At a time when populist rhetoric saturates the public arena, when the official media are enlisted to spread confusion and fear, claiming one's rights becomes a crime, defending dignity a betrayal, and addressing international bodies "collusion with foreigners".
But the real question, the only one worth asking with lucidity and responsibility, is this: Does institutional corruption justify silence? Should the collapse of justice deprive us of any defense?

No.
Corruption is fought not by silence, but by confrontation.
Tyranny is defeated not by submission, but by conscious, tenacious and organized resistance.

DISTORTING THE MEANING OF RECOURSE TO INTERNATIONAL MECHANISMS: A WELL-HONED STRATEGY

The recent smear campaigns against the Committee for the Respect of Freedoms and Human Rights in Tunisia (CRLDHT, Le Comité), triggered after a letter co-signed with other partners was sent to Ms Kaja Kallas, head of European diplomacy, are neither new nor surprising.

Every time an independent voice outside the system speaks out against repression, it is accused of treason.

But we strongly reaffirm:
We have not addressed the "European Union" as an abstract entity, but its supervisory bodies, whose mission is precisely to monitor the use of public funds and the compliance of signed agreements with proclaimed principles.
The letter co-signed by Comité is aimed neither at Tunisia nor its people, but at identified officials - Kaïs Saïed, Leïla Jaffel, and others - who use state institutions as instruments of repression.

No, Kaïs Saïed is not the Tunisian state.
No, Leïla Jaffel is not the Tunisian people.
And no, the current repressive regime does not embody the homeland.

A PROUD HISTORY OF INTERPELLATION...

This is not the first time the Committee has called foreign governments or European institutions to account for their complicity in the repression in Tunisia.
From the time of Ben Ali, we have denounced the support of Western powers, their arms sales, their silence in the face of arrests, their hypocrisy. We demanded accountability.

In 2011, we were among the first to reveal the role of French Defense Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie in supplying equipment to the Tunisian police to repress demonstrators.

It was not an excess, nor a posture.
It was a duty. Ethical. Legal. Political.

And at the CRLDHT, we don't want applause or medals. We seek neither rewards nor recognition.
We defend principles, not positions.
Rights, not camps.

We resisted under Bourguiba, under Ben Ali, and after the revolution - whatever the color of power. We denounced the attacks, the assassinations, the torture, the raids, the expulsions, the humiliations.
We documented the violations, but we didn't just count the blows.
We acted, accompanied, defended, lodged complaints, built solidarity networks.

And today, some are accusing us, even though they have never lifted a finger.
To these people, a simple question:
Who, if not the Committee, follows every trial, every hearing, every detainee, every expulsion?
Who has stood by the oppressed, even when they were our opponents of yesterday?
We don't claim to be alone, but we have always been there.

APPEALING TO EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS IS NOT A BETRAYAL. IT IS A LEGITIMATE ACTION.

Yes, we know that the European Union is not neutral.
Yes, we know that its policies - particularly on Palestine - are biased, unfair and complicit.

But we didn't discover it in 2023.
We've been denouncing it for decades.

We are addressing the European Union because it signs agreements with Kaïs Saïed.
Because it finances, equips and legitimizes a power that tramples on human rights.

Through its ministries, agencies and Commission, the EU supplies cameras, drones, software, control equipment - everything needed to track down migrants, repress protesters and bunkerize borders.

And to those who accuse us, we remind you of this:

What some people pretend to ignore is that the first demonstrations in France after October 7, 2023 were initiated by the Committee with partners in the struggle.
We acted legally, despite the hostility of the French authorities.
We have never stopped defending Palestine. Before, during and after October 7.

On June 23, 2025, we were at the head of the caravan for Gaza, in Brussels, in front of the European institutions.

We marched, we denounced, we spoke out. And nobody called us traitors that day.

So let's stop sullying our commitment with amalgams.
It's disgraceful to use Palestine as an instrument to discredit our struggles.

WHEN THE LAW IS DISFIGURED IN THE NAME OF PATRIOTISM

To accuse those who oppose repression of being "against the Tunisian people" is a sham.

He who denounces injustice is not a traitor.
He who speaks out when others remain silent is not an accomplice.
Our letter targets leaders, not a nation.

To those who cry treason, we ask another question:
Is it patriotic to silence the opposition?
Is it patriotic to criminalize the defense of rights?
Is it patriotic to attack NGOs rather than lawbreakers?

DEMAGOGUERY DISTORTS THE VERY MEANING OF DEMOCRACY

When a regime can no longer silence its opponents, it tries to distort words and sully principles.
It empties democratic concepts of their meaning, turning them against those who hold them.

Some examples from Tunisia:

• Transitional justice turned into a witch hunt;
• The sharing of power, presented as the sharing of spoils;
• Civil society, accused of being a fifth column;
• Human rights, associated with immorality, decadence, "foreign ideology" ;
• Opponents abroad, reduced to agents without a homeland - until the day they receive an international award. Then they are celebrated.

This doublespeak has a long history. It aims to isolate, sully and discredit.
Because the free word of exile disturbs those in power.
But history shows:
Traitors are not always those who leave. Often, it's those who stay... and sell themselves.

We don't ask for praise or recognition. But we refuse silence

WE SEEK NEITHER GLORY NOR GRATITUDE.

We just want to remind you of one thing: we are where you need to be.
Not to whitewash. Not to punish.
To demand justice worthy of the name.

We don't want impunity or revenge.
We want the rule of law. A real one.

And we say it clearly:

The one who distorts justice is often the one who fears to account for it.

When the law is disfigured, who is to blame? Who pays the price of silence? And who benefits?