Tunisian court suspends prominent human rights groups as crackdown progresses

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TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisian court s have ordered some of the country’s most prominent human rights organizations to halt activities, deepening concerns about the erosion of freedoms and shrinking space for groups that challenge those in power.

Mnemty, an anti-racism nongovernmental organization, became the latest group to receive a one-month suspension order on Tuesday, its spokesperson Zied Rouin said.

Its president, Saadia Mosbah, has been detained since May 2024 along with several other migrant rights activists, as a once-vibrant post–Arab Spring civil society has steadily been eroded throughout the tenure of President Kais Saied.

Mnemty’s announcement came less than a week after similar suspensions were handed down to other leading groups.

The Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights — known by its French acronym FTDES — received a similar notice on Monday and the Tunisian Association for Democratic Women, a prominent feminist organization, days earlier.

Romdhan Ben Amor, FTDES spokesperson, told The Associated Press on Monday that he considered the move an attempt to deflect attention from major national issues, particularly environmental protests convulsing the city of Gabes. Targeting human rights groups like FTDES, he said, “aims to stigmatize individual and social rights and freedom defenders.”

He said he believed the group was targeted for its stances on two issues: the migration crisis and high-profile “conspiracy against state security” cases launched against politicians and opposition figures.

Ben Amor maintained that FTDES has always adhered to financial transparency laws. FTDES plans to appeal the suspension, he added.

The one-month suspension orders against FTDES and ATFD are the latest in a series of measures critics say are aimed at curbing the work and independence of civil society organizations since Saied’s 2021 consolidation of all branches of power.

As president, Saied has often cited foreign funding as a threat to Tunisia, using it to fuel a populist narrative and accuse his political opponents and social justice activists of being foreign agents and stirring unrest at home.

FTDES is among dozens more nongovernmental organizations that have been struck by continuous financial and tax audits in the past few months. Authorities have repeatedly accused them of serving foreign interests and receiving foreign funds to enable more meddling in the country’s domestic affairs.