In a report from Human Rights Watch (HRW), published on Wednesday, the human rights organization describes how professional groups such as lawyers, judges, and journalists are subjected to pressure, raids, and arrests.
Common to many of them is that they are critical of President Kaïs Saïed's increasingly authoritarian rule. More than 50 regime critics are currently imprisoned on political grounds, says HRW, referring to statistics from January. Barely half of them are held imprisoned without legal process, while 14 who have been charged or are awaiting trial are threatened with the death penalty.
Protests against authoritarian and totalitarian regimes in North Africa began in Tunisia in 2011 and quickly spread to several countries in the region. In most cases, authoritarian regimes have crushed all opposition.
In recent years, the regime has tried to quell all opposition in Tunisia, since President Kaïs Saïed closed parliament, dismissed the prime minister, and strengthened presidential power under nearly coup-like circumstances in the summer of 2021.
"Not since the revolution in 2011 have the authorities used such repressive methods. Saïed's regime has returned the country to an era of political prisoners and has robbed Tunisia of its hard-won civil rights," writes HRW.
