Tunisia: Human Rights Watch Updated Briefing Paper On the Human Rights Situation in Tunisia

What the report says

Human Rights Watch said Tunisia’s human rights situation has worsened sharply under President Kais Saied, who assumed extraordinary executive powers in July 2021. In an updated briefing paper published on September 4, 2026 and carried by AllAfrica, the rights group described what it called a deepening crackdown on civil society, journalists, political opponents, lawyers and migrants.

According to the report, Tunisian authorities have since May 2024 stepped up arrests, detentions, financial probes and temporary suspensions targeting nongovernmental organizations and advocacy groups. HRW said at least 47 people linked to NGOs have been prosecuted, while at least 14 NGO workers were convicted and sentenced since January 2026. The briefing highlighted cases including anti-racism activist Saadia Mosbah, who received an eight-year prison sentence, and Saloua Ghrissa, whose trial on financial charges is ongoing. It also said at least 20 associations were temporarily suspended between July 2025 and April 2026.

The organization said the pressure extends beyond civil society to the courts and media. It argued that changes to judicial structures have weakened independence and that pretrial detention and politically motivated prosecutions have become more common. HRW also said Decree-Law 54 on cybercrime has been used against journalists and online critics, contributing to a shrinking press space.

The report matters because Tunisia was once viewed as a rare democratic opening after the 2011 uprising. HRW said the current pattern suggests a broader rollback of civic freedoms, and urged closer international scrutiny. The briefing did not itself announce new government policy, but it presents a detailed record of cases and legal measures that rights advocates say show an escalating crackdown.