For the release of Ahmed Néjib Chebbi and all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.

For the restoration of political rights and freedoms

At age 82, Ahmed Néjib Chebbi is embarking on one of his final battles, once again putting his life at risk. – He has since suspended his hunger strike, following the prison administration’s commitment to grant his request regarding his right to information – .

For nearly sixty years now, this man has symbolized resistance against oppression.

During the Bourguiba era, he was among the rebellious students of March 1968 who were imprisoned for “conspiracy against state security.” The term “conspiracy,” then as now, is simply a despotic way of describing democratic demands.

During the Ben Ali era, he was one of the leading figures in the major hunger strike for civil liberties on October 18, 2005, alongside lawyer Ayachi Hammami—who is now his fellow prisoner—and other activists from various political backgrounds.

A target of the regime’s wrath following the coup of July 25, 2021, he is once again in prison—like so many others—for the same reasons: his dream and his peaceful struggle for freedom. And now he is once again on a hunger strike for freedom.

The name of Ahmed Néjib Chebbi, the country’s longest-serving democrat, has become a symbol of the long struggle against all forms of authoritarianism since independence. His use of a hunger strike to denounce prison conditions is yet another chapter in that struggle.

In today’s Tunisia, it seems as though the constant persecution of opponents—whether they are out on provisional release or behind bars—has become the hallmark of an increasingly grotesque regime. The recurring use of hunger strikes by political prisoners—who, one after another, are putting their lives at risk—appears to be the last resort of the powerless.

In the face of a regime that is working to erase the very idea of politics, this ultimate weapon is the affirmation that the struggle for the rule of law, democracy, and freedoms will continue.

We, the undersigned, call for the release of Ahmed Néjib Chebbi and all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, as well as for the restoration of political rights and freedoms in Tunisia.

Signatories

Fouad Abdelmoumni, economist, Maghreb democrat

Ahmed Abbes, mathematician and CNRS research director, 

Arzu Abdullayeva, recipient of the Olof Palme Peace Prize, human rights activist, Azerbaijan

Gilbert Achcar, Professor Emeritus of Development Studies and International Relations

SOAS, University of London

Kacem Abdellatif, Morocco

Abderezak Adel, retired university professor

Abderrahim Afarki, a Maghreb human rights advocate

Ayad Ahram, human rights advocate. Member of ASDHOM

Ahmed Aïdani, of the White Dove Association, Morocco

Arezki Aït-Larbi, journalist, publisher, former political prisoner

NadiaLeïla Aïssaoui, sociologist

Sanhadja Akhrouf, feminist and human rights activist

Hala Alabdalla, Syrian filmmaker, director, producer, and activist

Tewfik Allal, community activist for Maghreb immigrants

Françoise Alamartine, Federal Councilor and member of the Transnational Commission of the Ecologists.

Raja Alaoui, member of the Women’s Action Union, Morocco

Ahmed Alaoui, activist   

Wadih Al Asmar, president of the Lebanese Center for Human Rights

Geneviève Ancel, Co-founder of Dialogues en humanité 

Rachad Antonius, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, UQAM, Canada

Fouzia Assouli, Honorary President of the FLDF, Morocco

Etienne Balibar, former professor of philosophy, University of Paris-Nanterre

Abdenacer Banouhachem, Morocco

Brigitte Bardet-Allal, professor of classical literature

Patrick Baudoin, attorney, honorary president of the LDH and the FIDH

Florence Beaugé, journalist

Alfons Bech, UGT union activist from Catalonia and coordinator of the International Network of Solidarity with Ukraine

Yagoutha Belgacem, Artistic Director

Bochra Bel Haj Hamida, attorney

Fathi Bel Haj Yahya, writer

Souhayr Belhassen, Honorary President of the FIDH

Akram Belkaïd, journalist

Farouk Belkeddar, community activist

Anthony Bellanger, General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists

