Human Rights Watch published a July 8 analysis warning that, five years after President Kais Saied seized extraordinary executive powers, Tunisia’s systematic repression now centrally targets the legal profession and judiciary. Saied dismantled the independent High Judicial Council in 2022 and replaced it with a body under executive control, granting himself powers to dismiss judges. …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Tunisian lawyers played a key role in the 2011 uprising and its aftermath, using political lawyering to gain symbolic influence and act as watchdogs over the new government.