TUNIS: Tunisian authorities have used arbitrary detention as a key tool of repression, jailing dozens of critics on politically motivated charges in a sweeping crackdown on dissent, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday.
In a new report, HRW said the North African country has seen an “increased reliance on arbitrary detention and politically motivated prosecutions to intimidate, punish and silence its critics.”
The organization said several critics have been “detained on abusive charges, including terrorism” over political activities and public statements.
“Over 50 people were being held on political grounds or for exercising their rights as of January 2025,” it said.
“At least 14 detainees could face capital punishment if convicted,” it added.
This comes amid an ongoing trial in Tunisia involving around 40 high-profile defendants, some outspoken critics of President Kais Saied, facing charges including plotting against the state.
Several were arrested in February 2023, after which Saied labelled them “terrorists.”
Elected in 2019 after Tunisia emerged as the Arab Spring’s sole democratic success, the president staged a sweeping power grab in 2021.
Since then, rights groups have warned of a rollback of freedoms.
“Not since the 2011 revolution have Tunisian authorities unleashed such repression,” said Bassam Khawaja, HRW’s deputy Middle East and North Africa director.
“President Saied’s government has returned the country to an era of political prisoners,” he added.
The United Nations recently urged Tunisian authorities to bring “an end to the pattern of arrests, arbitrary detentions and imprisonment of dozens of human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, activists and politicians.”
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Tunisia using more ‘arbitrary detentions’ to stifle dissent: HRW
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Tunisia using more ‘arbitrary detentions’ to stifle dissent: HRW
- North African country has seen an ‘increased reliance on arbitrary detention and politically motivated prosecutions to intimidate, punish and silence its critics’
Merz pushes PA’s Abbas on reforms ahead of Israel trip
BERLIN: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for reforms of the Palestinian Authority in a phone call with its leader Mahmud Abbas early Saturday, hours before taking off for Israel.
Speaking from Berlin, Merz urged Abbas to push through “urgently necessary reforms” at the Palestinian Authority so that the organization could “play a constructive role in a post-war order,” according to German government spokesman Stefan Kornelius.
Merz also underscored German support for US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza and “welcomed the Palestinian Authority’s cooperative attitude” toward the deal in the call, the spokesman said.
The fragile ceasefire agreement to end the Gaza war is supposed to be just the first phase of the plan.
Germany is among Israel’s closest allies and most outspoken supporters.
Merz’s call with Abbas came hours before the chancellor was scheduled to leave Berlin late Saturday morning for an overnight visit to Israel.
After a brief stop in Jordan, where Merz is scheduled to meet with the Jordanian King Abdullah II, Merz is expected to arrive in Jerusalem for meetings with top Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Merz also plans to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Israel.
In his call with Abbas, Merz reiterated Germany’s position that a two-state solution remains the ultimate way to achieve peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians, according to the spokesman.
Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials hvae repeatedly rejected the prospect of an independent Palestinian state.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip from the Palestinian Authority in 2007, has also explicitly ruled out a two-state solution.
Speaking from Berlin, Merz urged Abbas to push through “urgently necessary reforms” at the Palestinian Authority so that the organization could “play a constructive role in a post-war order,” according to German government spokesman Stefan Kornelius.
Merz also underscored German support for US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza and “welcomed the Palestinian Authority’s cooperative attitude” toward the deal in the call, the spokesman said.
The fragile ceasefire agreement to end the Gaza war is supposed to be just the first phase of the plan.
Germany is among Israel’s closest allies and most outspoken supporters.
Merz’s call with Abbas came hours before the chancellor was scheduled to leave Berlin late Saturday morning for an overnight visit to Israel.
After a brief stop in Jordan, where Merz is scheduled to meet with the Jordanian King Abdullah II, Merz is expected to arrive in Jerusalem for meetings with top Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Merz also plans to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Israel.
In his call with Abbas, Merz reiterated Germany’s position that a two-state solution remains the ultimate way to achieve peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians, according to the spokesman.
Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials hvae repeatedly rejected the prospect of an independent Palestinian state.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip from the Palestinian Authority in 2007, has also explicitly ruled out a two-state solution.
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