Jean Bellanger, former secretary of the Saint-Denis CGT local union

Fayçal Benabdallah, President of the FTCR

Rabaa Ben Achour, scholar

Sanaa Ben Achour, university professor, feminist activist

Omar Benamar, human rights defender, Morocco

Mohamed Salah Ben Ammar, physician

Mariem Ben Azzouz, feminist and human rights activist

Bachir Ben Barka, retired professor

Abdesslam Benbrahim, community activist, Morocco

Madjid Benchikh, former dean of the Faculty of Law in Algiers

Monia Benjemia, scholar, feminist

Dr. Djamel Benkrid 

Zaïneb Ben Lagha, academic

Ali Bensaad, university professor, French Institute of Geopolitics, Paris-VIII

Sihem Bensedrine, Chair of the Truth and Dignity Commission

Olivier Besancenot, former candidate in the French presidential election

Sophie Bessis, historian

Rafaelle Bollini, Italian Cultural and Recreational Association (ARCI)

Rasmus Aleneus Boserup, Director of Euromed-Rights

Mostefa Bouchachi, attorney, former president of the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights

Alima Boumediene-Thiery, attorney, former senator

Youssef Boussoumah, decolonial activist

Houria Bouteldja, essayist and Franco-Algerian political activist

Dylan Boutiflat, National Secretary for International Relations of the Socialist Party

Ali Brahimi, lawyer, former member of parliament

Rony Brauman, former president of Doctors Without Borders

Robert Bret, former Communist senator

Françoise Brié, President of CLEF

Miloud Chaouch, community activist

Mohamed Chaouih, President of the AMF

Patrick Chemla, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst

Khadija Chérif, feminist and human rights activist

Alya Chérif Chammari, attorney, human rights activist

Karim Cherkaoui, Morocco

Larbi Chouikha, scholar

Marie-Claire Caloz-Tschopp, professor, Geneva   

Patrice Coulon, human rights activist

Annick Coupé, labor activist, anti-globalization activist

Thomas Coutrot, economist

Ahmed Dahmani, economist and human rights activist, Algeria

Sara Daniel, journalist

Lucile Daumas, retired

Michel Debon de Beauregard, labor union leader, former vice president of Solidarité laïque

Alexis Deswaef, president of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH); Monique Dental, founding president of the feminist network “Ruptures”; Catherine Wihtol de Wenden, CNRS research director; Nacer Djabi, sociologist ; Habiba Djahnine, documentary filmmaker; Nadir Djermoune, architect and urban planner ; Moulay Ahmed Douraïdi, of the Moroccan Collective for Democratic Elections; Bernard Dreano, international solidarity activist; Françoise Duthu, environmental activist; Dominique Eddé, writer; Kacem El Basti, Carrefour des Initiatives, Morocco; Abderrazzak El Hannouchi, Coordinator of the Ombudsman for Democracy and Human Rights, Morocco’s Baheyeddine El Hassen, writer and human rights defender; Egypt’s Nacer El Idrissi, president of the Association of Maghreb Workers in France (ATMF) Ihsane El Kadi, journalist; Jean-Baptiste Eyraud, spokesperson for Droit au Logement (DAL); Mireille Fanon-Mendes France, president of the Frantz Fanon Foundation; Jean-Marie Fardeau, community activist ; Patrick Farbiaz, political activist; Raouf Farrah, political scientist; Algeria Jacques Fath, essayist Sonia Fayman, sociologist and international solidarity activist Wahid Ferchichi, professor of public law, dean of the Faculty of Legal, Political, and Social Sciences in Tunis Mohamed Cherif Ferjani, honorary professor of political science, University of Lyon-2 Guillemette Fessy, environmental activist Yosra Frawes, feminist activist, former president of the ATFD Souad Frikech, member of the Moroccan Parliament Pierre Galand, honorary senator, president of OMCT-Europe

René Galissot, historian, former professor at the University of Algiers, former director of the Maghreb-Europe Institute at the University of Paris-VIII, professor emeritus

Vincent Geisser, President of CIEMI

Jérôme Gleizes, scholar

Jean-Guy Greilsamer, an activist with the French Jewish Union for Peace (UJFP)

Alain Gresh, journalist, founder of the online newspapers Orient XXI and Afrique XXI

Ali Guenoun, historian

Dr. Gérard Haddad, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst

Pierre Henry, president of France Fraternités.

Jean-Claude Heyraud, environmental activist.

