Tunisia calls for stopping president's suppression of NGOs

A number of Tunisian associations have called for confronting any attempt by the executive authorities under the grip of President Kais Saied to suppress the work of NGOs, Anadolu Agency reported on Friday.

This came in a joint statement signed by 12 NGOs and rights groups published on their Facebook pages.

According to Anadolu Agency, the statement rejected the call made by Saied on Thursday to draft a law preventing NGOs from receiving funds from abroad, over claims that these NGOs are an extension to external powers.

Thousands of NGOs have operated legally in Tunisia since 2011 on the condition of not accepting donations from countries that do not share diplomatic relations with Tunis, or from organisations that defend the interests and policies of those countries.

Read: Tunisia’s Saied will bar foreign funding for civil society

“Any intervention that confiscates freedoms by the executive authorities, mainly in light of current unprecedented exceptional laws, would undermine human rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and the international treaties signed by Tunis,” the statement said.

“Modifying the decree that organises the operations of the NGOs would be a translation of a desire to monopolise power and creation of a regime that does not recognise the existence of opposition or mediatory bodies, including political and civil NGOs,” the statement added.

Tunisian authorities have not yet commented on the statement.

On 25 July, 2021, Saied took exceptional measures, including freezing parliament and dissolving the government. He replaced parliament with presidential decrees and the government with one consisting of ministers loyal to him.

Statement: Tunisian democracy must survive!