Tunisia: UN Reacts to Human Rights Violations

By Chinomso Momoh
February 15, 2023

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has condemned the crackdown on civil society organisations and perceived opponents of President Kais Saied in Tunisia.

Development Diaries reports that Tunisian authorities have arrested at least nine people, including former judges, veteran politicians and the head of a major broadcaster.

It is understood that among them is the Head of Mosaique FM, Noureddine Boutar, and former Justice Minister and lawmaker from the opposition Islamist Ennahda party, Noureddine Bhiri.

‘We are additionally concerned that some of those held on charges connected to criticising the government have been tried in military courts’, Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Jeremy Laurence, said in a statement.

‘We call on the authorities to cease immediately practices of trying civilians before military tribunals.

‘We call on the Tunisian authorities to respect due process and fair trial standards in all judicial proceedings and to release immediately all those arbitrarily detained, including anyone detained in relation to the exercise of their rights to freedom of opinion or expression’.

Tunisia’s human rights record has been worrying since President Saied took charge of the country in July 2021.

In September 2021, the president issued Presidential Decree 2021-117, granting him sweeping powers to issue new laws by decree without review or oversight by any other authority.

The decree allows him to use decree-laws to regulate nearly every aspect of public life, including political parties, the courts, trade unions, civil society, the media and human rights.

Also, in the first half of 2022, President Saied issued two decree-laws granting himself the power not only to appoint judges and prosecutors, but also to dismiss them on vague grounds and without the right to immediate appeal.

Freedom House ranked Tunisia as ‘partly free’ in its 2022 Freedom in the World report on political rights and civil liberties, with the Maghreb nation earning 64 points out of a possible 100.