Ahmet Insel, Turkish academic and activist in exile 

Marion Isvi, REF – Euromed Network France

Ramin Jehanbegloo, Iranian philosopher and director of the Mahatma Gandhi Center for Peace

Kamel Jendoubi, former president of Euromed-Droits

Abdelkebir Jmaiai, community activist and human rights defender, Morocco

Aïssa Kadri, academic

Irina Karamarkovic, artist, feminist and anti-racist activist, Graz (Austria)

Salam Kawakibi, a Franco-Syrian political scientist

Meryem Kendsi, painter

Pierre Khalfa, economist

Abdellatif Laâbi, writer

Youssef Laaraj, president of the Amazigh Network for Citizenship (Azetta), Morocco

Kamal Lahbib, president of the Moroccan Observatory for Civil Liberties

Annie Lahmer, regional councilor for the Île-de-France region 

Jaafar Lakhdari, entrepreneur, Algeria

Olivier Le Cour Grandmaison, scholar

Mohamed Leghtas, community radio host, Morocco

Gilles Lemaire, environmental activist

Renée Le Mignot, honorary president of MRAP

Michael Lowy, sociologist

Jean-Claude Mailly, former general secretary of Force Ouvrière (FO)

Ziad Majed, university professor

Sofiane Makhloufi, President of the CRLDHT

Gilles Manceron, historian

Marc Mangenot, sociologist and economist

Fadoua Maroub, Executive Secretary of the ARMCDH, Morocco

Gustave Massiah, anti-globalization activist and founding member of the World Social Forum

Roland Mérieux, National Secretary of L’Après

Fabienne Messica, League for Human Rights (LDH)

Umit Metin, human rights activist

Ali Mezghani, associate professor of private law at the Faculty of Law in Tunis and at the Sorbonne

Amharref Mhamed, Aïn Bechar-Taza Association, Morocco.

Khadija Mohsen Finan, scholar

Patrick Mony, migrant rights advocate, GISTI

Dominique Noguères, attorney, member of the LDH

Mohamed Nouhi, IMDH, Morocco

Mbark Outcharraft, President of the Iffous Forum for Democracy and Human Rights, Morocco

Malika Rahal, historian

Aïssa Rahmoune, Secretary General of the FIDH

Najat Razi, AMDF, Morocco

Hamadi Redissi, professor of political science

Hassan Remaoun, historian

Soumicha Riyaha, Moroccan Association for Women's Rights (AMDF)

Fabrice Riceputi, historian

Marguerite Rollinde, community activist

Hubert Rollinde, community activist

Joël Roman, philosopher

Pierre Rousset, community activist

Khadija Ryadi, coordinator of the CMODH, winner of the UN Human Rights Award

Lana Sadeq, Palestine Citizenship Forum 

Said Salhi, human rights advocate, Belgium

Bakary Sambe, Gaston Berger University in Saint-Louis, Senegal

François Sauterey, co-chair of MRAP

Mounir Satouri, Member of the European Parliament

Jamila Sayouri, Adala for the Right to a Fair Trial, Morocco

Bernard Schmid, attorney, anti-racism activist – MRAP

Pinar Selek, sociologist, Turkey

Haoues Seniguer, University Professor, Paul-Valéry University (Montpellier)

Ghislaine Seze, President of DSFAS

Nedjib Sidi Moussa, historian

Catherine Simon, journalist

Danielle Simonnet, Member of Parliament

Dominique Sopo, president of SOS Racisme

Hamouda Soubhi, President of the Moroccan Forum for Southern Alternatives

Latifa Soufiani, Espace Associatif Maroc

Dr. Jean Claude Soufir, andrologist

Benjamin Stora, historian

Simone Susskind, former Brussels representative and federal senator

Claude Szatan, anti-racism activist

Taoufiq Tahani, scholar

Khaoula Taleb Ibrahimi, university professor, Algeria

Nadia Tazi, philosopher

Ece Temelkuran, writer, Turkey

Fathi Tlili, President of UTIT

Tarek Toukabri, President of the ADTF

Mohamed Trabelsi, former leader of the UGTT

Mokhtar Trifi, attorney, honorary president of the LTDH

Dominique Ventre – UJFP

Marie Verdier, Honorary Journalist

Marie-Christine Vergiat, former Member of the European Parliament, LDH

Nhat Vo Tran, vice president of the Vietnam Committee for Human Rights (VCHR)

Farid Yaker, community leader

Aleksandra Zapolskaïa, sociologist and activist for political prisoners in Russia

Abdallah Zniber, a Maghreb-based community activist