Summary:
Sherifa Riahi, a human rights and civil society activist and the former Executive Director of the NGO Terre d’Asile Tunisie, has been imprisoned since May 2024 following a smear and incitement campaign targeting civil society organizations. She has faced serious charges such as “conspiracy” and “money laundering.” Despite this, Sherifa remains in detention for more than a year, far exceeding the legal limits for pre-trial detention, in blatant disregard of her status as a mother and primary caregiver to two children, one of whom was an infant at the time of her arrest. Her case stands as a stark example of human rights violations.
Methodology:
This documentation was prepared by the Intersection Association for Rights and Freedoms based on a rigorous monitoring process that included the collection and analysis of data from credible media sources, organized chronologically and procedurally. The association also conducted an interview with the victim’s relative, Leila Riahi, to shed light on the multiple dimensions of the case. The events were then examined against the provisions of the Tunisian Constitution and international treaties ratified by Tunisia, particularly those related to freedom of civic and humanitarian action. This approach ensures a rights-based, objective perspective that reflects both the scale of the violations and the scope of the state’s obligations.
Circumstances and Events of the Violation:
Sherifa Riahi, a Tunisian citizen who studied architecture and has long been active in the field of human rights, was employed at the NGO Terre d’Asile Tunisie under a formal labor contract governed by Tunisian labor law. She first joined as a regional coordinator between 2017 and 2018, then served as Executive Director from 2019 until April 2023 under the same contractual framework.
The organization provides legal support and humanitarian assistance to vulnerable groups such as victims of human trafficking, abused women, and minors. It operates in coordination with the relevant authorities to address migration issues. Its interventions also extend to migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees of various nationalities, offering organized temporary housing for vulnerable cases in full compliance with national legal procedures and with the rights enshrined in international conventions ratified by Tunisia.
Sherifa Riahi was arrested on 7 May 2024 at her home and taken to the El Aouina Investigation Unit for questioning. She was placed in pretrial detention at Bouchoucha Detention Center for five days under the 2015 Anti-Terrorism and Money Laundering Law, with no consideration for her circumstances as a new mother caring for two young children, one of whom was only two months old at the time.
Along with Sherifa, several other individuals linked to the association were also detained, including Mohamed Jouou, the other executive director of the organization, as well as three municipal officials from Sousse, among them the mayor and his deputy, for questioning.
Her arrest was later connected to a 2022 media appearance on Shems FM, where she discussed a tripartite agreement between the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists, the Arab Institute for Human Rights, and Terre d’Asile Tunisie, which she was then leading as executive director. The agreement sought to improve media coverage of migration issues and reduce hate speech targeting migrants. In that context, she referred to Law No. 68-7 of 1968 on the Status of Foreigners in Tunisia (la loi relative à la condition des étrangers), describing it as outdated. This statement, along with other remarks, was later weaponized to inflame public opinion against her, with her rights-based defense of migrants’ dignity being reframed within the state’s official “resettlement” narrative. As a result, she was portrayed as a threat to national security, despite the fact that her work was grounded in humanitarian principles and focused on solidarity and ensuring the fundamental rights of migrants and asylum seekers.
On 12 May 2024, Sherifa’s detention was extended for an additional five days, bringing her total time in custody at the Bouchoucha detention center, known for its harsh and degrading conditions, to ten days. On 17 May 2024, a hearing was scheduled before the investigating judge at the Financial Judicial Pole. However, the session ended without hearing her testimony at the request of her lawyer because of her deteriorating health after prolonged detention. That same day, the judge issued a detention warrant, transferring her to the Manouba Women’s Civil Prison.
Sherifa Riahi was brought before the investigating judge at the Financial Judicial Pole for questioning, arriving at around nine o’clock in the morning. Yet she was not summoned for interrogation until approximately eleven thirty at night on 21 May 2025, according to her lawyer, Hayet Jazar.
