Tunisia’s government is facing more criticism because of how it is handling civil society groups. Human Rights Watch says the authorities are putting more pressure on activists on nongovernmental organisations and on the people who work for them.
In a report that’s 49 pages long the rights organisation said that the authorities have used arrests, long periods of preventive detention, financial and criminal investigations, suspensions and threats of closing down local and international civil society groups.
Human Rights Watch said that least 47 people connected to nongovernmental organisations have been taken to court. At least 10 of them have spent than 14 months in preventive detention. That is longer than what Tunisian law allows.
The group said that least 14 people connected to civil society have been found guilty and given prison sentences after trials that took place in 2025 and 2026.
One of the people who was sentenced was a known human rights defender named Saadia Mosbah. She got an eight-year prison sentence and a large fine for financial crime charges. This happened on March 19 according to the report.
Human Rights Watch also said that five people who worked for organisations that help asylum seekers were found guilty because of their work and the activities of their registered groups. Those organisations have stopped working since then.
The rights group said the pressure has focused more and more on organisations that deal with sensitive issues, especially migration.
These changes have made people worried about the shrinking space for society. This problem started after Tunisia’s 2011 revolution. At that time the country had a lot of social changes.
Human Rights Watch asked for an end to what it called restrictions, on civil society activities.
