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Since President Kais Saied took over in Tunisia in 2019 and confiscated powers in 2021, his government has increasingly tried to intimidate, punish and ultimately silence critics.
Since early 2023, they have stepped up their repression, robbing Tunisians of hard-won civil liberties.
The most destructive tool in Tunisia’s toolbox of repression has been arbitrary arrest and detention.
It’s mostly aimed at those opposing the government, lawyers, political opponents, activists, journalists, human rights defenders or even social media users.
Human Rights Watch documented the cases of 22 people detained on abusive charges - including terrorism - in connection with their public statements or political activities.
Tunisia’s authorities have charged many of the detainees whose cases were documented in this report with “attempting to change the nature of the state,” which can carry the death penalty. At least 14 of the detainees documented by HRW could face the death penalty if convicted.
President Saied has fuelled the alarming repression by publicly accusing critics of being “traitors” and even “terrorists.”
One strategy to intimidate dissidents has been detaining prominent people for publicly criticizing authorities. Authorities regularly bring additional charges or issue new detention orders to keep public figures behind bars.
An eerie example is the case of Sonia Dahmani, a famous lawyer and media commentator. She was arrested on May 11, 2024, by masked plain clothes security forces who stormed the Tunisian Bar Association headquarters.
Her “crime”? – Sarcastic comments she made on the TV four days prior, questioning the claim, backed by President Saied, that Black African migrants were seeking to settle in Tunisia.
In July 2024, a Tunis Court sentenced Dahmani to a year in prison for her remarks. On appeal, her sentence was reduced to eight months, but in October, she was sentenced in another case to two years in prison for statements she made on racism in Tunisia.
In January this year, her sentence was reduced to a year and a half on appeal, but according to her lawyer, she still faces trial in three other cases in connection with her peaceful expression.
Additionally, Sonia Dahmani filed a complaint for acts of torture and rape in Manouba prison against the prison director and a guard following rights violations in detention in August 2024. Dahmani was subjected to an “intrusive strip search which violated her physical integrity and affected her psychologically,” her sister told HRW.
Repression has many ugly faces. Tunisian authorities should immediately release all those arbitrarily detained, drop abusive charges against them, and stop prosecuting individuals for exercising their human rights.