On 12 June 2024, three experts were appointed to audit the association’s accounts and the financial situations of those detained along with Sherifa. On 15 November 2024, the authorities decided to extend her pre-trial detention for another four months. Sherifa thus spent several months in Manouba Women’s Prison awaiting the experts’ report, although she could have been released under judicial control and summoned whenever necessary. Instead, the authorities chose to keep her behind prison walls, with no regard for her situation as a breastfeeding mother responsible for two young children.
Inside prison, Sherifa was subjected to a series of restrictions. At first, she was denied face-to-face visits with her children. Later, after her family submitted several documents requested by the prison administration, she was granted the right to see them. However, these visits were limited to only half an hour, twice a month. The restrictions had a severe impact on her psychological well-being, as well as on her eldest son, aged four, who has shown deep emotional attachment to his mother. As for her infant daughter, Sherifa was only allowed to see her five times in brief indirect visits and twice in direct visits, despite repeated appeals from her family for humane contact.
These restrictions marked only the beginning of a broader pattern of abuse. Human rights violations against Sherifa Riahi continued and even intensified, as the authorities disregarded her situation as a mother of two, one of whom was only two months old at the time of her arrest. This made it extremely difficult for her to meet with her children, especially since she was facing charges under the anti-terrorism law. Requests for direct visits were denied by the Court of Appeal, despite their psychological and emotional importance for both Sherifa and her children.
Every fifteen days, her family and lawyers are required to submit a request for a visitation permit, navigating complex procedures and preparing numerous documents, only for Sherifa to be granted just a few minutes with her children. According to the testimony of her lawyer, Hayet Jazar, she submitted a petition before the Manouba Court seeking authorization for the children to visit their mother in a direct and regular manner. This was based on Article 34 of the Tunisian Prison Regulations, under Law No. 52 of 2001, which allows the prison and rehabilitation administration to grant permits for children under 13 years old to visit a detained parent outside regular visiting hours, without a barrier, and in the presence of a prison officer in civilian clothing.
Although the Manouba Court approved this request, it was rejected by the prison and rehabilitation administration on the grounds that the Public Prosecutor is the authority responsible for reviewing such petitions.
On January 8, 2025, after nine months of detention, the expert report was delivered to the investigating judge at the Financial Judicial Pole. Later, on January 28, 2025, the investigation was closed, and the charges of conspiracy against state security and money laundering were dropped. What remained was a misdemeanor related to administrative procedures, specifically the sheltering of individuals entering or leaving Tunisian territory clandestinely, or those involved in the crimes covered under this section, as well as providing them with accommodation, concealing them, ensuring their escape, or preventing their identification or punishment, in accordance with Article 39 of Law No. 40 of 1975 on Passports and Travel Documents.
In addition, a misdemeanor charge was retained under Article 25 of Law No. 7 of 1968 on the Status of Foreigners in Tunisia, which criminalizes directly or indirectly assisting a foreigner, or attempting to facilitate their entry into, exit from, circulation within, or residence in Tunisia without legal status. However, the Public Prosecutor appealed this decision and referred the case to the Indictment Chamber, which, on February 26, 2025, after reviewing the expert findings and dismissing the charges of embezzlement and money laundering, added a new charge under Article 96 of the Penal Code. This article provides for imprisonment and a fine against any public official or member of a local authority who abuses their position to obtain an undue benefit for themselves or for others.
The mayor of Sousse and her first deputy were also included among the accused, on the grounds of a 2022 agreement between the Sousse Municipality and Terre d’Asile Tunisie to establish a permanent municipal unit tasked with providing support and assistance to migrants.
All the defendants in this case submitted an appeal in cassation, filed by the defense team to challenge the decision of the Indictment Chamber, pending the scheduling of a hearing which has not yet been set, according to the victim’s lawyer, Attorney Hayet Jazar. It should be noted that Sherifa has already served her entire pre-trial detention period of 14 months, meaning she has been held in prison since July 2025.
