Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, has raised alarm over the regression of human rights progress in Tunisia during a recent four-day visit. In her discussions with various stakeholders, including human rights defenders, civil society representatives, the Tunisian Judges Association, lawyers, political activists, and families of arbitrarily detained individuals, Callamard condemned the intensification of human rights violations since President Kais Saied’s actions in 2021.
Callamard remarked, “It is alarming and distressing to witness the drastic rollback of the human rights progress that Tunisia had made since the 2011 revolution.” She pointed out that, over the past three years, the repressive measures under President Saied have led to increased arrests, arbitrary prosecutions, and significant curtailing of freedoms affecting political opposition leaders, journalists, activists, and others. For more details, see the full statement by Amnesty International.
Among the pressing issues highlighted by Amnesty is the undermining of judicial independence, achieved through the controversial decree law 2022-35, which empowers the President to dismiss judges without due process. Amid escalating detentions of opposition figures and a crackdown on journalistic and activist communities, Amnesty has urged the European Union to reconsider its engagement with Tunisian authorities. See Amnesty’s call for action here.
Amnesty International has proposed several measures for the Tunisian government to adopt to address the crisis:
- Drop unfounded charges against dissidents and release all arbitrarily detained individuals.
- Reinstate judicial independence by repealing decree law 2022-35 and reinstating judges dismissed arbitrary.
- Repeal Presidential Decree-Law 2022-54 and end detentions pertaining to free speech and peaceful assembly.
The organization underscores the necessity for these actions to reverse the alarming trend and restore the democratic principles that sparked Tunisia’s 2011 revolution. The full ramifications of these developments are discussed in more detail in the article on JURIST.