policies. The MENA…

  Update: On March 17, 2021, the Court of Appeal in Tunis ordered Rania Amdouni released. The appeals judge confirmed Amdouni’s conviction but suspended her six-month sentence, and increased the fine from 18 dinars ($6.5) to 218 dinars ($78…

(Tunis) – A Tunis court on November 12, 2020 sentenced a blogger, Wajdi Mahouechi, to two years in prison for posting a Facebook video that a court official deemed offensive, Human Rights Watch said today. Mahouechi, 31, a frequent commentator on…

(Beirut) – A Tunisian appeals court on July 28, 2020 upheld the conviction of two men accused of sodomy but reduced their sentence to one year in prison, Human Rights Watch said today. This conviction contradicts the rights to privacy and…

(Beirut) – A Tunisian court sentenced two men accused of sodomy to two years in prison on June 6, 2020, Human Rights Watch said today. The decision violates their rights to privacy and nondiscrimination under international law and Tunisia’s 2014…

(Tunis) –Tunisia’s action on January 23, 2020, to bring home from Libya six orphaned children of suspected Islamic State (also known as ISIS) members is a step toward protecting the rights of these children, Human Rights Watch said today.…

(Tunis) – Tunisian authorities should drop the prosecution of a prominent activist on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights (LGBT) over a post on Facebook perceived as offensive to Islam. The counterterrorism…

(Tunis) – Tunisia still faces numerous hurdles to protecting its human rights gains nine years after Tunisians ousted the authoritarian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2020.    The…

  (Tunis) – Tunisia’s parliament should carry out a reform agenda to address ongoing human rights problems in the country, Human Rights Watch said today as the new People’s Assembly is inaugurated.    …

(Tunis) – Tunisia has not released an autopsy report on the death of a man in police custody though two months have passed, Human Rights Watch said today. Tunisian authorities should complete their investigation into the death of Abderrazek Selmi,…

(Tunis) – A café owner in Tunisia was convicted of publicly offending morality on May 29, 2019 for keeping his café open during Ramadan fasting hours, Human Rights Watch said today. Such prosecutions, using a vague provision that is applied sporadically…

Update: On May 20, the Court of Appeal in Tunis ruled in favor of the LGBT rights group Shams, finding that the government did not have grounds to shut the organization down. (Tunis) – Tunisia should revise its laws and…

(Tunis) – Tunisia’s Truth and Dignity Commission on March 26, 2019 made public its five-volume report analyzing and exposing the institutional networks that enabled human rights abuses over five decades, Human Rights Watch said today.…

(Tunis) – Tunisian authorities should investigate allegations that police beat and sexually assaulted a protester while breaking up a sit in in Tunis on March 12, 2019, Human Rights Watch said today.  Wajdi Mahouachi, 31,…

(Tunis) – The Tunisian government should halt its attempt to fight a court ruling that gave an LGBT association the right to operate, Human Rights Watch said today. The Tunis-based Shams association has vocally advocated the repeal of…

(Tunis) – Tunisia’s Parliament should abandon or substantially revise a bill that would give the government sweeping powers to restrict rights during declared states of emergency, Human Rights Watch said today. The…

(Tunis) – Tunisia’s first freedom of information law, approaching its third anniversary, significantly advances the rights of citizens to get information from publicly funded institutions, Human Rights Watch said today. The law’s real…