Women Journalists Without Chains (WJWC) strongly condemns the ongoing and systematic campaign waged by the Tunisian authorities since May 2024 against human rights defenders, civil society actors, and humanitarian workers.

This campaign has involved arbitrary arrests, prolonged detentions, and targeted harassment of individuals and organizations providing lawful and essential support to refugees and migrants.

The organization denounces the detention of numerous individuals, including staff members of the Tunisian Refugee Council and international NGO Terre d’Asile, as well as former public officials, solely for their cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Arrests carried out on May 3 and 4, 2024 — including those of Mustafa Jamali, Abderrazak Karimi, Cherifa Riahi, Ayadh Boussalmi, Mohammed Jouou, and Iman El Wardani — were reportedly based on vague and unfounded charges such as “harboring foreigners” and “facilitating illegal stay,” despite the fact that these individuals were engaged in lawful humanitarian work.

WJWC affirms that these actions represent a clear violation of both the Tunisian Constitution and Tunisia’s binding obligations under international law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the 1951 Refugee Convention. Criminalizing humanitarian assistance constitutes a dangerous erosion of the rule of law and undermines fundamental principles of human dignity and non-discrimination.

The organization echoes Amnesty International’s recent statement that “providing support to refugees and migrants is protected under international law and cannot be equated with human trafficking.” It further warns that the hostile rhetoric emanating from senior government officials — including statements by the President on May 6, 2024, and subsequent remarks by the Minister of the Interior — has fueled xenophobia and incited violence against migrants, especially those from sub-Saharan Africa.

Concurrently, the freezing of NGO bank accounts, suspension of welfare services, and administrative restrictions on civil society actors since May 2024 have aggravated the humanitarian situation and stripped thousands of people of essential services and protections.

WJWC underscores that such repressive measures would not be possible without the tacit or indirect support of certain European governments that prioritize migration deterrence over the safeguarding of human rights and humanitarian principles.

In light of these grave developments, Women Journalists Without Chains calls for:

• The immediate and unconditional release of all detained human rights and humanitarian workers.
• The dropping of all charges related to legitimate humanitarian action.
• The unrestricted resumption of asylum, welfare, and humanitarian services.
• An end to the campaign of incitement, defamation, and intimidation against civil society organizations.
• The mobilization of the international community to ensure protection for humanitarian work and prevent its criminalization and politicization.

Women Journalists Without Chains reiterates its solidarity with all those unjustly detained and urges swift international action to uphold human rights, safeguard civil society, and defend humanitarian principles in Tunisia.

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Women Journalists Without Chains

May 9, 2025