In a move raising alarm over civil rights in Tunisia, courts have mandated the suspension of several key human rights organizations, including Mnemty, an anti-racism NGO. This decision has sparked widespread concern about diminishing freedoms in a country once seen as a beacon of democracy in the Arab world.
On Tuesday, Mnemty became the latest organization to face a one-month suspension, according to its spokesperson Zied Rouin. This development follows the arrest of its president, Saadia Mosbah, in May 2024. Mosbah, along with other activists defending migrant rights, remains detained, reflecting the increasingly stifled civil society landscape under President Kais Saied.
Other organizations have faced similar fates. The Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) received a suspension order on Monday, while the Tunisian Association for Democratic Women faced a similar directive earlier.
Romdhan Ben Amor, spokesperson for FTDES, expressed that the suspensions act as a diversion from pressing national issues, such as environmental protests in Gabes. He stated, “Targeting human rights groups like FTDES aims to stigmatize individual and social rights and freedom defenders.”
Ben Amor suggested that FTDES’s positions on migration and high-profile state security cases have made it a target. Despite the suspension, Ben Amor asserted that FTDES complies with financial transparency laws and plans to appeal the decision.
The recent suspension orders are perceived as part of a broader strategy to limit the influence and autonomy of civil society groups since President Saied’s consolidation of power in 2021. The President has consistently highlighted foreign funding as a threat, leveraging this narrative to accuse opponents and activists of being foreign agents sowing discord domestically.
FTDES is among numerous NGOs that have undergone intensive financial and tax audits, with authorities alleging these groups are foreign-funded operatives interfering in Tunisia’s internal affairs.
