Tunisia: Skyline condemns the arrest of former prime minister "Hammadi Jabali" and calls on the authorities to end the constant violations of fundamental rights

Stockholm- Skyline International for Human Rights expresses its deep concern at the arrest of the former Prime Minister and leader of the Ennahda group "Hammadi Jabali" by the Tunisian authorities. It stresses that the escalation of rights violations in Tunisia is an unacceptable attack on international legal norms that guarantee the right to freedom of expression and the exercise of freedom of opinion and political life without restriction or persecution.

Saturday, Skyline states that the defense of "Jabali" has confirmed that the leader and former prime minister has gone on hunger strike for the second time in two months after his arrest last Thursday. It holds Tunisian authorities responsible for the safety of "Jabali" if he continues his strike.

The defense team of "Jabali" - who headed the Tunisian government from December 2011 to February 2013 - announced that the day before yesterday, Thursday, he was taken by the anti-terrorist unit for interrogation at the security headquarters in the capital, without knowing other details.

The official page of "Jabali" on Facebook posted, "Former Prime Minister Engineer Hamadi Jebali was detained in Sousse (East) by a security detachment, his cell phone and that of his wife were confiscated and taken to an unknown location," and further, "The security forces returned Al-Jabali because he did not have an identity card and was prevented from obtaining it when he wanted to renew it along with his passport a few months ago.

For its part, "Skyline" points out that the Tunisian Interior Ministry declined to issue a statement or comment on the news about the arrest of "Jabali", while the private " Mosaique" radio said that the prosecutor's office of the anti-terrorism pole approved the arrest of former Prime Minister Hamadi on Thursday evening. Al-Jabali, pending an investigation into suspected money laundering attributed to members of a charity, according to the radio.

For its part, "Skyline" stresses that the human rights situation in Tunisia is continuously deteriorating after the decisions of the Tunisian President on July 25, 2021, according to which he froze the work of the Parliament and lifted the immunity of its deputies as he assumed all powers. These decisions also led to the restriction of freedom of opinion and expression and the monitoring of newspapers and websites. In addition, the right to freedom of movement and travel has been illegally restricted, in clear and unjustified violation of a wide range of rules and conventions of international law.

Despite the repeated statements of Tunisian President Kais Saied, in which he repeatedly emphasises that "there is absolutely no room for the violation of human rights and no room for the violation of rights and freedoms," the current facts observed prove otherwise, especially since these measures directly target a group of fundamental rights guaranteed under international law, including freedom of opinion and expression and peaceful assembly without threat or prosecution.

"Skyline" concludes its statement by calling on the President of the Republic, "Kais Saied", to reverse all decisions that would unlawfully violate the fundamental rights of individuals, stressing that the continuation of these decisions will have worrying consequences, as they constitute a serious violation of the rules and conventions of international law.

Skyline also calls on Tunisian authorities to stop using judicial bodies, civilian or military, to deepen the violation of the rights of parliamentarians, opposition members and activists. It stresses the importance of the authorities initiating a comprehensive reform process by reactivating parliament and called for a comprehensive national dialogue involving all political forces to develop a roadmap to ensure the exclusion of individuals.