Human Rights Watch and other civil society groups are sounding the alarm over what they describe as a worsening erosion of the rule of law, judicial independence and human rights in Tunisia.
In an open letter released before the UN Human Rights Council’s 63rd session, the organizations said Tunisia’s democratic transition and adoption of a new constitution had marked important progress. But they said President Kaïs Saïed rolled back much of those gains in 2021 by dismissing the government, dissolving the legislature and assuming the power to rule by decree.
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The groups also cited the President’s June 2022 adoption of Decree-Law 2022-35, which gave him the authority to summarily remove judges and prosecutors. “Furthermore, in June 2022, following the President’s adoption of Decree-Law 2022-35 granting himself the power to summarily dismiss judges and prosecutors, he arbitrarily dismissed 57 judges and prosecutors,” the statement read. The organizations called on international bodies to deploy “all diplomatic levers available to urge Tunisia to respect human rights, the independence of judges and lawyers, and the rule of law”.
