Saadia Mosbah (center), president of the antiracism association Mnemty, attending a march in Tunis, Tunisia, on March 4, 2023.
(Beirut) – Tunisian courts sentenced eight human rights defenders to prison terms and fines in recent days for charges connected to their human rights work, including two prominent women who were handed harsh sentences, Human Rights Watch said today.
On June 26, 2026, a Tunis Court of First Instance sentenced Sihem Bensedrine, the former president of the Truth and Dignity Commission, to 25 years in prison and a joint fine with several other defendants of approximately 1.8 billion Tunisian dinars (about US$600 million). Three days earlier, a Tunis appeals court sentenced Saadia Mosbah, president of the antiracism association Mnemty (“My Dream” in Tunisian Arabic), to eight years in prison and a fine of 122,000 dinars (about $41,400). It sentenced five other Mnemty members to prison terms ranging from one to three years, some of which were suspended.
“The harsh prison sentences and astronomical fines are another devastating blow to human rights defenders and all those fighting to preserve what remains of Tunisia’s civic space,” said Bassam Khawaja, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “By targeting leading human rights figures, the authorities are crushing their demands and quashing the quest for social justice in Tunisia.”
These latest convictions come amid a drastic closure of civic space and increasing attacks on civil society groups and members in Tunisia. Tunisian authorities should immediately vacate their convictions, free those detained, and drop abusive prosecutions against rights defenders.
Bensedrine, 75, appeared before the court on June 25 in two separate cases. Her conviction appears to be in retaliation for her role from 2014 to 2018 as head of the Truth and Dignity Commission, which w
