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MAHMOOD SANGLAY
A former Assistant Speaker of the Tunisian Parliament, Maher Medhioub, has issued a stark appeal to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
Medhioub’s statement describes the ‘systematic undermining of parliamentary freedom’ in Tunisia as the most severe assault on Tunisia’s elected representatives in decades. The statement, submitted to the 179th Session of the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians on February 2, 2026, coincides with grave findings by Human Rights Watch (HRW) that paint a broader picture of democratic regression and widespread rights abuses in Tunisia.
According to the statement, former Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, aged 84, has spent over 1 000 days in detention and received cumulative sentences totalling decades, while members of his family are also serving lengthy prison terms. The former Assistant Speaker says Ghannouchi was arrested after advocating for civil peace and social coexistence.
Other high-profile figures cited include Maher Zid, reportedly sentenced to more than 100 years in prison for social-media posts, and Ayachi Zammel, given a 31-year sentence after participating in the 2024 presidential race. The statement also flags the case of Seifeddine Makhlouf, sentenced to five years and returned from Algeria despite having refugee status through UNHCR, a move the former aide says violated international protection obligations.
Medhioub’s appeal details dozens of other MPs arrested or barred from travel, accused of ‘conspiracy’ in politically-motivated prosecutions; civilian MPs tried before military courts; and women parliamentarians, including Abir Moussi, imprisoned for acts of dissent.
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Reinforcing evidence of democratic backsliding
The Human Rights Watch World Report 2025 corroborates and expands on the former Assistant Speaker’s concerns, documenting how Tunisian authorities have intensified repression of political opposition, civil society, media and fundamental freedoms throughout 2024. HRW notes that:
- Political crackdown and elections: The integrity of the October 6 presidential election was undermined by detentions of prospective opponents, last-minute changes to electoral law, and restrictions on independent election observation.
- Judicial manipulation: Authorities have continued to weaken judicial independence by dismissing judges and restructuring the legal framework to constrain oversight of executive power.
- Freedom of expression: Repressive laws, notably a cybercrime statute (Decree-Law 54), have been used to prosecute speech offences, including social media criticism, with harsh sentences. Journalists, influencers and commentators have been jailed under broadly-defined offences.
- Media and civic space: Media freedom has contracted sharply, with numerous journalists facing prosecution or prison terms; civil society groups assisting migrants and refugees have been targeted, with arrests and investigations into funding.
- Abuses against migrants and refugees: Security forces have reportedly carried out unlawful expulsions of migrants and asylum seekers to remote borders, exposing them to life-threatening conditions — an abuse sustained with impunity despite international alarm.
As of late 2024, HRW reports ‘over 80 people detained on political grounds or for exercising their fundamental rights,’ including politicians, lawyers, activists, journalists and social media users.
From democratic hope to shrinking civic space
Medhioub’s intervention thus emerges against a backdrop of broader systemic repression documented independently by HRW. What might otherwise be dismissed as isolated legal actions now aligns with a pattern of democratic decline, where legislative, judicial, civil society and civic freedoms are being constrained simultaneously.
Tunisia was once hailed as the Arab Spring’s sole democratic success story. Yet, according to international observers and rights monitors, successive consolidations of executive power since 2021 have eroded constitutional checks and balances, curtailed free speech, and weaponised the justice system against dissenters — including elected representatives.
The targeting of MPs, activists, journalists and civil society figures under sweeping laws like Decree-Law 54, coupled with the documented undermining of electoral integrity and judicial independence, points to a wider governance crisis that transcends partisan politics. It also highlights the fragility of democratic institutions when met with strategic suppression of opposition voices.
The former Assistant Speaker urges the IPU to adopt concrete measures: question Tunisian authorities formally, appoint a special rapporteur on parliamentary rights, place Tunisia permanently on the committee’s agenda, and dispatch a fact-finding mission. He also calls for legal scrutiny of the current Parliament’s legitimacy.
Echoing this call, HRW and other observers have recommended that foreign partners reassess cooperation frameworks — particularly where human rights safeguards are absent — and publicly challenge Tunisia’s regression rather than tacitly acquiesce.
Whether the IPU and other international bodies will respond with decisive oversight remains uncertain. What is clear, however, is that Tunisia’s democratic trajectory — once a beacon for political transition in the Middle East and North Africa — now faces a critical test, with implications not only for Tunisians but for global norms on parliamentary freedom and civil liberties.
