Tunisian authorities on April 24 suspended operations of the Tunisian League for Human Rights, a longstanding refuge for human rights defenders.
Suspensions are a drastic measure that should only be taken as a last resort with clear justification.
Founded in 1976 under a one-party state, the league has been repeatedly targeted since its inception. Many of its leaders were arbitrarily arrested under the governments of both Habib Bourguiba and Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. Yet the organization withstood the attacks, ultimately outlasting both dictatorships. In the aftermath of the 2011 revolution, it played a crucial role in Tunisia’s democratic transition as part of the Civil Society Quartet, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015.
In September 2025, the government notified the league of alleged irregularities relating to its declaration of foreign funding, holding of registers, and general assembly. The organization said it remedied them within the prescribed timeframe and received no further requests on the matter. At the government’s request, a Tunis court ordered the league on April 24 to cease all activities for one month for allegedly violating Decree-Law 88 of 2011 on associations.
The authorities had previously arbitrarily restricted the league’s activities in prisons. The Ministry of Justice stopped honoring the memorandum of understanding that governed its monitoring visits to prisons and detention centers, de facto barring the only independent nongovernmental organization (NGO) in the country such access.
The Tunisian League for Human Rights joins a long list of at least 20 civil society organizations the authorities have arbitrarily suspended since July 2025, in an unprecedented crackdown and a clear weaponization of the country’s administrative and legal processes alongside arrests and abusive prosecutions.
On May 5, Avocats Sans Frontières (Lawyers Without Borders), a prominent NGO based in Tunis, received a similar court-ordered suspension notice. The consequences of this are particularly devastating for the hundreds of people relying on its legal aid services, the only operation of its kind in the country.
These recent suspensions appear to be part of the Tunisian authorities’ campaign to dismantle civil society one suspension order at a time, immobilizing organizations that have for decades defended human rights and access to justice—ensuring that, when human rights are threatened, civil society is not there to respond.
