May 30, 2025 – In the last few days of May 2025, Tunisian authorities have transferred a number of prominent political prisoners from the Mornaguia Civil Prison (near the capital, Tunis) and the Messaadine Prison to other remote prisons in various parts of the country.
This move included opposition leaders detained in the so-called “conspiracy against state security” and “Instalingo” cases. Among them were Ghazi Chaouachi (former Minister of State Property), who was transferred to Nadhour Prison in Bizerte Governorate; Ridha Belhaj (opposition lawyer and politician), who was transferred to Siliana Prison; Issam Chebbi (Secretary-General of the Republican Party), who was transferred to Borj Erroumi Prison in Bizerte; Kamel Bedoui, who was transferred to Sers Prison in Kef Governorate; Kamel Ltaief, who was transferred to Borj El Amri Prison in Manouba Governorate; Chadha El Haj Mbarek, who was transferred from the civil prison in Messaadine (Sousse Governorate) to the civil prison in Belli (Nabeul Governorate); Hattab Slama, who was transferred from Mornaguia Prison to Bulla Regia Civil Prison (Jendouba Governorate); and Sahbi Atig, who was transferred from Mornaguia Prison to Borj Erroumi Prison (Bizerte Governorate).
It’s worth noting that Jawhar Ben Mbarek was previously transferred from Mornaguia Prison to Belli Prison in Nabeul Governorate in December 2024, and Abir Moussi was transferred from Manouba Women’s Prison to Belli Civil Prison (Nabeul Governorate) in February 2025.
These sudden transfers come more than 14 months after the arrest of these opposition figures, and after harsh judicial rulings were issued against several of them in recent months. The move sparked shock and outrage in human rights and political circles in Tunisia, which viewed it as a continuation of the policy of repression and retaliation against dissidents. The Republican Party (to which Issam Chebbi belongs) asserted that these practices are part of the “repressive and inhumane approach” pursued by the authorities against political detainees and their families, demanding a reversal and the immediate release of all political detainees.
Lack of Official Position:
The transfers took place without any clear official announcement or explanation from the Tunisian authorities. According to the detainees’ defense committee, the General Prison Administration arbitrarily dispersed the detainees across several prisons in various regions “without any justification” and without any prior notification. Neither lawyers nor the prisoners’ families were notified of this move in advance, leaving many surprised when they went for their regular visits to find that their relatives had been transferred to new, distant detention facilities.
In an official statement issued on May 29, 2025, the defense committee denounced this measure, accusing the prison authorities of deliberately punishing the detainees, their families, and their lawyers by expelling them far from their families’ homes “without any justification.” The committee noted that this constitutes a violation of Tunisian prison law, which requires the administration to notify prisoners’ families before their transfer, so that families do not have to search for information about their relatives by visiting more than one prison.
The failure to respect legal notification procedures confirms the arbitrary nature of the decision and deepens suspicions about its vindictive motives. Former MP Hichem Ajbouni considered this move “part of a policy of systematic abuse of detainees and their families,” likening what is happening to practices during the era of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Political activist Chaima Issa (who was convicted in absentia in the same case) also confirmed the transfer of the detainees, believing that the authorities are “persistent in their injustice and abuse and are seeking to separate political detainees from their families and lawyers” with the aim of breaking their morale and isolating them from their surroundings.
The Impact of Transfer on Prisoners: Isolation and Psychological Suffering
The impact of separating a prisoner from his or her family is not limited to the physical aspect of the geographical transfer; it also deeply affects the psychological and social aspects of the prisoner. These political detainees were held in Mornaguia, close to their families, where they were able to receive periodic family visits, which provided them with important moral and psychological support. Now, after being transferred to remote prisons, dozens or hundreds of kilometers away, they find themselves even more isolated from their normal social environment. In its latest statement, the Republican Party held the authorities responsible for the detainees’ “physical and psychological well-being,” given these arbitrary measures that could threaten their psychological well-being.
