You can access the report via this link: Civil Society Confronting Repression Report on Violations Targeting Associations from May 2024 to the End of May 2026

Intersection Association for Rights and Freedoms is releasing its report “Civil Society Confronting Repression: Report on Violations Targeting Associations: from May 2024 to the End of May 2026.

Intersection Association for Rights and Freedoms is publishing its newest report documenting the escalation of violations targeting civil society in Tunisia over the past two years through judicial prosecutions, restrictive administrative measures, financial pressure, and incitement campaigns directed at independent associations and human rights defenders.

The report is based on a monitoring and documentation process covering the period from May 2024 to the end of May 2026. During this period, it documented 88 cases affecting civil society organizations and activists. These included 47 cases of restrictions and prosecutions targeting associations and organizations, and 41 judicial proceedings against activists and officials working within civil society organizations.

The report also documented 8 cases of pretrial detention, while 34 individuals remained at liberty despite ongoing criminal proceedings against them. In addition, 7 first-instance judgments were issued against civil society activists. At the administrative level, the report recorded 22 one-month suspension orders affecting associations, while two organizations: Mnemty and Al-Khatt Association, continue to face legal proceedings seeking their dissolution.

The report highlights several emblematic cases illustrating the nature of the targeting of civil society during the reporting period. In the case of Saadia Mosbah, President of Mnemty, she was arrested following a raid on the association’s headquarters in May 2024. She was subsequently sentenced at first instance to eight years’ imprisonment, despite the expert financial report finding no evidence of financial irregularities. The association also remains the subject of legal proceedings seeking its dissolution.

Similarly, Cherifa Riahi, President of the Terre d’Asile Tunisie Association, was arrested in May 2024 and spent more than twenty months in pretrial detention before being released following a first-instance judgment sentencing her to two years’ imprisonment with a suspended sentence.

The report also examines the cases of Mustapha Djemali and Abderrazek Krimi, members of the Tunisian Council for Refugees, who each spent seventeen months in detention before being released. It further discusses the case of Abdallah Saiid, President of the Children of the Moon Association, who remains detained following a first-instance sentence of one year’s imprisonment, as well as Salwa Ghrissa, Executive Director of the Association for the Promotion of the Right to Difference, who spent more than 15 in pretrial detention before being released.

The report concludes that the documented violations were neither isolated nor incidental, but rather formed part of a systematic pattern operating through four main mechanisms.

The first consists of the criminalization of civic and humanitarian activities, notably through the use of counterterrorism and anti-money laundering legislation against individuals working in civil society.

The second mechanism is administrative control, reflected in suspension orders imposed on dozens of associations using nearly identical legal justifications and within closely timed periods.

The third is financial obstruction, affecting numerous organizations through the freezing of bank accounts and restrictions on access to the financial resources necessary to continue their activities.

The fourth consists of official incitement and stigmatization, whereby public discourse portrayed associations as traitors or foreign agents, providing political cover for campaigns targeting independent civil society organizations.

The report further emphasizes that the consequences of these policies extend well beyond civil society organizations themselves to the communities they serve. The suspension of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (ATFD) resulted in the closure of four support and counseling centers for women survivors of violence. Psychological support and legal assistance services for refugee and migrant children were disrupted. Independent monitoring of the 2024 presidential elections was significantly undermined following the targeting of the Mourakiboun Network and I Watch organization, while legal support available to human rights defenders also declined.

Intersection Association for Rights and Freedoms stresses that the findings presented in this report reveal a sustained and systematic pattern of restrictions on freedom of association and civic action, contrary to Tunisia’s constitutional guarantees and its obligations under international human rights law, particularly Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The report also highlights increasing attempts to circumvent the provisions of Decree-Law No. 88 of 2011 on Associations, one of the most significant achievements of the Tunisian revolution in guaranteeing freedom of association.

In this context, Intersection Association for Rights and Freedoms calls for:

• The immediate release of all individuals detained because of their civil society and human rights activities.
• An end to the misuse of pretrial detention as a tool of punishment and repression outside legal safeguards.
• An end to the use of counterterrorism and anti-money laundering legislation to criminalize legitimate civic and humanitarian work.
• An end to the administrative and financial harassment targeting independent associations.
• An end to official incitement and smear campaigns directed against associations and human rights defenders.
• Full respect for Tunisia’s obligations regarding freedom of association and guarantees for the freedom to organize and carry out civil society work.

You can access the report via this link: Civil Society Confronting Repression Report on Violations Targeting Associations from May 2024 to the End of May 2026