UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Friday expressed deep concern at the increasing restrictions on the right to freedom of expression and press freedom in Tunisia.
He further expressed his will to visit Tunisia to meet the officials there but didn’t specify the date.
“It is troubling to see Tunisia, a country that once held so much hope, regressing and losing the human rights gains of the last decade,” Turk said, urging the country to “change course”.
The crackdown “has now spread to target independent journalists, who are increasingly being harassed and stopped from doing their work,” he said.
Over the last three months, the Tunisian authorities have on five occasions used vaguely worded legislation to question, arrest, and convict six journalists. This includes security and counter-terrorism legislation and the presidential decree Nº 2022-54 on cybercrimes, which contains ambiguous provisions that carry punitive fines and lengthy prison sentences for publishing or spreading alleged false news, information, or rumors, and authorizes law enforcement officers to access any information system or device, for inspection and collection of stored data.
Since July 2021, the UN Human Rights Office in Tunisia has documented 21 cases of alleged human rights violations against journalists, including prosecutions before civilian and military courts. There are grounds to believe that these prosecutions were initiated to counter public criticism against the President of the Republic or the authorities.
“Journalists must be able to do their job without any undue restriction,” said the High Commissioner.
“Silencing the voices of journalists, in a concerted effort, undermines the crucial role of independent media, with a corrosive effect on society as a whole,” he said.
A Tunisian judge on Thursday ordered the release of journalist Zied Heni two days after he was arrested over accusations he had insulted President Kais Saied.
Judges have detained or opened investigations into more than 20 political, judicial, media, and business figures with opposition ties over recent months, accusing some of plotting against state security.
Saied has described the detainees as terrorists.
Some detainees were interrogated regarding meetings with foreign diplomats while others were interrogated regarding media interviews, which pushed the international and local non-governmental organizations to denounce the arrests.
In May, journalists staged a protest to denounce the Tunisian government's "repressive" policy, which they say uses the judicial system to intimidate and subjugate the media.
