Skip links

Victims of Kais Saied’s Human Rights Violations in Tunisia

This section highlights the victims of violations that individuals from various intellectual and political groups in Tunisia have been subjected to since the Kais Saied regime took power. This section aims to document violations and provide updated information on the various cases that have affected activists, politicians, media professionals, judges, lawyers, bloggers, and businessmen, who have been subjected to arbitrary practices and violations of their basic rights.

A Message to Visitors and Users

“Documenting the stories of victims and continuously updating information is a necessary step towards uncovering the truth and opening the path to justice. We believe that building a free, just, and democratic society begins with recognizing and resisting injustice.”

Moncef Marzouki

On October 14, 2021, Kais Saied said, while presiding over a cabinet meeting, that he “will withdraw diplomatic passports from those who went abroad begging outsiders to undermine Tunisian interests.
Read more

Rached Khiari

Khiari is being prosecuted and six cases are being pursued against him because of his political views and his call to investigate the President of the Republic accusing him of receipt of suspicious funds to be used in his electoral campaign.
Read more

Abdellatif Aloui

Aloui was arrested along with Al-Zaytouna TV journalist Amer Ayyad, in connection with the broadcast of a poem on a television program that was considered a offensive to President Saied and a distortion of the army’s image.
Read more

Walid Jallad

On the day of his arrest, Jallad wrote a post on his Facebook page in which he said: “All support for Mosaique Radio and its employees now that an editorial line can be considered a crime.”
Read more

Mustafa Ben Ahmed

August 9, 2023: He appeared before the Anti-Terrorism Squad as part of  a case of conspiracy against state security.
Read more

Ridha Driss

Driss’ name was included in a list of 27 political figures accused of conspiring against state security, which is a political case.
Read more

Riadh Chaibi

Accused by the Saied regime of conspiring against state security as an advisor to the head of the Ennahdha Party, Rached Ghannouchi, and his house was raided and searched without judicial permission.
Read more

Ghazi Chaouachi

After visiting her client, lawyer Ines Harath stated that he is deprived of the most basic prisoner rights, including bathing and medical treatment, and that he was transferred to an extremely dirty room full of bugs and lacking any health facilities.
Read more

Ridha Belhaj

Lawyer Ines Harath accused authorities of endangering the lives of the political detainees by placing them with carefully selected common crime prisoners, most of whom were imprisoned for premeditated murder crimes.
Read more

Noureddine Bhiri

December 20, 2023: A second imprisonment order was issued against Bhiri “without interrogation, in a case in which the defense committee challenged the integrity of its procedures and the charge,” according to a statement from the Ennahdha Party.
Read more
عربية
Français
Icon-x Facebook Instagram Tiktok Youtube

Call to Action

Website petition: Freedom for prisoners of conscience and activists in Tunisia!

Tunisia is no longer the Arab exception that inspired the world in 2011 with a heroic revolution that overthrew the rule of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who ruled for nearly 23 years after seizing power on November 7, 1987, in a coup against Habib Bourguiba.

In a similar and perhaps more dangerous move, on the night of July 25, 2021, Tunisian President Kais Saied carried out a “constitutional coup” in accordance with his personal interpretation of Article 80 of the 2014 Revolutionary Constitution, announcing that he had taken a set of exceptional measures due to the “imminent danger” that threatens Tunisia without providing any details or reasons.

In accordance with these measures, Saied dismissed the government and the prime minister Hichem Mechichi who was present at the National Security Council that night at the Carthage Palace, and claimed that he had contacted the Speaker of Parliament Rached Ghannouchi (leader of the Ennahdha party) to consult with him in accordance with what is stipulated by the constitution, a claim which Ghannouchi denied since the call was general and did not include anything about exceptional measures or any consultation on the matter. The president suspended Parliament and later dissolved it in March 2022.

Not only did Saied seek to bypass his powers and the articles of the Constitution, which he swore to protect before the Assembly of the Representatives of the People, but he went on to dismiss and change the composition of the Supreme Judicial Council after redefining the judiciary it as a “function” rather than an independent authority. He further replaced members of the Supreme Electoral Commission in preparation for the referendum he held in order to vote on a constitution that he wrote himself after dismissing the proposals of the drafting committee he had himself appointed. Then legislative elections were held over two rounds, in which the participation rate did not exceed 8% of the total number of voters, with the Election Commission later announcing that it had reached 11%, which is the lowest participation rate in Tunisia and globally.

On February 11, President Saied’s regime launched a campaign of protests that has not stopped since, against political leaders, media figures, journalists, judges and senior officials and civil servants, for charges of “conspiring against the security of the state and committing an offensive act against the President of the Republic,” in addition to other charges that were referred to the military prosecution, leading one to wonder about the implication of the Tunisian army in the actions taken by Saied.

The arbitrary arrests were marred by several procedural violations amid criticism from prominent international organizations and observatories in the field of human rights. The standards of litigation and detention period and conditions were not respected. Prosecution and harassment sometimes extended to the detainees’ families, and no evidence, and in many cases, no charges against them were presented.

Moreover trade unions and political parties continue to be subjected to constant harassment and restrictions. Saied continues to target all “intermediary bodies” accusing them of “collaboration” or “treason”. Civil society associations have also been subjected to prosecution, arbitrary arrests and deprivation from representation, in a context of of increasing violence in society due to the authorities’ adoption of racist and discriminatory speeches and rhetoric inciting infighting and violating human dignity.

In light of the above, we, the undersigned, demand the following:

Call for the immediate release of all political detainees, immediately and unconditionally. We also urge the Tunisian authorities to recognize the national and the international human rights treaties they have ratified.
Call on the Tunisian authorities to stop dismantling the nascent democracy and put an end to unfair trials and prosecutions against political opponents of the regime and anyone who criticises it.
Call on all activists and observers to join the national movement for restoring democracy and ending authoritarian rule that has taken Tunisia back to despotism, injustice, and violations of rights and freedoms.