Category Archives: Tunisia

Gaza aid flotilla carrying Greta Thunberg reports second drone attack in 24 hours

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Global Sumud Flotilla says no passengers or crew harmed by alleged incendiary device dropped on boat in Tunisian port

A flotilla seeking to break Israel’s aid blockade of Gaza has said it was attacked by a drone for the second time in less than 24 hours.

The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), which is carrying pro-Palestinian activists, including Greta Thunberg, said in a statement early on Wednesday that it had been attacked by another drone, which dropped an incendiary device on one of its boats, the Alma, as it was moored in the port of Sidi Bou Said in Tunisia. None of the passengers or crew were harmed and no structural damage was caused, it said

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Flotilla boat carrying aid to Gaza struck by flaming object, video shows

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Global Sumud Flotilla says one of its vessels was hit by drone at Sidi Bou Said port in Tunisia, sustaining fire damage

A flotilla carrying aid for Gaza and pro-Palestinian activists has published a video showing one of its boats being struck by a flaming object at Sidi Bou Said port in Tunisia.

The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) said the boat had been hit by a drone and that it sustained fire damage to its main deck and below-deck storage, though all six passengers and crew were safe.

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Grassroots activists who took on corruption and corporate power share 2025 Goldman prize

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Seven winners of environmental prize include Amazonian river campaigner and Tunisian who fought against organised waste trafficking

Grassroots activists who helped jail corrupt officials and obtain personhood rights for a sacred Amazonian river are among this year’s winners of the world’s most prestigious environmental prize.

The community campaigns led by the seven 2025 Goldman prize winners underscore the courage and tenacity of local activists willing to confront the toxic mix of corporate power, regulatory failures and political corruption that is fuelling biodiversity collapse, water shortages, deadly air pollution and the climate emergency.

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Tunisian court hands prison sentences of up to 66 years in mass trial of regime opponents

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Opposition says trial was staged to entrench president Kais Saied’s authoritarian rule

A Tunisian court has handed down prison sentences of 13 to 66 years to politicians, businessmen and lawyers in a mass trial that opponents say is fabricated and a symbol of president Kais Saied’s authoritarian rule.

Businessman Kamel Ltaif received the longest sentence of 66 years on Saturday, while opposition politician Khayam Turki was given a 48-year jail term, a lawyer for the defendants said.

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Europe overhauls funding to Tunisia after Guardian exposes migrant abuse

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Allegations of rape, beatings and collusion by EU-funded security forces prompt shift in migration arrangements

The European Commission is fundamentally overhauling how it makes payments to Tunisia after a Guardian investigation exposed myriad abuses by EU-funded security forces, including widespread sexual violence against migrants.

Officials are drawing up “concrete” conditions to ensure that future European payments to Tunis can go ahead only if human rights have not been violated.

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Migrant rights advocate held in Tunisia under anti-terrorist investigation

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Rights group says Abdallah Said’s case is a troubling first for the country amid president’s increasing crackdown

Tunisian anti-terrorist investigators are handling the case of a leading advocate for migrants who has been taken into custody, in what the head of a rights group said was a troubling first for the country.

Abdallah Said, a Tunisian of Chadian origin, was questioned along with the secretary general and treasurer of his association, Enfants de la Lune, said Romdhane Ben Amor, the spokesperson for the Tunisian Forum for Social and Economic Rights.

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EU refuses to publish findings of Tunisia human rights inquiry

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Inquiry preceded controversial migration deal linked to claims of abuse in increasingly authoritarian country

The European Commission is refusing to publish the findings of a human rights inquiry into Tunisia it conducted shortly before announcing a controversial migration deal with the increasingly authoritarian north African country.

An investigation by the EU ombudsman found that the commission quietly carried out a “risk management exercise” into human rights concerns in Tunisia but will not disclose its results.

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Breakdown in global order causing progress to stall in Africa – report

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‘Moral threshold coming down,’ warns Mo Ibrahim, as his index of governance reveals widespread decline in 10 years

The global rise of populism and “strongmen” has led to an increase in authoritarianism in Africa that is holding back progress in governance, the businessman and philanthropist Mo Ibrahim has said.

According to the latest edition of the Ibrahim index of African governance, 78% of Africa’s citizens live in a country where security and democracy deteriorated between 2014 and 2023.

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EU unable to retrieve €150m paid to Tunisia despite links to rights violations

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Concerns are growing that funds from the migration deal are connected to abuses by the repressive regime in Tunis

The EU will be unable to claw back any of the €150m (£125m) paid to Tunisia despite the money being increasingly linked to human rights violations, including allegations that sums went to security forces who raped migrant women.

The European Commission paid the amount to the Tunis government in a controversial migration and development deal, despite concerns that the north African state was increasingly authoritarian and its police largely operated with impunity.

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Tunisia’s president wins landslide second term after cracking down on opponents

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Kais Saied secured 90.7% of the vote in election on a turnout of just 27.7%, after detaining rival Ayachi Zammel

Tunisia’s president, Kais Saied, has secured a second five-year term with a landslide victory, although the election had one of the lowest turnouts in the north African country’s history.

The Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) declared on Monday evening that Saied had won 90.7% of the vote in Sunday’s election, on a turnout of 27.7%.

