UN Condemns ‘Deepening Crackdown’ on Opposition in Tunisia

Supporters of Ennahdha movement stage a protest in front of the justice ministry to denounce the arrest of one of its senior leaders in Tunis, Friday, Dec. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Hassene Dridi, File)
Supporters of Ennahdha movement stage a protest in front of the justice ministry to denounce the arrest of one of its senior leaders in Tunis, Friday, Dec. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Hassene Dridi, File)
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UN Condemns ‘Deepening Crackdown’ on Opposition in Tunisia

Supporters of Ennahdha movement stage a protest in front of the justice ministry to denounce the arrest of one of its senior leaders in Tunis, Friday, Dec. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Hassene Dridi, File)
Supporters of Ennahdha movement stage a protest in front of the justice ministry to denounce the arrest of one of its senior leaders in Tunis, Friday, Dec. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Hassene Dridi, File)

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has voiced concern over the deepening crackdown in Tunisia against perceived political opponents, his Office, OHCHR, said Tuesday. 

“Türk expressed his concern over the deepening crackdown against perceived political opponents and civil society in Tunisia, including through measures taken by the authorities that continue to undermine the independence of the judiciary,” OHCHR spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said.

He said that since Saturday, at least nine people have been reportedly arrested and some detained on security and graft charges. 

Last week, the Tunisian security apparatuses arrested activists, former lawyers and a prominent businessman.  

The arrests included former justice minister Noureddine Bhiri, a senior figure in Ennahdha party, and Mosaique FM director Noureddine Boutar.

According to Laurence, the UN Human Rights Office has observed that the General Prosecutor has increasingly initiated criminal proceedings against perceived opponents, charging them with “conspiracy against state security”, causing offense to the Head of State or violating the decree-law to fight Cybercrime.

“We are additionally concerned that some of those held on charges connected to criticizing the government have been tried in military courts and we call on the authorities to cease immediately practices of trying civilians before military tribunals,” he said.

OHCHR called on the Tunisian authorities to respect due process and fair trial standards in all judicial proceedings and to release immediately all those arbitrarily detained, including anyone detained in relation to the exercise of their rights to freedom of opinion or expression.

The UN also condemned the series of measures taken since July 2021 by authorities, who undermined the independence of the judiciary, including dissolving the High Judicial Council and sacking 57 judges.

Meanwhile, a group of Tunisian political parties called for the release of all detainees arrested since last Saturday on charges of “conspiracy against state security.”

Tunisia’s left wing parties, the Democratic Current, Ettakatol, Workers' Party and Al-Qotb, denounced what they called “the manipulation of the Public Prosecution and security services to intimidate critical voices of the regime, including political activists, trade unionists, media figures, intellectuals, and businessmen.”

For its part, Ennahdha party condemned the arrests and accused the security services of “abducting and prosecuting” the regime’s opponents.



52 Palestinians Including Children Killed in Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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52 Palestinians Including Children Killed in Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 28 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including four children, hospital officials said Saturday. Also, 24 others were fatally shot on their way to aid distribution sites.

The children and two women were among at least 13 people who were killed in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, after Israeli airstrikes pounded the area starting late Friday, officials in Al-Aqsa Martyr's Hospital said. Another four people were killed in strikes near a fuel station, and 15 others died in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital.

The Israeli military said in a statement that over the past 48 hours, troops struck approximately 250 targets in the Gaza Strip, including militants, booby-trapped structures, weapons storage facilities, anti-tank missile launch posts, sniper posts, tunnels and additional Hamas infrastructure sites. The military did not immediately respond to The Associated Press' request for comment on the civilian deaths.

The Hamas-led group killed some 1,200 people in their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and abducted 251. They still hold 50 hostages, less than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel’s offensive has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas-run government, doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.

US President Donald Trump has said that he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war. But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu there were no signs of a breakthrough.