Human Rights Violations:
The case of Sherifa Riahi highlights a troubling pattern of blatant human rights abuses, beginning with her prolonged and unjustified detention. On May 7, 2024, she was arrested and initially held at the Bouchoucha detention center before being transferred to the Manouba Women’s Prison. Her detention exceeded 14 months, despite the fact that she is the mother of two children, one of them an infant. This situation constitutes a clear violation of the right to personal liberty and protection from arbitrary detention, as guaranteed under Article 43 of the Tunisian Constitution, as well as Article 9 of both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
This process was accompanied by an official discourse that criminalized those involved in the case, blurring the line between legitimate human rights work and political or security-related allegations. It was further reinforced by a wave of incitement and misinformation in the media, which contributed to the defamation of the victim and sought to justify her imprisonment, despite the absence of evidence supporting the serious charges brought against her. It should also be emphasized that the use of counterterrorism legislation to arrest and detain Sherifa represents a grave violation of her civil rights.
The 2022 Constitution of the Tunisian Republic, in its Article 33, enshrines a fundamental principle: “An accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a fair trial in which all guarantees of defense are ensured during all stages of investigation and trial.” Yet this constitutional safeguard was not upheld in the case of activist Sherifa Riahi. After nine months of detention, it became clear that she was innocent of the serious charges initially brought against her—namely “conspiracy” and “money laundering.” Her case was reclassified as a minor offense. Nevertheless, she remains in detention to this day, in blatant contradiction of the presumption of innocence and the most basic standards of fair trial guaranteed by both the Constitution and international treaties.
The continued prolongation of her detention, despite the possibility of keeping her at liberty pending trial, represents a clear violation of her right to personal freedom and security. It also undermines the very essence of fair trial guarantees, which must be grounded in specific acts and established evidence. Moreover, it constitutes a breach of the principle of proportionality that should guide criminal procedures, placing the state under serious legal and moral scrutiny regarding its respect for fundamental rights, particularly those tied to women, motherhood, and childhood, which are directly implicated in the victim’s family situation.
Moreover, her situation as a breastfeeding mother and caregiver of both a young child and an infant was not taken into account. This constitutes discrimination based on family status and violates Article 51 of the Constitution, which obliges the state to protect the rights already acquired by women, as well as Article 52, which affirms the protection of children’s rights and the state’s duty to provide all forms of protection to every child without discrimination and in line with the best interests of the child. Added to this is Article 10 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Sherifa was also initially deprived of face-to-face meetings with her children. Later, visits with her eldest son were restricted to just thirty minutes twice a month, while most direct visits with her infant daughter were denied. This amounts to a violation of the right to family life and of children’s rights under Articles 9 and 18 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
These conditions have deeply affected family bonds and the psychological and physical well-being of the two children, particularly her son, who struggles to cope with his mother’s absence, adding a profoundly human dimension to the violation of her rights.
The case of Sherifa Riahi, with its circumstances of arrest and the procedural irregularities throughout her trial, has also resulted in a blatant violation of the fundamental right to a fair trial. She was summoned for questioning before the investigating judge of the Financial Judicial Pole at around nine o’clock in the morning, yet her interrogation did not begin until nearly eleven-thirty at night. Such practices demonstrate disregard for her right to humane treatment during judicial proceedings and highlight the absence of effective safeguards for her defense.
Her hearings were repeatedly postponed without justification, and her lawyer refused one such session due to her deteriorating health after prolonged detention. This illustrates a clear breach of the principle that hearings must be held in a timely manner and under conditions that safeguard the accused’s physical and psychological well-being.
All of this stands in stark violation of Articles 9 and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which guarantee the right to liberty and personal security, protection from arbitrary detention, and the right to a fair trial before a competent and independent court, including the right of the accused to be heard under appropriate conditions. It also contravenes Article 10 of the ICCPR, which prohibits cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment and affirms the right of persons deprived of liberty to be treated with humanity and respect for their inherent dignity.
Resources:
This case was documented by the Intersection Association for Rights and Freedoms through a phone interview with Leila Riahi, a human rights activist and relative of Sherifa Riahi, in addition to monitoring published articles and reviewing statements made by the defense lawyers representing the victim.