The shocking transfer also created a state of confusion and panic among the detainees’ families, their lawyers, and even the remaining detainees who were not transferred. One lawyer recounted that when he went to visit his clients in Mornaguia, he was “shocked to be informed by the prison administration that his clients had been transferred to other prisons without prior warning.” An atmosphere of anxiety spread among the remaining detainees as they waited to see if it would be their turn to be transferred further away. This turbulent climate contributes to increased psychological pressure on political prisoners, who are left wondering about their unknown fate, far from their families and supporters.
Families’ Suffering During Visits
This decision particularly impacted the families of prisoners, who were forced to make extraordinary efforts and endure even greater hardships to see their detained relatives. The greatest burden often falls on the women in the families of detainees—mothers, wives, and sisters—who organize regular visits and provide the prisoners with necessary supplies and clothing, known as the “basket,” every week. With the transfer of detainees to distant prisons, these families will be forced to travel long distances every week to visit them, which means hours of travel, high transportation costs, and greater physical and psychological exhaustion.
Before this arbitrary transfer, visiting a prisoner in Mornaguia itself was a weekly ordeal for many Tunisian families. The wife of one political prisoner described how they had to arrive early in the morning and stand in long lines at the prison’s outer gate for identity checks and baggage inspections. The food basket (qoffa) passes through the security scanner, and sometimes certain foods are refused entry for various reasons, creating difficult moments for families who come with the best of intentions. They then have to wait for periods that can extend from 15 minutes to two hours to enter the internal visiting room—this is typical on normal days, but during holidays, the suffering increases with longer lines and more overcrowding. All this hardship used to be borne for a visit that often lasted no more than 15 minutes, and was conducted behind a thick glass barrier using a telephone. Only two relatives of the prisoner were allowed to meet weekly.
Now, with further distances, these visits will become more demanding and exhausting, as many elderly relatives may not be able to endure the long journeys regularly. Issam Chebbi’s wife noted that she regularly meets Mr. Ezzedine El Hazgui (Jawhar Ben Mbarek’s father) in Mornaguia Prison, “who, despite his advanced age, brings the qoffa for his son.”
In addition to the physical and financial hardship, families also suffer from the humiliation of their dignity during the visit. The strict security measures, meticulous searches, and long waiting hours in prison yards often take place under harsh conditions (under the scorching sun or bitter cold) and without sufficient consideration for the comfort of those waiting, leaving detainees’ families psychologically exhausted and feeling humiliated. One detainee’s wife recounted how her imprisoned husband was even prevented from giving his young granddaughter a carton of juice he had purchased from the prison canteen during a visit, as the guards forced them to remove it. The wife described this behavior as “inhumane, degrading, and unjustifiable treatment.”
A prisoner’s right to maintain family ties is a fundamental right recognized by international laws and standards, and any violation of this right constitutes compounded suffering for the entire family.
Undermining the Right to Defense and a Fair Trial:
In addition to the humanitarian impact, detainee transfers may directly undermine their right to defense and a fair trial. With detainees dispersed to distant prisons in different governorates, lawyers’ regular contact with their clients would become more difficult than ever. Defense lawyers used to visit their clients in Mornaguia Prison, close to the capital, where most trials are also held. Now, lawyers will be forced to travel hundreds of kilometers to meet detainees in prisons such as Siliana, Borj Erroumi, or Nadhour. This means spending long hours on the road and delaying their meetings with their clients.
This could effectively reduce lawyers’ ability to properly monitor cases and prepare an effective and timely defense. Furthermore, many of these detainees still face ongoing court proceedings in Tunis (such as appeals or other cases), and they should have been kept close to these courts to be presented to them whenever necessary. The defense team warned that transferring detainees without completing the legal procedures in the capital constitutes a “new violation of the law” and is similar to what the authorities previously did when they imposed remote trials in political cases. The team believes that these practices aim to isolate detainees, silence their voices, and prevent them from having effective contact with their lawyers and the judiciary.
