Solidarity and support

October 8, 2024
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In Tunisia, civic space is under threat. Associations, migrants from sub-Saharan Africa and queer activists are targets of harassment and repression.

Civic space in Tunisia is under increasing threat, with the aim of restricting the activities of associations, organizations and human rights defenders. The aim of these restrictions is to muzzle dissenting voices and conceal from public opinion violations of rights and freedoms, as well as deteriorating economic and social conditions.

We have witnessed official xenophobic rhetoric against migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, the repercussions of which continue to this day, in flagrant violation of their most fundamental rights and all the principles of international law and international treaty obligations. We have witnessed the instrumentalization of the security and judicial apparatus to harass and persecute associations and organizations defending the rights of migrants, in a logic of explicit criminalization of solidarity and activism. Today, we are witnessing the targeting by public authorities of another pillar of civil society: queer activists and their associations.

The undersigned associations and organizations have recently observed systematic security and judicial harassment against members of two legally active Tunisian associations, whose objectives are the defense of the rights of the LGBTQI+ community and the decriminalization of homosexuality and non-normative gender expressions. An increase in the number of arrests and custodial sentences handed down to LGBTQI+ people was also noted.

The undersigned associations and organizations wish to express the following:

- Their unwavering and unconditional solidarity with all human rights defenders, associations, organizations and all citizens who have supported and continue to support just causes and the most vulnerable members of society;

- Their full support for the principle of the universality of human rights and the intersectionality of struggles, including those of the LGBTQI+ community, for dignity, freedom and equality.

- Call on the authorities concerned, whether executive or judicial, to put an end to all restrictions targeting civil society organizations and activists, and to respect the provisions of international conventions on the protection, promotion and enforcement of human rights, which the Tunisian state has ratified and which the Tunisian government has repeatedly asserted in international and regional forums

- Call on judges to play their constitutional and historic role in protecting rights and freedoms in order to re-establish the rule of law and restore the independence of the judiciary

- Call on all components of civil society to monitor, document and denounce all human rights violations linked to the criminalization of solidarity and activism.

Signatory associations and organizations :