39 organizations, including bar associations, lawyers’ associations, magistrates’ associations and human rights organizations, condemn the increasingly intense and systematic campaign of intimidation, obstruction and reprisals carried out by the Tunisian authorities against lawyers, judges, Tunisian bar institutions, magistrates’ associations and organizations independent of civil society.
Since the consolidation of executive power by President Saïd in 2021 and the dismissal without notice of 57 judges by presidential decree in 2022, Tunisia has experienced a continuous deterioration of the rule of law. Authorities have used criminal prosecutions, suspension orders, travel bans, administrative obstruction and smear campaigns against those who defend human rights, challenge executive interference in the judiciary, document rights violations and provide legal assistance to victims.
The attacks described in this statement are part of a broader pattern of attacks on the independence of the legal profession, the judiciary and civil society in Tunisia. The deterioration of judicial independence, the targeting of lawyers and the restrictions imposed on civil society have serious implications for the rule of law and access to justice. These attacks directly undermine the right to defense, access to justice and the guarantee of a fair trial
Attacks by the authorities against the National Order of Lawyers of Tunisia
The undersigned organizations are particularly alarmed by the escalation of attacks carried out by the Tunisian authorities against the National Order of Lawyers of Tunisia (ONAT) and the legal profession as a whole. An independent and autonomous legal profession is essential to the proper administration of justice. ONAT’s mission is to protect the professional integrity of its members, to guarantee access to legal services and to uphold the guarantees of a fair trial and the rule of law. Any interference against the ONAT therefore harms not only the interests of the legal profession, but also access to justice for all and the integrity of the judicial system as a whole.
In recent months, ONAT has urged the authorities to address the deterioration of working conditions in the courts, including the lack of basic equipment and the shortage of judicial and administrative staff. He also denounced unjustified remote trials, violations of fair trial guarantees, attacks on judicial independence and interference by the executive in the judicial system. The authorities having provided no concrete response, the ONAT convened an extraordinary general meeting on May 1, 2026 in order to address both the professional demands of lawyers and the more general crisis facing the judicial system. Rather than responding to ONAT’s demands, authorities challenged the assembly’s procedures and continued to ignore the substance of the concerns raised. The Council of the Order then announced a mobilization plan, including regional strikes, demonstrations with red armbands in the courts and a national general strike since June 18, 2026.
ONAT has clearly indicated that its mobilization is not limited to professional demands. It aims to defend the legal profession, preserve the public justice system and enforce the guarantees of a fair trial. The authorities’ refusal to respond constructively to these demands, as well as subsequent attempts aimed at contesting or hindering ONAT’s collective action, notably through the introduction of an appeal for annulment by the Tunis prosecutor of the extraordinary assembly of May 1, raise serious concerns about a deliberate interference in the independent institutional role of the legal profession in upholding judicial independence, fair trial guarantees and the rule of law.
In accordance with principle 14 of the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of the Bar (UN Basic Principles), in protecting the rights of their clients and promoting the cause of justice, lawyers shall endeavor to uphold human rights and fundamental freedoms. Principle 23 protects the right of lawyers to participate in public debate on matters concerning the law, the administration of justice and the promotion and protection of human rights. Principles 24 and 25 recognize the role of autonomous professional associations of lawyers in protecting the professional integrity of their members and in cooperating to ensure effective and equal access to legal services. The attempt by the Tunisian authorities to delegitimize, hinder or respond to the mobilization of the ONAT therefore constitutes an attack on the institutional role of the legal profession in the defense of judicial independence, the guarantees of a fair trial and the rule of law.
Lawyers targeted because of their professional activities
The attack on ONAT is part of a broader and systematic offensive against lawyers who defend political opponents, journalists, judges, human rights defenders and victims of human rights violations. Lawyers in Tunisia have faced prosecution, arbitrary detention, travel bans, unfair trials and other forms of retaliation because of the cases they handle and the clients they represent. Such measures violate not only the rights of lawyers, but also those of their clients, and have a serious dissuasive effect on the right to defense. This constitutes a violation of Principle 16 of the UN Fundamental Principles, which requires governments to ensure that lawyers can exercise all their professional functions without intimidation, obstruction, harassment or undue interference. It also violates Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which protects the right to have access to a legal representative of one’s choice.
The case of Ayachi Hammami illustrates this trend well. He opposed measures taken by the president undermining judicial independence and the rule of law, including the summary dismissal of judges and prosecutors by presidential decree in June 2022. Me Hammami was the spokesperson for the committee for the defense of judges revoked. In January 2023, he was charged under Decree Law No. 54 based on statements he made to the media in his role as spokesperson. Me Hammami, a prominent lawyer and human rights defender, first acted as a defense lawyer in the so-called “conspiracy against state security” case. He was then placed on the list of suspects, charged, banned from traveling and going to public places, and then imprisoned to serve a five-year sentence. United Nations experts said his conviction was linked to his work defending defendants in the case and warned that prosecuting legal professionals for carrying out their duties threatened the integrity and fairness of legal proceedings in Tunisia.
