University of Wisconsin–Madison

Tag: Tunisia

39 civil society organizations condemn escalating attacks on lawyers, judges and civil society in Tunisia

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Thirty-nine international legal and human rights organizations—including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Commission of Jurists—issued a joint statement on June 5, 2026, condemning what they describe as the Tunisian authorities’ systematic and escalating campaign of intimidation, prosecution, and retaliation against lawyers, judges, and independent civil society, a pattern that has deepened since …

Tunisia: Prominent Lawyer Arbitrarily Detained

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In a February 10, 2026 news release, Human Rights Watch says Tunisian authorities are arbitrarily detaining prominent lawyer and human rights defender Ahmed Souab, who was convicted on terrorism-related charges linked to remarks he made outside court while representing defendants in the “conspiracy against state security” case. Souab was sentenced on October 31, 2025 to …

Joshua (2023), “Justifications of Repression in Autocracies: An Empirical Analysis of Morocco and Tunisia, 2000–2010.”

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Maria Joshua, “Justifications of Repression in Autocracies: An Empirical Analysis of Morocco and Tunisia, 2000–2010.” Contemporary Politics, vol. 30, no.1 (2023): 108–36 Summary: How do autocrats communicate about repression? Previous studies have analysed how autocratic officials justify the repression of large-scale protests to avoid backlash effects. However, we know much less about how everyday repression …

Emig, Schumacher (2024): “Politicizing Terror: The (Ab)Use of Counterterrorism Law for Authoritarian Ends in Tunisia.”

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Addison K. Emig and Michael J. Schumacher, “Politicizing Terror: The (Ab)Use of Counterterrorism Law for Authoritarian Ends in Tunisia.” Democratization, vol. 32, no. 2 (2024): 561–87.  Summary: This article analyses Tunisian President Kais Saied’s abuse of counterterrorism law and his culpability in the country’s democratic backsliding. Following his election in 2019, Saied, with a split …