Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF): For several years now, President Kais Saied’s regime has steadily undermined the rule of law: dismissing judges, imprisoning political opponents, intimidating the media, and instrumentalizing the judiciary. The signs of increasing authoritarianism are now multiplying at an alarming pace. A clear pattern is emerging: silencing critical voices, weakening checks and balances, and neutralizing the remaining spaces capable of challenging the arbitrary exercise of power.
It is in this context that the decision was made, on May 5, to suspend for thirty days the activities of the Tunisian office of the NGO Avocats Sans Frontières (Lawyers Without Borders).* This measure is far from isolated. For several months, Tunisian authorities have intensified their efforts to silence civil society organizations, which remain among the last active counter-powers in Kais Saied’s Tunisia.
In recent months, several national and international organizations have been targeted through suspension orders, judicial proceedings, or restrictive administrative measures. These include:
- the Tunisian League for Human Rights — co-recipient of the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize,
- the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) — a key actor in the democratic transition,
- the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women — a historic figure in the struggle against Ben Ali’s dictatorship and for women’s rights,
- the Tunisian Organization of Young Doctors.
At the same time, civil society organizations are facing increasing pressure: arrests, abusive administrative and tax inspections, funding freezes, severe banking restrictions, smear campaigns, and judicial harassment.
These repeated attacks are exhausting associations and the people who keep them alive. In the long run, they risk leading to the gradual disappearance of civil society from Tunisia’s public sphere.
Read the full article on Will Civil Society Be the Last Bastion of Freedom to Fall in Tunisia?