Me Hammami is one of dozens of lawyers victims of judicial harassment and exposed to a serious risk of reprisals for having exercised their professional functions and their right to freedom of expression. To date, 8 lawyers have been deprived of their liberty, including a former president of the bar association. Furthermore, 5 lawyers were forced into exile and 12 lawyers are victims of judicial harassment. Among them, we can cite, for example:
- Sonia Dahmanilawyer and columnist, was arrested on May 11, 2024 in the premises of ONAT, masked security forces and was the subject of five criminal proceedings under Presidential Decree-Law No. 54 for public statements on television regarding detention conditions and racial discrimination. She was released on November 27, 2025 after 18 months of detention, but has since been the subject of two new convictions: eighteen months on appeal in April 2026 for her statements on racism in Tunisia, and two years in prison pronounced on May 25, 2026 by the court of first instance of Tunis for statements on prison conditions. His lawyer appealed this latest judgment.
- Chawkee Doctorlawyer, former President of the Tunis Bar and former director of the National Anti-Corruption Authority (INLUCC), Me Tabib has been banned from leaving the country since January 2024 and is the subject of two procedures: the first, the investigation procedure for money laundering and others, which gave rise to the issuance of a warrant deposition and a second procedure which has just ended at first instance, which concluded with the conviction pronounced on May 21, 2026 for forgery and use of forgery to 10 years in prison. His assets were frozen by decision of April 14, 2026 and the National Bar Association of Tunisia noted that the warrant had been issued without prior interrogation. International organizations have expressed concerns about the politically motivated nature of these prosecutions.
- The lawyer Dalila Msaddak is currently the subject of seven separate investigations under Executive Order No. 54, all related to her work as a defense attorney in the conspiracy case.
These cases illustrate a broader trend of equating lawyers with their clients and attempting to silence the legal profession. Consistent with Principle 18 of the Basic Principles, lawyers should in no way be equated with their clients or the causes they represent. Nor can they be sanctioned for the cases they agree to defend, the legal arguments they present, or their public defense of fair trial rights, judicial independence, and fundamental freedoms. The criminalization of lawyers for the exercise of their professional functions constitutes a direct attack on the right to defense and the independence of the legal profession, which deters lawyers from taking on sensitive cases and risks depriving certain sectors of the community of any legal representation, thereby denying them access to justice.
Reprisals against judges who defend judicial independence
We also condemn the reprisals carried out by the Tunisian authorities against judges and associations of magistrates who opposed executive interference in the judiciary. These recent measures are part of a broader process of dismantling the guarantees of the independence of justice in Tunisia since 2022. On February 12, 2022, the President of the Republic dissolved the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM) and replaced it with a Council provisional superior of the judiciary (CSPM) whose composition and functioning remain largely under the control of the executive. This reform was followed by the summary dismissal of magistrates by presidential decree and by an increasing subordination of the judicial power to the executive. Since 2023, the CSPM has itself been paralyzed due to lack of quorum, due to the absence of appointment of several ex officio members, in fact leaving to the Ministry of Justice the management of the careers and discipline of magistrates by means of informal mechanisms devoid of a clear legal basis.
The judge Anas Hmedipresident of the Association of Tunisian Magistrates, has become a central target of this repression. The criminal proceedings against him arise from actions carried out in his capacity as president of the association and from the legitimate mobilization of judges against the summary dismissal of 57 judges by presidential decree in 2022. following a procedure “tainted by irregularities”, Judge Hmedi was sentenced to one year in prison for obstructing work and risks imprisonment if the verdict is confirmed on appeal. This constitutes a violation of the United Nations Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary, including Principle 1 which requires States to respect and observe the independence of the judiciary, and Principles 8 and 9 which protect the rights of judges to freedom of expression and association respectively.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers has described the proceedings against Judge Hmedi as “clear reprisals” for defending judicial independence, raising serious concerns about reprisals against judges who oppose executive interference in the justice system, the misuse of criminal law to silence them, and the message of intimidation this sends to the entire judiciary and the public.
Suspension of rights organizations and obstruction of access to justice
The authorities have also targeted independent civil society organizations, including those that provide legal aid and denounce human rights violations, defend women’s rights, combat racism, protect press freedom and support victims of abuse – all activities which promote access to justice and constitute an essential counter-power to abuses of power.
