Upon finishing a four-day go to to Tunisia, through which she met with human rights defenders, civil society representatives, the Tunisian Judges Affiliation, attorneys, political events, journalists, victims of human rights violations and households of arbitrarily detained individuals, Amnesty Worldwide’s Secretary Common Agnès Callamard stated:
“It’s alarming and distressing to witness the drastic rollback of the human rights progress that Tunisia had made because the 2011 revolution. Three years on since President Kais Saied suspended Parliament and commenced to grab management of the State, violations that we thought a part of Tunisia’s previous have gotten increasingly more discernible and systematic.
“The establishment of justice has been dropped at heel, whereas arrests and arbitrary prosecutions are multiplying, affecting the leaders of the political opposition, journalists, activists, attorneys, magistrates, commerce unionists, businesspeople, civil servants, ladies judges and activists, migrants and refugees. Individuals who haven’t but been straight affected instructed me they worry that their freedom may very well be curtailed at any time.
“My go to to Tunisia coincided with the run as much as October’s presidential elections. As an alternative of the colourful debates of a pluralist political scene, I noticed authorities repression, fuelling worry and dread about what’s to come back. Many political opposition leaders and authorities critics are in arbitrary detention, presidential candidates face restrictions and prosecutions, many journalists and commentators have been sentenced to imprisonment, and civil society is underneath menace of additional repression.
“Most leaders of opposition events are being held in pre-trial detention. They embrace Issam Chebbi, secretary normal of the Jomhouri get together; Ghazi Chaouachi, former secretary normal of the Attayar get together; Jaouher Ben Mbarek, one of many leaders of the political coalition Salvation Entrance; Abir Moussi, secretary normal of the Free Doustourian get together, and plenty of high-level Nahdha leaders, reminiscent of Rached Ghannouchi, Noureddine Bhiri, Sahbi Atig and others. They face an array of fees, together with some underneath Tunisia’s counter-terrorism regulation, that carry heavy sentences. These prosecutions, as a part of the crackdown on the rights to freedom of expression, affiliation, and peaceable meeting, exhibit the authorities’ intolerance of any problem or dissent.
“Amnesty Worldwide has documented the drastic steps that authorities have taken to dismantle judicial independence since 25 July 2021. All through my go to I witnessed how the rights to a good trial, freedom of expression and peaceable meeting have been straight impacted.
“Whereas the authorities are intensifying their crackdown, human rights defenders reminiscent of Choose Hmedi, president of the Tunisian Judges Affiliation, and his colleagues proceed to defend hard-earned ensures of independence. They achieve this regardless of going through reprisals within the type of prison fees, reminiscent of these introduced in opposition to Choose Hmedi over a judges strike in protest on the president arbitrarily dismissing 57 judges and prosecutors.
“The spotlight of my go to was assembly with the impartial judges who’ve refused to compromise, with the attorneys relentlessly preventing the arbitrary prosecutions that political opponents are being subjected to, and with the courageous relations of detainees main the battle for his or her launch.
“The Tunisian authorities are additionally committing appalling violations in opposition to migrants and refugees from sub-Saharan Africa, characterised by racist rhetoric on the highest ranges of the State, the normalization of mass deportations on the borders, violent interceptions at sea, and arrests primarily based on racial profiling. Not too long ago, these offering help to migrants or advocating for his or her rights by way of their work in civil society organizations have additionally confronted arbitrary investigations and, in some instances, arrests and detention.
“By crude indifference to their obligations underneath worldwide regulation, the European Union and its member states have shamefully granted a veneer of legitimacy to this authorities’s repression within the title of border externalization and counterterrorism. These obligations require European leaders to face as much as the Tunisian authorities’ assault on rights and freedoms, however as a substitute they struck a deal to finance Tunisia’s containment of migrants and refugees, amid a wave of violent racism.”
Amnesty Worldwide calls on the Tunisian authorities to:
– Drop the unfounded fees in opposition to dissidents and critics and launch all these arbitrarily detained solely for the train of their human rights;
– Reverse all measures taken to undermine judicial independence, together with by repealing decree regulation 2022-35, which supplies the President the authority to summarily dismiss judges; implement the choice of the Administrative Tribunal of 9 August 2022 and reinstate the 57 judges and prosecutors arbitrarily dismissed by the President; cease all interference of the chief in issues in regards to the independence of the judiciary; and finish all types of harassment or reprisal in opposition to Tunisian judges and attorneys;
– Repeal Presidential Decree-Legislation 2022-54; launch all these prosecuted and detained solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, peaceable meeting and affiliation.
The European Union and its member states should re-assess their engagement with the Tunisian authorities to make sure that cooperation doesn’t result in complicity in human rights violations in opposition to migrants, refugees or authorities opponents, and as a substitute contributes to progress in the direction of Tunisia’s human rights obligations.
The Tunisian authorities didn’t reply to requests for conferences with the Amnesty Worldwide delegation led by Agnès Callamard throughout her go to from 16 to 19 July.
Background
Three years after President Kais Saied’s power grab on 25 July 2021, Tunisia continues to witness a major rollback of the human rights progress following the 2011 revolution.
Since 2022, authorities have carried out successive waves of arrests concentrating on political opponents and perceived critics of President Saied. Greater than 70 individuals, together with political opponents, lawyers, journalists, activists and human rights defenders, have been subjected to arbitrary prosecutions and/or arbitrary detention because the finish of 2022. Not less than 40 individuals remained arbitrarily detained as of Might 2024 in reference to the train of their internationally protected rights reminiscent of proper to freedom of expression and peaceable assembly. In Might 2024, authorities escalated repressive measures in opposition to migrants, refugees, and human rights defenders working to guard their rights.
In July 2023, the European Union signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Tunisia underneath which, amongst different issues, the EU has agreed to supply technical assist to discourage Europe-bound migration, together with €105 million with a concentrate on “border administration” in addition to practically €1 billion in further loans and monetary assist amid Tunisia’s unprecedented financial disaster. This deal, which lacked transparency or parliamentary scrutiny, stays in operation. Amnesty Worldwide has repeatedly written to the EU’s management elevating issues over the repercussions of cooperation with Tunisia and not using a prior human rights threat evaluation.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Amnesty Worldwide.