Paris, 30 October 2025. These decisions, taken without any solid legal basis or respect for due process, mark yet another episode in the repression of independent voices in Tunisia and reveal the political instrumentalisation of Decree-Law No. 2011-88 governing associations.
A direct attack on freedom of association
Under the guise of administrative oversight, the Tunisian authorities have launched a campaign of harassment against the country’s most active and credible independent organisations.
The suspensions targeting the ATFD and the FTDES occurred despite their full compliance with administrative requirements.
No irregularities were found, no dialogue was initiated, and the decisions were notified without written justification, in violation of the adversarial principle and Article 40 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of association.
These arbitrary and disproportionate measures reveal a deliberate strategy to bring the associative fabric into line and criminalize Tunisian civil society.
Decree-Law 88 weaponised to silence dissent
Originally adopted after the revolution to protect freedom, independence and transparency, Decree-Law No. 2011-88 is now being distorted to silence critical organisations, under the pretext of "administrative irregularities" or "foreign funding". Yet foreign funding is explicitly legal under Tunisian law and remains an essential resource for NGOs working on the ground.
"Tunisian law has become a weapon in the hands of those in power. It is time for the international community to stand with those who suffer its misuse, not with those who manipulate it", said Aissa Rahmoune, Secrétaire général de de la FIDH.
This abuse of Decree-Law 2011-88 forms part of a wider pattern under President Kaïs Saïed, who has sought to consolidate his power through the manipulation of the law and the subjugation of independent institutions.
This drift has been accompanied by the systematic instrumentalization of the judiciary since the dissolution of the Supreme Judicial Council (CSM) and the arbitrary dismissal of numerous judges. The justice system is now being used as a tool of harassment against civil society, journalists, and human rights defenders. Several activists — including Sherifa Riahi, Saadia Mosbah, and around a dozen other human rights defenders and NGO staff members — are currently being prosecuted or detained for their peaceful activities.
As documented in FIDH’s report "From Coup to Crackdown: How Tunisia’s Repression Operates (2021–2025)", this legal warfare has become a key pillar of the regime.
Laws originally designed to protect freedoms — such as anti-terrorism provisions, outdated penal codes, Decree-Law 54 on cybercrime, and Decree-Law 88 on associations — are now being twisted to criminalise dissent and dismantle checks and balances. By framing international cooperation as foreign interference, the authorities seek to isolate civil society, weaken its international support, and eradicate any form of counterweight to authoritarian rule.
Two pillars of democratic Tunisia targeted
Founded in 1989 and an FIDH member since 1994, ATFD is a pioneering feminist organisation and a historic driving force behind women’s rights and public freedoms in Tunisia.
Each year, it supports hundreds of women survivors of violence, advocates for equality and justice, and has helped anchor women’s rights at the heart of Tunisia’s public debate.
Created in 2011 and an FIDH member since 2013, the FTDES plays a central role in advancing social justice. Its research sheds light on inequality, poverty, migration, environmental challenges, and social movements. Renowned for its rigorous analysis and peaceful activism, it gives voice to the most marginalised communities.
Suspending these two organisations means attacking the very foundations of democratic Tunisia — freedom, dignity, and solidarity.
These decisions come amid a wider climate of repression marked by prosecutions of activists, smear campaigns in the media, and mounting pressure on unions and journalists.
The Tunisian authorities are seeking to silence critical voices and shut down the spaces of free expression that once nurtured the country’s democratic transition.
FIDH calls for urgent action
FIDH reaffirms its solidarity with its two member organisations, ATFD and FTDES, as well as all Tunisian associations facing judicial and administrative harassment, and calls for:
– The immediate lifting of the suspensions of ATFD and FTDES; as well as all civil society organizations suspended arbitrarily or under similar circumstances;
– An end to the political misuse of Decree-Law No. 88;
– Full respect for the freedom of association, as enshrined in Tunisia’s Constitution and international obligations;
– The cessation of arbitrary restrictions imposed on civil society organisations;
– The guarantee of freedom of association, expression, and peaceful assembly.
FIDH and its member organisations call on the United Nations mechanisms, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council, to closely monitor developments in Tunisia, raise these violations with the authorities, and demand the immediate lifting of the suspensions.
It further calls on the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association to take up the case, engage officially with the Tunisian government, and, if necessary, undertake a country visit to assess the state of civil society.