The picture of human rights is darkening in Tunisia by Kais Saied. Political rights are being flouted, opponents are being muzzled or arrested, the economic situation is deteriorating, impacting the economic and social rights of Tunisians. “This regime is worse than Benali’s”, a Tunisian activist told us anonymously.

Arrests of political opponents and violations of political rights

“We respect human rights, but these are accusations of plotting against the security of the state, and our main task today is to save the country and its people. This is the life of the state and the future of the people, and we will not allow them to touch the state and its people,” said Tunisian President Kais Saied during a visit to the Ministry of Interior, marking his justification for the wave of repression that has hit the country and giving his support to the security apparatus.

The UN has expressed concern about the human rights situation in Tunisia and the arrests of opposition figures. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has voiced concern over the deepening crackdown in Tunisia targeting perceived political opponents of President Kais Saied as well as civil society. OHCHR noted that Tunisia’s General Prosecutor has increasingly initiated criminal proceedings against the president’s perceived opponents, charging them with “conspiracy against State security”, causing offence to the Head of State or violating the decree-law to fight cybercrime. “We are additionally concerned that some of those held on charges connected to criticising the Government have been tried in military courts. We call on the authorities to cease immediately practices of trying civilians before military tribunals,” said Mr. Laurence, speaking in Geneva.

Several public and political figures are arrested one after another in Tunisia reminiscent of the situation in Algeria since the election of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in 2019, a few weeks apart with Kais Saied.

The leader of Ennahdha, Noureddine Bhiri, is one of the last on the list of arrested. He was “taken to an unknown location” during a police raid involving no less than 100 officers at his home in Tunis, said Abdelfattah Taghouti, a spokesman for Ennahdha, quoted by Tunisian media.
In early 2022, the former Tunisian justice minister had already been detained for more than two months, after President Kais Saied’s power grab suspended parliament. Despite his release, Mr. Bhiri was still under investigation on suspicion of “terrorism,” according to the authorities.

At the same time, the private radio station “Mosaïque FM” announced the evening arrest of its director general, Noureddine Boutar. Last weekend, a wave of arrests targeted numerous political figures, former judges and an influential businessman. On Saturday, Tunisian police arrested Kamel Eltaïef, an influential businessman in political circles, as well as two opponents, namely Abdelhamid Jelassi, former leader of the Ennahdha movement and political activist Khayam Turki.

The Tunisian union UGTT protested on Wednesday, February 1, after the arrest of one of its leaders, making the link with a speech by President Kaïs Saïed who denounced an instrumentalization of the right to strike for political purposes. Arguing in particular for arbitrary arrests and trials of civilians before military courts, NGOs and the opposition have denounced a decline in fundamental rights in Tunisia since the coup de force of President Kaïs Saïed on July 25, 2021, by which he seized all powers, including judicial.

The picture of human rights is darkening in Tunisia by Kais Saied. Political rights are being flouted, opponents are being muzzled or arrested, the economic situation is deteriorating, impacting the economic and social rights of Tunisians. “This regime is worse than Benali’s”, a Tunisian activist told us anonymously.

Deteriorated economic and social situation

The year 2023 looks “complicated” if Tunisia does not quickly get the green light from the International Monetary Fund to the loan announced several months ago, warned the Governor of the Central Bank Marouane El Abassi. The economic crisis has continued to worsen. Shortages of basic necessities have multiplied and inflation has exceeded 10%, while growth has remained anemic (around 1.8% in 2022, according to the government).

The IMF meeting scheduled for December to approve the loan to Tunis has been postponed indefinitely. To explain this postponement, the governor of the Central Bank said that several pieces of legislation requested by the IMF were not ready: the 2023 finance law – finally presented at the end of December -, a law on excessive interest rates and another that must restructure Tunisia’s heavily indebted public enterprises.

Led by the National Salvation Front, a coalition of opposition parties that includes the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha, demonstrators have taken to the main streets of the Tunisian capital on several occasions lately, calling for the president’s departure. In recent months, this financial crisis has resulted in recurrent shortages of basic products (flour, sugar, coffee, etc.) in a context of galloping inflation. Participants in the demonstrations held up empty baskets in reference to the sharp decline in purchasing power. Souad, a pensioner, accused President Saied of “not having done anything”. According to her, the situation has only worsened” since his arrival in power in 2019.

Tunisians’ attention is focused on the economic situation. The country is still experiencing significant shortages of milk, sugar, coffee and recently pasta. Subsidized staple foods that the Tunisian state has a monopoly on importing. In mid-January, some 170 trucks of food aid were sent from neighboring Libya. A “humiliation” for the Tunisians.

Democratic impasse

According to the results, only 11.3 per cent of voters went to the polls on Sunday for the second round of legislative elections (as a reminder, the rate was 11 per cent in the first round). The parties had called for a boycott of the elections, denouncing the authoritarian drift of the country’s strongman. This was the main figure expected at the end of the last election in Tunisia.

The time seems long gone when Kaïs Saïed aroused popular fervour by freezing the activity of parliamentarians, whose quarrels and corruption scandals offended public opinion. These legislative elections took place in general indifference for several reasons. First, the popularity of the president has been eroded over the past year and a half. In addition, many of the candidates were unknowns who were forbidden to show any affiliation to a political party.

One figure is particularly telling: Tunisia lost 20 points last year in the press freedom index established by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). This considerable decline is explained by the legal proceedings brought against journalists, sometimes even before military courts. In some cases, these proceedings have led to prison sentences. And since the promulgation last August of the new Constitution wanted by President Kaïs Saïed, this trend of liberticide has increased. This is a paradox when one knows that this text was officially supposed to guarantee a better protection of individual rights, in particular the freedom of expression. The picture of human rights is darkening in Tunisia by Kais Saied.