Over the past year, Tunisian courts have issued 30-day suspension orders against at least 25 organizations, including Avocats Sans Frontières, Mnemty, the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women, Aswat Nissa, Nawaat, the Tunisian Forum for Economic Rights and Social, the International Commission of Jurists, the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) and the Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights – one of the oldest human rights organizations in Africa and co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015 within the National Dialogue Quartet. The president of Mnemty, Saadia Mosbahis always held arbitrarily. Organizations that challenged the suspension orders in court lost their appeal and now face dissolution.
These measures not only restrict freedom of association, they directly hinder access to justice. The suspension decision handed down against Avocats Sans Frontières on May 5, 2026, although it was subsequently lifted, has already had repercussions on the legal aid and legal assistance provided in particular to people in vulnerable situations and to human rights defenders. and to political prisoners and prisoners of conscience and on ASF’s capacity to observe and denounce the exploitation of justice and violations of human rights. By targeting human rights organizations, legal aid providers and independent associations, authorities are depriving victims of police violence, gender-based violence, racial discrimination, political persecution and other human rights violations of essential support.
Taken together, the suspension of civil society organizations, prosecutions of lawyers, retaliation against judges, and impediment to the functioning of the bar collectively undermine institutional safeguards that protect individuals against abuse of power.
Calls to the Tunisian authorities
The undersigned organizations call on the Tunisian authorities to:
- Immediately put an end to all acts of intimidation, harassment, prosecution, detention, reprisals and undue interference targeting lawyers, judges, magistrates, Tunisian bars, ONAT, lawyers’ organizations, judges’ associations and human rights defenders;
- Guarantee that lawyers can exercise their professional functions freely and independently, including when representing political detainees, journalists, judges, activists, opposition figures or victims of human rights violations, and ensure that they are not equated with their clients or sanctioned for the cases they handle, clients whether they represent, the legal arguments they put forward or their public defense of human rights and the rule of law;
- End all criminal, disciplinary and administrative proceedings initiated against lawyers and judges solely because they are carrying out their professional duties, defending judicial independence or exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly;
- Annul the conviction and sentence handed down against Judge Anas Hmedi and ensure that no judge is sanctioned for defending judicial independence or for participating in the legitimate activities of a professional association;
- Release Ayachi Hammami and Chawki Tabib, and end the arbitrary trials of lawyers, including Sonia Dahmani, Dalila Msaddak, as well as all lawyers, judges, political detainees, journalists, human rights defenders and civil society actors arbitrarily detained for exercising their rights or carrying out legitimate professional work
- Lift suspension measures against civil society organizations and put an end to any attempt to dissolve, hinder or criminalize human rights groups, legal aid organizations and independent associations;
- Cancel measures that undermine judicial independence since 2022, including executive interference in the judiciary, and comply with court decisions concerning dismissed judges;
- Guarantee full respect for the guarantees of a fair trial, due process, access to a lawyer, equality of arms and the independence of the courts;
- Bring Tunisian legislation and practice into compliance with Tunisia’s obligations under international human rights law and relevant international standards relating to the independence and protection of lawyers and judges, including the United Nations Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary, the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of the Bar, the Council Convention of Europe for the protection of the legal profession and international standards relating to judicial independence.
- Restore the independence of the legal profession and the judiciary, guarantee the free and legal work of civil society organizations and defend the human rights of all people in the country.
SIGNED:
- Amnesty International
- Lawyers Without Borders
- Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (Conseil des Barreaux Européens, CCBE)
- Defense Commission – Barcelona Bar Association
- German Bar Association
- DSF-AS Defense Without Borders-Solidarity Lawyers
- Euromed Rights
- European Association for Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights (ELDH)
- European Criminal Bar Association (ECBA)
- European Democratic Lawyers (AED)
- Foundation International Day of the Endangered Lawyer
- GeBehatokia, Basque Observatory for Human Rights
- Human Rights Watch
- Indian Association of Lawyers (IAL)
- Institute for the Rule of Law of the Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA-IROL)
- International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL)
- International Association of Judges (IAJ-UIM)
- International Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL)
- International Association of Russian Advocates
- International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI)
- International Commission of Jurists
- International Observatory for Lawyers at Risk (OIAD)
- The Human Rights Institute of the Brussels Bar
- The Lawyers’ Observatory (http://www. IDHBB.org)
- Law Society of England and Wales
- Lawyers for Lawyers (L4L)
- Legal Center Lesvos
- Medel – European Magistrates for Democracy and Liberties, representing 24 associations of judges and prosecutors
- National Union of People’s Lawyer (NUPL), Philippines
- New York City Bar Association
- Geneva Bar Association (ODAGE)
- World Organization Against Torture (OMCT)
- PEN Norway
- Progressive Lawyers Association, Turkey (ÇHD)
- Republican Lawyers Association (RAV)
- The Lawyers for the Rule of Law, USA
- The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP)
- Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao
- Association of Democratic Lawyers (VDJ), Germany
