For several weeks now, a veritable machine for destroying associations has been descending on Tunisian civil society. Under the guise of "transparency" and "control of funding", the authorities have been multiplying the number of arbitrary administrative suspensions, in flagrant violation of Article 37 of the 2022 Constitution, which guarantees freedom of association, and of the principle of proportionality enshrined in Tunisian law and international conventions.

On October 20, 2025, the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (Forum Tunisien pour les Droits Economiques et Sociaux, FTDES) was hit by a new decision to suspend the activities of an independent association, following those of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (Association Tunisienne des Femmes Démocrates, ATFD).
This decision - taken despite the fact that the association concerned had provided all the documents required by the authorities - constitutes a clear violation of the law, an abuse of authority and a serious infringement of freedom of association.

A disproportionate and legally unfounded measure 

Decree-Law no. 2011-88 of September 24, 2011 strictly regulates the suspension of an association: it can only take place in the event of serious breaches and after formal notice has gone unanswered. In the present case :

• The association responded on time and submitted all the documents requested (activity reports, balance sheets, proof of funding).
• No irregularities were noted in writing, nor were reasons given.
• The administration took a decision without any prior hearing or dialogue, in violation of the adversarial principle (article 45).

This decision is procedurally irregular and disproportionate in its effects.
It violatesarticle 37 of the 2022 Constitution, which recognizes and protects freedom of association, as well as article 22 ofthe International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits any restriction on this right unless strictly necessary and proportionate to a legitimate aim - conditions totally absent in the case in question.

Foreign financing: a right, not a crime 

For months now, the authorities have been waging an aggressive smear campaign against associations receiving support from foreign donors.
Official press releases, media relays and anonymous publications use the issue of funding to criminalize associative action and fuel a discourse of suspicion and hatred.

Yet foreign funding is explicitly authorized by the 2011 decree-law, subject to a simple declaration to the authorities.
It constitutes neither an offence nor an infringement of national sovereignty.
The associations that receive these funds act transparently, according to documented monitoring and auditing mechanisms.
The amalgams fostered by the authorities aim to delegitimize any critical discourse, by transforming independence into a "threat" and solidarity into "interference".

This rhetorical shift - from entitlement to suspicion, from civic-mindedness to treason - reflects the authoritarian drift of a state that confuses control with domination and law with repression.

Tribute to FTDES and civil society on its feet

The Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) embodies this resistance. For over a decade, it has been documenting social fractures, environmental crises and the distress of the marginalized. Working on the dimensions of social suffering, with statistics and figures to back it up, he gives voice to the invisible.

But the truth has a thick skin - that of FTDES, as well as that of women and men.

We call for the immediate lifting of all arbitrary administrative suspensions, and for an end to the stigmatization campaign targeting independent associations.
We ask the Administrative Court to uphold the law, and to point out that freedom of association cannot be suspended by decree.

We call on international organizations and human rights networks to publicly express their solidarity with Tunisian civil society and denounce the arbitrary measures against independent associations. Silence in the face of these abuses would be tantamount to condoning the closure of civic space.

We also call on the European Union and its member states to end their complacency towards Kaïs Saïed's regime and to reorient their relations with Tunisia on the basis of the values they proclaim: freedom, justice and respect for the rule of law.

Associations are not a threat to Tunisia: they give it life, breath and hope.
To silence them is to stifle what's left of freedom in the country.
To close a premises, freeze an account, suspend an activity - nothing will silence dignity.
For as long as there are women and men to act, speak out and stand up for themselves,
the heart of a free Tunisia will continue to beat.

Paris, October 27, 2025