Published on 6/18/2026
Amnesty International called on the Tunisian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Tunisian human rights defender Saadia Mesbah and overturn her conviction along with five of her colleagues in the “Manamati” anti-racism association, which she heads.
She pointed out that these convictions are based on “baseless” financial criminal charges and that they are motivated by their work in the field of human rights.
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The initial ruling on March 19 against Saadia Misbah and other employees and collaborators of the Manamati Association, including four who now face imminent risk of arrest, is “shocking and extremely unjust,” the organization said. She considered this ruling “another horrific accusation.”
According to the organization, the Tunisian authorities “continue to use the criminal justice system as a weapon to silence the voices of civil society.”
The organization added that the Tunisian authorities “disproportionately” target black human rights defenders and anti-racists, and that the ruling against Saadia Mesbah and her colleagues reflects “the extent to which the authorities are willing to go further in their attack on the right to freedom of association or association and on human rights work.”
Physical assault
Amnesty International researcher Safiya Rayyan stated that the Tunisian authorities “use bogus financial criminal charges to target and harass perceived critics,” noting that the criticized ruling comes on the heels of the conviction of five other NGO workers, and confirms, as she described it, “the horrific escalation in the authorities’ crackdown on civic space.”
Ryan said that the “coordinated racist smear campaign and stigmatization of NGOs” fueling this repressive campaign “tainted this ruling, undermining the rights of the accused to a fair trial and protection from discrimination.” She expressed particular concern about reports that black human rights activist Saadia Misbah was subjected to “racism and physical assault in prison that may amount to torture,” amid what she described as “the authorities’ failure to investigate her allegations.” She also noted that two other defendants faced “racial discrimination during the investigation,” and said that the judicial authorities failed to address this during the trial.
Amnesty International renewed its call on the Tunisian authorities to “stop their repressive campaign against civil society and stop the arbitrary arrests of human rights defenders, as well as making them scapegoats and criminalizing them.”