Violation of international standards and human rights guarantees:
This measure raises serious concerns about Tunisia’s compliance with its international human rights obligations and the treatment of prisoners. International law guarantees the dignity and fundamental rights of prisoners even during detention. International standards—including the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (known as the “Mandela Rules”)—reiterate the importance of maintaining family ties for detainees. For example, these rules emphasize the right of prisoners to maintain regular contact with their families, including through periodic visits. Rule 59 also requires prison authorities to allocate prisoners, as far as possible, to prisons close to their homes or families. The aim is to facilitate visits from relatives, ease the burden on families, and ensure that prison time is not used as an additional, unwritten punishment.
In the current case, what the Tunisian authorities have done appears to be in clear violation of the spirit of these international standards. Instead of bringing prisoners closer to their families, they have intentionally separated them over vast distances without legitimate justification. Restricting visitation rights in this manner not only degrades the dignity of prisoners and their families, but may also constitute cruel or inhuman treatment under international law. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and international treaties against torture criminalize any form of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment of detainees. Although the transfer of prisoners does not involve direct physical violence, the psychological distress and deliberate social pain resulting from their separation from their families constitutes an additional punishment outside the law and may constitute degrading treatment, which is internationally prohibited.
It is worth noting that Tunisia is also bound by the rules of Tunisian domestic law regulating prison conditions. Article 36 of the Tunisian Constitution (2022) stipulates that “every prisoner shall be treated humanely and with dignity,” and the law guarantees the right of prisoners to receive visits within specific limits.
The seriousness of this move has prompted many human rights organizations in Tunisia to sound the alarm. The Coordination Committee of Families of Political Detainees considered the transfer of political leaders and activists to distant prisons to be “an escalation and a new violation of the law,” and an attempt to frustrate their resolve and that of their families to persevere and demand their rights. The Coordination also called on the authorities to reverse these measures, which it described as arbitrary.
Recommendations and Position of the Observatory:
The Freedom for Tunisia Observatory expresses deep concern about these arbitrary transfers, which appear to have been undertaken to unlawfully punish political detainees and their families. The Observatory affirms that the dignity and fundamental rights of political detainees are not subject to negotiation, and calls on the Tunisian authorities to take urgent steps to rectify this situation. The relevant authorities must provide a clear explanation for this procedure. In the absence of any legitimate legal justification, the transfer decisions must be revoked, and the detainees must be returned to a prison close to their courts and families, to preserve their rights. The Observatory also demands that all detainees be granted unhindered visitation rights and that the right to direct communication between lawyers and their clients be respected.
The Freedom for Tunisia Observatory also calls on national and international oversight bodies to intervene and monitor the conditions of these detainees. It is essential that the National Authority for the Prevention of Torture and other human rights organizations conduct immediate inspection visits to the prisons to which the detainees have been transferred, to ensure that they are being treated humanely and that they are not subjected to any further violations. The Observatory emphasizes that such practices undermine the rule of law and reflect a serious deviation from democratic standards and respect for human rights. In this regard, the Freedom for Tunisia Observatory reiterates its previous call for the immediate release of all political detainees arbitrarily detained or held for their political opinions, and calls for the dropping of any punitive measures not based on sound legal grounds.
Finally, the Observatory affirms that accountability and transparency are the cornerstones of ensuring that such violations do not recur. It calls on the Tunisian authorities to abide by their international commitments and respect their constitution and laws, ensuring the dignity of every prisoner and their right to humane treatment. Preserving family ties and respecting the right to visit their lawyers and relatives are essential criteria for achieving justice. Any violation of these criteria harms Tunisia’s image globally and its citizens’ confidence in the justice system. The Freedom for Tunisia Observatory will continue to closely monitor this issue and will work with other civil society organizations to maintain pressure towards an end to these arbitrary practices and to guarantee the freedom and dignity of all detainees.
