The United States has condemned Tunisia’s recent arrests of lawyers and civil society figures, calling them inconsistent with the country’s constitutionally guaranteed freedoms.
State Department spokesman Vedant Patel emphasized the US commitment to human rights in Tunisia, including freedom of expression.
“We’re engaging directly with the Tunisian government at all levels in support of human rights,” Patel stated, highlighting the contradiction between these arrests and fundamental rights enshrined in Tunisia’s constitution.
This criticism follows a series of arrests that have raised concerns about a rollback of democratic freedoms in Tunisia.
Since President Kais Saied’s consolidation of power in 2021, activists have decried a decline in liberties.
The situation escalated last weekend when authorities raided the Tunisian Bar Association’s headquarters and arrested a lawyer for criticizing the government on television.
Two days later, they returned and detained another lawyer who had protested the initial arrest.
The US joins the European Union in expressing disapproval of these actions.
The EU, which inked a cooperation deal with Tunisia last year, has also voiced its concerns.
The situation casts a shadow on Tunisia’s democratic trajectory, raising concerns about the future of human rights in the birthplace of the Arab Spring.