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Democracy campaigners criticise President Saied as polls close in Tunisia

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Leader of north African country expected to win second term after jailing opponents and changing constitution

Polls have closed in Tunisia’s presidential election as the president, Kais Saied, seeks a second term, while his most prominent critics are in prison and after his main rival was jailed suddenly last month.

Observers see the election, which Saied is expected to win, as a closing chapter in Tunisia’s experiment with democracy.

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Arab spring dreams in ruins as Tunisia goes to polls against backdrop of repression

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Critics of incumbent Kais Saied say he has increasingly bent the country’s institutions to his will

Tunisia will hold a presidential election on Sunday against the backdrop of a crackdown on dissent and human rights violations committed against undocumented migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

The incumbent, Kais Saied, whose most prominent critics are behind bars, is expected to sail to an easy win after a campaign with few rallies and public debates, marking a significant step back for a country that long prided itself as the birthplace of the Arab spring uprisings of 2011.

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Europe has questions to answer over migrant abuse in Tunisia, say MEPs and activists

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EU Commission says it will be sending independent observers to the country to investigate allegations of human rights violations

The European Commission can no longer ignore mounting evidence of the gross human rights violations against migrants and refugees in Tunisia, say MEPs and activists.

The EU has given millions of pounds to Tunisia to reduce migration from north Africa into Europe in a deal that pledges “respect for human rights” and piqued the interest of the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer.

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EU fears for its human rights credibility as Tunisia crushes dissent, leak shows

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Document detailing ‘deterioration’ under Kais Saied will fuel concerns about bloc’s migration deal with his country

The EU fears its credibility is at stake as it seeks to weigh growing concerns about the crushing of dissent in Tunisia while preserving a controversial migration deal with the north African country, according to a leaked document.

An internal report drafted by the EU’s diplomatic service (EEAS), seen by the Guardian, details “a clear deterioration of the political climate and a shrinking civic space” under the Tunisian president, Kais Saied, who has suspended parliament and concentrated power in his hands since starting his term of office in 2019.

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Tunisia court jails potential presidential candidates and bars them from upcoming election

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Critics say the move is aimed at targeting serious challengers to the current Tunisan president, Kais Saied.

A Tunisian court has sentenced a number of potential presidential election candidates to prison and banned them from running for office, according to local media, politicians, and a lawyer, in a move critics say is aimed at excluding serious competitors to President Kais Saied in October’s vote.

A court decision was issued on Monday against prominent politician Abdel Latif Mekki, activist Nizar Chaari, Judge Mourad Massoudi and another candidate, Adel Dou, according to lawyer Mokthar Jmai who spoke to Reuters. All four were sentenced to eight months in prison and banned from running for office on a charge of vote buying.

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European Commission accused of ‘bankrolling dictators’ by MEPs after Tunisia deal

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Members of justice committee say €150m in EU funding went straight to country’s president, Kais Saied

The European Commission has been accused of “bankrolling dictators” by senior MEPs who have claimed that the €150m it gave to Tunisia last year in a migration and development deal has ended up directly in the president’s hands.

A group of MEPs on the human rights, justice and foreign affairs committees at the European parliament launched a scathing attack on the executive in Brussels, expressing anxiety over reports that the commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, was about to seal a similar deal with Egypt.

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Former Tunisian president Moncef Marzouki given eight years in prison

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The sentence, passed in absentia, is part of the country’s crackdown on opponents of president Kais Saied

A court in Tunisia sentenced former president Moncef Marzouki to eight years in prison in absentia as part of the country’s crackdown on opponents of president Kais Saied.

The judgment came as prominent opposition figure Jaouhar Ben Mbarek was sentenced to six months in prison.

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Al Jazeera journalist arrested in Tunisia amid crackdown on freedom of press

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Samir Sassi joins growing number of journalists imprisoned and prosecuted in country

Tunisian authorities have arrested an Al Jazeera reporter, the network’s bureau chief said on Thursday, as campaigners voiced concern over a growing number of journalists behind bars in the north African country.

“Samir Sassi, a journalist at the Al Jazeera office in Tunisia, was arrested after security forces raided his house,” said Lotfi Hajji, director of the Qatar-based television network’s bureau in Tunis.

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Three killed while repairing ancient wall at Unesco world heritage site in Tunisia

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Two other workers were injured when a 30m section of wall around the Old City of Kairouan gave way while being restored

A section of the ancient walls around the Old City of Kairouan collapsed on Saturday, killing three masons carrying out repairs on the Unesco world heritage site, Tunisian authorities said.

In addition two workers were injured when a 30-metre (100ft) section of the 6-metre-high walls near the Gate of the Floggers crashed to the ground, the Civil Protection department said.

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Denzel Washington’s casting as Hannibal in Netflix film sparks race controversy in Tunisia

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Newspapers and politicians discuss general’s skin tone, saying actor’s casting in the role created ‘a historical error’

A decision to cast black actor Denzel Washington as the ancient Carthaginian general Hannibal in an upcoming Netflix film has sparked a small but heated debate in Tunisia, the military general’s birthplace.

After a similar controversy on race and representation in nearby Egypt over a Netflix docudrama about Cleopatra, Tunisian newspapers, social media and even the halls of parliament have seen discussion on the skin tone of the long-dead leader.

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