Statement on Human Rights in Tunisia, a side event during the 62nd Regular Session of the Human Right Council
Written by Filipe Dias Kalgaard
The Amman Center for Human Rights Studies (ACHRS), represented by Filipe Dias Kalgaard, attended the session organized on the initiative of Rencontre Africaine pour la defense des droits de l’homme, a side event, during the 62nd Regular Session of the Human Rights Council. ACHRS welcomes the work of Abderrazak Kilani former Tunisian government minister and head of the national bar association. The one-hour session outlined the current state of human rights, primarily freedom of expression, judiciary independence in Tunisia and the treatment of migrants and refugees. Mr. Kilani, who himself is victim of the same repression having previously been prosecuted in 2022 for ‘disturbing the public order’ voiced calls for reforming the independence of the judiciary, for freedom of speech to be protected and ensuring that migrants and refugees are treated with dignity.
Tunisian President Kais Saied who solidified his power in 2021 during a coup by dissolving the parliament, and later the judiciary, and since then actively targeting key opposition figures, government critics, including lawyers, journalists and civilians, with several jailed on similar grounds as Mr. Kilani was. ACHRS shares the sentiment of Mr. Kilani and joins the call for reform in Tunisia to prevent the ongoing democratic backsliding, rule by decree, and the violent gagging of free speech.
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