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HRW Criticizes Tunisia Arrests

A demonstration by Ennahdha supporters after the leader of the movement, Rached Ghannouchi, was summoned for interrogation. Reuters file photo
A demonstration by Ennahdha supporters after the leader of the movement, Rached Ghannouchi, was summoned for interrogation. Reuters file photo
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HRW Criticizes Tunisia Arrests

A demonstration by Ennahdha supporters after the leader of the movement, Rached Ghannouchi, was summoned for interrogation. Reuters file photo
A demonstration by Ennahdha supporters after the leader of the movement, Rached Ghannouchi, was summoned for interrogation. Reuters file photo

Human Rights Watch criticized Friday the wave of arrests that Tunisia has been recently witnessing.

“The message in these arrests is that if you dare to speak out, the president can have you arrested and publicly denounce you,” it said.

Amnesty International stated earlier that President Kais Saied “should call off this politically motivated witch hunt.”

Tunisian police arrested in the past two days several figures who oppose Saied's policies, including the leader of the Republican Party Issam Chebbi and member of the National Salvation Front Chaima Issa over charges of conspiracy against the state’s security.

Others were arrested earlier including Abdelhamid Jelassi, a leader of the Islamist-inspired movement Ennahdha, and politicians Zahr al-Akrami and Noureddine al-Buhairi as well as judges such as Bashir Al-Akrami and businessman Kamel Eltaie.

Moreover, businessman Khayam Turki, politician Izz Al-Din Al-Hazqi, and prominent opposition figure Gohar Ben Mubarak were detained in the unprecedented arrest wave in the country.

Ben Mubarak had launched a political initiative called "Citizens Against the Coup" although he was a supporter of the Tunisian president during his election rally in 2019.

When the Tunisian President announced the freezing of the parliament's powers and later dissolved it, Ben Mubarak moved to the opposition.

Saied referred to those arrested as “terrorists” and accused them of “conspiracy against internal and external state security”.

The opposition described the arrests as “arbitrary”.

Ahmad Najib al-Shabi, head of the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), denounced the arrests, stressing that the maltreatment of the political figures wouldn’t undermine their determination or halt their endeavors to unite the political movement.

Ennahdha party considered that the authority insists on “moving forward with the country toward the worst disasters”.

The party called in a statement for stopping the prosecution of the opposition figures including Rached Ghannouchi, the head of the party, over fake charges under cover of corruption and conspiracy against the state.

Ennahdha further urged the release of the detainees.

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Lebanese Police Try to Evict Hundreds of Displaced from Abandoned Building in Beirut

Lebanese civilians argue with army soldiers as they attempt to evict internally displaced people from an old hotel's premises, at Hamra Street in Beirut, Lebanon, 21 October 2024. (EPA)
Lebanese civilians argue with army soldiers as they attempt to evict internally displaced people from an old hotel's premises, at Hamra Street in Beirut, Lebanon, 21 October 2024. (EPA)
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Lebanese Police Try to Evict Hundreds of Displaced from Abandoned Building in Beirut

Lebanese civilians argue with army soldiers as they attempt to evict internally displaced people from an old hotel's premises, at Hamra Street in Beirut, Lebanon, 21 October 2024. (EPA)
Lebanese civilians argue with army soldiers as they attempt to evict internally displaced people from an old hotel's premises, at Hamra Street in Beirut, Lebanon, 21 October 2024. (EPA)

Lebanese police stormed an abandoned building in Beirut’s commercial district, Hamra, to evict hundreds of displaced by Israel’s war on Hezbollah, who have been squatting there for weeks.

Lebanese authorities have prepared hundreds of shelters to accommodate the displaced. But as their numbers climbed to nearly 20% of the population, or an estimated 1.2 million people, official shelters have not been able to cope.

Tens of thousands had fled their homes since last year. An Israeli escalation last month has driven out an additional hundreds of thousands of people from the south, Bekaa and the southern suburbs of Beirut, many of them often fleeing with nothing more than the clothes they are wearing.

Most of the formal shelters prepared by the government are at full capacity, housing nearly 200,000 people.

Most of the displaced have sought accommodation with relatives and friends around Lebanon. But many have taken to beaches and open spaces, where they set up shelters. With winter approaching, they are seeking a roof over their head.

Scuffles broke out Monday between police and many of the displaced who refused to leave. An ambulance arrived to remove a person who passed out. A woman threatened to jump off the balcony if she was forced to leave, yelling she refused to go to overcrowded government shelters, where there is no space and where she feared diseases.

It was not clear what prompted the sudden eviction. Lebanon’s Interior Ministry said it will not allow trespassing on private property despite the displacement crisis.