Summary<\/b><\/p>\n
Islem Zrelli, a young man from the Chatt Essalem area in the governorate of Gab\u00e8s, was subjected to arbitrary arrest at a police station after documenting cases of suffocation caused by the activity of the Gab\u00e8s Chemical Group and its impact on residents\u2019 health. He was only released after deleting a video he had posted on his social media page, in which he documented suffocation incidents affecting students of Gab\u00e8s City Preparatory School as a result of toxic emissions from the chemical complex.<\/span><\/p>\n Personal Information<\/b><\/p>\n Name:<\/b> Islem Zrelli<\/span><\/p>\n Status<\/b>: Environmental activist<\/span><\/p>\n Nationality<\/b>: Tunisian<\/span><\/p>\n Governorate<\/b>: Gab\u00e8s<\/span><\/p>\n Charge<\/b>: Filming inside an educational institution<\/span><\/p>\n Facts of the Violation<\/b><\/p>\n At the beginning of December 2025, following multiple cases of suffocation affecting students at Gab\u00e8s City Preparatory School due to emissions from the Gab\u00e8s Chemical Group, environmental activist Islem Zrelli went to the site of the incident to film and document the event. According to his account, this was done at the request of the families of the affected students. He documented the incident through a live broadcast on his Facebook page, where he regularly publishes content related to the environmental crisis in Gab\u00e8s.<\/span><\/p>\n Zrelli reported that only one and a half minutes after starting the live broadcast, he was approached by a plainclothes police officer who demanded that he stop filming and immediately end the live stream. He added that the officer attempted to seize his phone without providing any explanation. When the officer tried to forcibly take the phone, Zrelli refused to hand it over and was subsequently threatened with arrest. The officer warned him that his actions would expose him to legal prosecution, justifying this threat by claiming that filming inside educational institutions was prohibited.<\/span><\/p>\n During this time, Zrelli attempted to contact a family member or a friend to inform them of what was happening to him, but the police officer forcibly prevented him from making any phone call. Instead, the officer called for a police patrol, which arrived at the scene, arrested Zrelli, and forcibly took him to the police station, in a clear violation of his right to communicate with his family and inform them of his situation.<\/span><\/p>\n In the course of these events, Zrelli attempted to hand his phone to one of the students present at the school, fearing that it would be confiscated, forcibly accessed, or that its contents would be deleted or searched without any legal basis. The officers noticed this attempt, which led to him being subjected to verbal abuse, insults, and humiliation, reflecting a serious breach of the law and a violation of his human dignity.<\/span><\/p>\n Subsequently, the school principal was summoned and it emerged that she had filed a complaint against him on the grounds of filming educational staff inside the institution. Zrelli, however, asserted that the video only showed students and their families. After lengthy discussions, the principal agreed to withdraw the complaint on the condition that the video documenting the suffocation cases be deleted, in exchange for Zrelli signing a written undertaking not to publish or film in the future. Zrelli was released only after signing the written commitment and deleting the video he had posted.<\/span><\/p>\n Human Rights Violations<\/b><\/p>\n \n Islem Zrelli was subjected to multiple serious human rights violations, primarily relating to his freedom of expression and the right to fair legal procedures. The first of these violations lies in preventing him from documenting cases of suffocation affecting students at Gab\u00e8s City Preparatory School and threatening him with arrest for initiating a live broadcast on his Facebook page. This constitutes a clear violation of his right to freedom of expression and opinion, as guaranteed under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights.<\/span><\/p>\n This prohibition also contradicts Article 37 of the 2022 Tunisian Constitution, which provides that \u201cfreedom of opinion, thought, expression, information, and publication is guaranteed. No prior censorship may be imposed on these freedoms,\u201d as well as Article 38, which guarantees \u201cthe right to information and the right of access to information.\u201d The security intervention to stop the live broadcast and confiscate media content constitutes repressive censorship and an arbitrary restriction on freedom of the press and independent documentation, particularly when the matter concerns issues of public interest such as environmental pollution and its impact on public health.<\/span><\/p>\n The arrest of Islem Zrelli and his forced transfer to a police station without a judicial warrant and in the absence of any clearly defined criminal offense also constitutes a violation of the right to liberty and personal security as enshrined in Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Article 6 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights. Detaining Zrelli for exercising his legitimate right to documentation and information amounts to arbitrary detention lacking any sound legal basis and contradicts the principles of legality, necessity, and proportionality in restricting freedoms.<\/span><\/p>\n Furthermore, preventing Zrelli from contacting a family member or friend to inform them of his situation constitutes a violation of the fundamental rights of detainees as provided under Law No. 5 of 2016 of 16 February 2016, which amended and supplemented certain provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure and guarantees the right of a detained person to contact their lawyer and inform their relatives of their situation. This prohibition also contravenes Principle 16 of the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, which affirms the detainee\u2019s right to inform their family or other persons of their arrest.<\/span><\/p>\n Islem Zrelli\u2019s exposure to verbal abuse, insults, and humiliation by police officers further constitutes a violation of Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights, and Article 23 of the 2022 Tunisian Constitution, all of which prohibit cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. The use of verbal violence and insults against an individual exercising his legitimate right to documentation and information constitutes degrading treatment incompatible with human dignity and represents an abuse of police authority.<\/span><\/p>\n Moreover, forcing Zrelli to sign a written undertaking to delete the video documenting the suffocation cases under the threat of arrest and conditional release constitutes a violation of freedom of expression and lawful documentation, as well as a violation of personal liberty and the right not to be subjected to coercion or blackmail. This practice contravenes the general principles of international human rights law and the standards for the protection of civil and environmental activists.<\/span><\/p>\n \n Sources:<\/b><\/p>\n The association documented the violation suffered by environmental activist Islem Zrelli following a direct phone interview conducted with him on 2 December 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n"},"free-categories":[50],"countries":[37],"state":[45],"class_list":["post-5889","freedom-faces","type-freedom-faces","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","free-categories-50","countries-37","state-45"],"yoast_head":"\n