Tunisia orders 30-day suspension of leading rights organisation
Young demonstrators raise a placard reading in Arabic ''Freedoms, the police state is over'' during the annual ''Rights and Freedoms'' march organized by the Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights (French: LTDH) to mark the 77th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, also known as Human Rights Day, in Tunis, Tunisia, on December 13, 2025. The march, held under the slogan ''Fetters Will Break Open,'' brings together demonstrators from political parties, civil society groups, and human rights organizations, denouncing what they describe as escalating repression of dissidents and critics under Tunisian President Kais Saied. Participants protest the crackdown on freedoms and human rights, including restrictions on free speech and press freedom. (Photo by Chedly Ben Ibrahim/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Tunisian authorities have suspended the local branch of Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF) for 30 days, in what appears to be part of a widening crackdown on civil society groups, reports Maghrebi Week on May 11th.
The move follows the recent suspension of the Tunisian League for Human Rights (LTDH), one of the country’s most established advocacy groups and a co-recipient of the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize.
Authorities have defended their stance by alleging that some non-governmental organisations receive large sums of foreign funding, which Saied has described as interference in domestic affairs.
Maghrebi Week, Maghrebi.org
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