‘Almost an attempt to outlaw opposition politics’: Amnesty sounds alarm over Tunisia repression
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00:00 Now as Tunisia prepares to mark two years since Kaya Zayed suspended parliament and
00:04 assumed executive powers, some NGOs are using the occasion to highlight the country's human
00:09 rights record. President Zayed has found himself accused of a power grab within the North African
00:15 country, with much political opposition stifled. As the launch point for the majority of migrants
00:21 trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, Tunisia has also become a key focus for Brussels.
00:27 The EU just days ago pledging over 100 million euros to the crippled economy
00:32 if it helps stem the flow of migrants. France 24's Camille Nedelec spoke to Hebda Mourayef,
00:38 regional director from Amnesty International. She told us more about the recent release
00:43 of opposition politicians in Tunisia.
00:45 Sign that that she met me were released. That came as a result of a very significant outcry
00:55 and a lot of mobilization domestically. But first of all, it's important to remind
00:59 everyone that there are still seven others detained in that same case. And secondly,
01:05 the charges against them were not dropped. So they could still face prosecution under these
01:11 overly broad, unfounded charges that are being brought against them. And the evidence against
01:20 the entire group is that political acts, its speech, its membership in associations,
01:26 it's almost an attempt to criminalize, to outlaw opposition politics. And I think that's what's
01:32 continuing to worry us so significantly at Amnesty. So while it was to a certain extent,
01:38 it was a good, to a certain extent, of course, it was good news for their families to have those
01:46 in the released. But because of the many others who remain detained in that case, and also because
01:51 the charges haven't been dropped, we remain very, very worried about the direction of travel.
01:56 The authorities have not distanced themselves from that case. They haven't announced an
02:01 intention to close the investigation. There's been a lot of rhetoric by different public
02:07 officials at various points. President Qaiss Saeed himself, casting suspicion on organizations that
02:15 receive foreign funding, on NGOs, on sub-society. So none of that gives us a sense that there's
02:22 been a decision to change course. And so we are concerned that we're going to continue to see
02:29 these kinds of repressive acts in the period to come.
02:33 And it's not just political opponents that are in the crosshairs of the authorities in
02:39 recent months, is it? There was also increased focus on migrants in Tunisia. The EU is now
02:48 saying that it will pledge nearly a billion euros for Tunisia to essentially manage the
02:55 migration flows into Europe. Is Tunisia's treatment of migrants at odds with European values?
03:02 Well, from Amnesty's perspective, Tunisia's treatment of migrants, asylum seekers and
03:08 refugees is at odds with its obligations under international human rights law. And
03:12 it's those same international human rights obligations bind European countries in their
03:18 foreign policies. And what we've seen time and time again in EU relations with North African
03:24 countries is that the EU has often been complicit in sustaining abusive situations for migrants.
03:30 I mean, the worst example of this is, of course, Libya, just a neighbor to Tunisia. But the timing
03:35 of this recent accelerated investment in EU-Tunisia migration agreement discussions,
03:46 precisely at the same time, right after that xenophobic racist speech, right after we saw
03:52 these attacks, we saw arbitrary arrests by Tunisian police, we saw examples where migrants
04:00 were being detained indefinitely, sometimes subjected to involuntary return. The fact that
04:06 the EU is turning a blind eye to the timing and steaming ahead with these attempts to at all costs
04:15 keep migrants, refugees and asylum seekers out is a deeply worrying signal. So European values
04:23 reflected in international obligations, whether under human rights law or refugee law,
04:30 are not being upheld by these EU countries, seeking to just keep migrants out of Europe at
04:37 any cost. Are you optimistic for the future? I am not optimistic for the future because
04:44 President Saeed has been chipping away at different human rights over the last couple of years. He
04:54 sought to undermine judicial independence. He sought to silence some of his most vocal critics.
05:01 He's taken a number of measures and passed different legislative acts that really had a
05:06 chilling effect on the space for dissent within Tunisia. And that combined with the fact that
05:16 the EU is so solely focused on migration right now and on cooperating with the Tunisian authorities
05:23 to keep migrants, refugees and asylum seekers out at all costs, that has meant that a lot of
05:29 EU countries are actually looking the other way when it comes to these serious human rights
05:34 violations. So it's a rather bleak picture, but ultimately I think we've seen Tunisian civil
05:43 society mobilise again and again, and some small battles are being won along the way. So the
05:50 important thing is to protect the space for Tunisian human rights defenders to continue advocating
05:55 for their different rights that are ultimately set out in the Tunisian constitution, in which they
06:01 fought for so hardly over the last decade.