An opinion piece published on Mediapart’s club.
For several years now, President Kais Saied’s regime has steadily undermined the rule of law: dismissing judges, imprisoning political opponents, intimidating the media, and instrumentalizing the judiciary. The signs of increasing authoritarianism are now multiplying at an alarming pace. A clear pattern is emerging: silencing critical voices, weakening checks and balances, and neutralizing the remaining spaces capable of challenging the arbitrary exercise of power.
It is in this context that the decision was made, on May 5, to suspend for thirty days the activities of the Tunisian office of the NGO Avocats Sans Frontières (Lawyers Without Borders).* This measure is far from isolated. For several months, Tunisian authorities have intensified their efforts to silence civil society organizations, which remain among the last active counter-powers in Kais Saied’s Tunisia.
In recent months, several national and international organizations have been targeted through suspension orders, judicial proceedings, or restrictive administrative measures. These include:
- the Tunisian League for Human Rights — co-recipient of the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize,
- the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) — a key actor in the democratic transition,
- the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women — a historic figure in the struggle against Ben Ali’s dictatorship and for women’s rights,
- the Tunisian Organization of Young Doctors.
At the same time, civil society organizations are facing increasing pressure: arrests, abusive administrative and tax inspections, funding freezes, severe banking restrictions, smear campaigns, and judicial harassment.
These repeated attacks are exhausting associations and the people who keep them alive. In the long run, they risk leading to the gradual disappearance of civil society from Tunisia’s public sphere.
Why Is the Government Targeting Civil Society?
To answer this question, one must look back to the momentum generated by the 2011 revolution. The fall of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s regime sparked immense hope for freedom, dignity, and democracy.
After decades of repression and forced secrecy, Tunisia’s associative sector experienced remarkable growth. Thousands of new organizations emerged and quickly became central actors in public life. They contributed to opening public debate, fostering new forms of civic engagement, and defending the most vulnerable populations. During a frequently turbulent transition marked by political assassinations, security crises, and worsening socio-economic conditions, these organizations documented abuses, challenged institutions, and actively contributed to the country’s democratic consolidation.
It was in this spirit that Avocats Sans Frontières opened an office in Tunisia in 2012, with the ambition of contributing to fairer and more accessible justice, while strengthening the rule of law and fundamental freedoms.
The Authoritarian Turn
July 25, 2021 marked a decisive turning point. Invoking exceptional measures, Kais Saied progressively concentrated all powers in his own hands, suspended the normal functioning of institutions, replaced the 2014 Constitution with a new text, and imposed a hyper-presidential, populist, and authoritarian system.
Within this new political architecture, intermediary bodies — political parties, media, trade unions, and associations — are portrayed as obstacles to the popular will. As early as February 2022, during a Council of Ministers meeting, the president described civil society organizations as “agents of foreign powers” and called for an end to their international funding.
Police and judicial authorities quickly translated these statements into concrete measures: repeated summonses of NGO representatives, investigations, arbitrary asset freezes, banking restrictions, judicial harassment, and detentions. Several civil society figures have been imprisoned, including Saadia Mosbah, a prominent anti-racism activist recently sentenced to eight years in prison and a heavy fine.
This offensive serves at least three interconnected objectives. First, it reflects an ideological logic: imposing a populist and vertical vision of power based on a supposed direct relationship between the president and “the people,” without institutional mediation. Second, it aims to neutralize one of the last remaining spaces resisting authoritarian drift and the return of the police state since July 25, 2021. Third, it helps divert public attention from the regime’s failures, particularly on economic and social issues.
A Global Trend with Dramatic Local Consequences
The repression of civic space in Tunisia is part of a broader dynamic familiar across the Middle East and North Africa, but also within a global climate of shrinking civic space, including in many democracies.
Declining international and domestic funding, the criminalization of associative work, and the growing rhetoric of suspicion toward NGOs are weakening civil society worldwide.
Yet weakening civil society means weakening a fundamental pillar of democracy. Associations play an irreplaceable role: documenting abuses, supporting marginalized populations, enriching public debate, and strengthening institutional accountability.
At a time when citizen participation is often reduced to elections alone, civil society organizations remain a vital link between citizens and public authorities.
Defending Civil Society Means Defending Freedom
This is perhaps what must be emphasized today: defending civic space is not about protecting a “sector” or a handful of organizations. It is about preserving the possibility for every individual to participate in public life without fear of repression.
When civil society is silenced, it is not only associations that disappear. The freedoms of all citizens also recede.
In Tunisia, after targeting the media, political parties, and trade unions, the authorities now appear determined to dismantle one of the last bastions of freedom born from the 2011 revolution.
Supporting Tunisian civil society therefore does not simply mean defending a few organizations among many others. It means defending the possibility for the country to rediscover the path toward democracy. It also means allowing millions of citizens in Tunisia and across the region to continue believing that the rule of law, respect for fundamental freedoms, and human dignity are not empty principles, but achievable political horizons and causes still worth fighting for.
* Following significant national and international mobilization, the suspension was lifted on May 19, 2026.
