Tunisia-Skyline expresses concern over deteriorating human rights situation in Tunisia

Skyline International for Human Rights expresses its deep concern over the continued human rights violations in Tunisia, which began since the Tunisian President Kais Saied announced new measures on July 25, 2021.

In a press release, Skyline said “that the human rights situation in Tunisia is in a continuous decline after the recent decisions of the Tunisian President.  These decisions more restrict freedom of opinion and expression, as newspapers and websites have become monitored, and the right of movement and travel is illegally restricted. This flagrantly and illogically breaches a wide range of rules and conventions of international law”.

Skyline highlights that the recent measures announced by the Tunisian President, resulted in the arrest of 3 members of the Tunisian Parliament on charges related to freedom of expression, and the authorities placed at least 50 Tunisians under house arrest in an arbitrary manner, including former officials, a judge and 3 deputies. Also, dozens of newspapers and websites are daily raided without judicial warrant.

“Skyline” concluded its statement by calling on the President of the Republic, “Kais Saied”, to reverse all decisions that would illegally violate the basic rights of individuals, stressing that the continuation of these decisions will lead to serious consequences, as they clearly violate international law’s rules and conventions.

Finally, Skyline calls on the Tunisian authorities to exercise a policy of restraint, work to enable individuals to exercise their right to express their opinions, and start a comprehensive reform process by reactivating Parliament, and calling for a comprehensive national dialogue with the participation of all political forces. This must be done to ensure that individuals are protected and discuss mechanisms to restore stability to the country.