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Human Rights Watch, World Report 2026

9/5/2026

Country Report: Uganda
Uganda’s human rights situation remains repressive, with the government violently cracking down on the political opposition, journalists and protesters, and restricting free expression.
The government reinstated the trial of civilians before military tribunals. Environmental activists opposing the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) faced arrest and prolonged detention. Authorities initiated prosecutions against Kampala city officials over the Kiteezi landfill collapse, marking a rare instance of accountability for environmental negligence.
LGBT people remain at high risk under the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act, which fuels arbitrary arrests, extortion, and abuse.
State surveillance continued to expand significantly.
Uganda announced its agreement to accept citizens of other countries expelled from the United States, making it one of at least five African countries to do so.

Freedoms of Expression and Assembly
The Ugandan authorities continue to clamp down on free expression and peaceful assembly, arresting and charging political opponents and their supporters, as well as critics of government officials.
On August 5, a court convicted and sentenced university student, Elson Tumwine, to two months in prison under the Computer Misuse Act for a TikTok video criticizing President Yoweri Museveni and speaker of parliament, Anita Among. Media reported Tumwine had gone missing in Hoima, Western Uganda, on June 8, and was found at a police station in Entebbe, some 230 kilometers away, in mid-July. Similarly, on August 29, a court sentenced Juma Musuuza to 12 months imprisonment for hate speech and spreading “malicious information” about Museveni, Among, and Museveni’s son, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, also on TikTok.
Security officials arrested and beat opposition supporters and journalists covering opposition candidate Elias Luyimbazi Nalukoola’s parliamentary campaign. On February 26, hooded security officers beat and arrested Nalukoola, together with his supporters, after the Electoral Commission approved him to stand in the Kawempe North by-election on March 13. They released him the same day without charge.
Journalists covering the incident also came under attack. Media reported that two officers from the Joint Anti-Terrorism Taskforce (JATT), a security agency, beat journalist Ibrahim Miracle repeatedly in the face with a truncheon, causing him to nearly lose sight in one eye. On the same day, security forces also attacked four other reporters from NBS TV and NTV Uganda and fired live bullets in their direction.
On March 3, JATT officers beat Nalukoola’s supporters, fired live bullets and teargas, and arrested 22 people, as they attempted to leave his party’s headquarters for a campaign rally. The authorities charged the 22 with “public nuisance,” obstructing traffic, and malicious damage to property, before releasing them on bail on March 7.
Restrictions on freedom of expression intensified during the campaign. On March 12, Uganda’s media regulatory body, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), suspended Pearl FM after it reported on vote-rigging allegations during the Kawempe North by-election. UCC claimed the station had broadcast “unsubstantiated statements that were sensational, alarmist, and capable of inciting violence.” Armed forces reportedly severely beat at least 18 journalists covering the by-election on March 13. The military announced in a press statement that it would investigate these allegations although no public information on any progress is available.

Military Trials of Civilians
The authorities have used military courts against President Museveni’s political opponents, including former presidential candidate Kizza Besigye, who was charged on November 2024 with allegedly being in possession of guns and ammunition belonging to the military. At least 44 other civilians, mostly opposition party supporters arrested around the 2021 general elections, have been imprisoned as a result of military trials.
The same military court sentenced Besigye’s lawyer, Eron Kiiza, on January 7 to nine months imprisonment for “contempt of court.” Kiiza had been publicly critical of the military and was convicted and sentenced without a fair trial or legal representation. The High Court released Kiiza on bail in April, pending his appeal of the military court decision.
On January 31, the Supreme Court banned military trials of civilians, ruling them unconstitutional. After this ruling, Besigye’s case was transferred to the ordinary courts. He remains in detention awaiting trial.
In June, President Museveni signed the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (Amendment) Bill into law authorizing military tribunals to try civilians and substantially revising Uganda’s military justice system.

Environment and Human Rights
The security forces have arrested students and youths who raised concerns over EACOP and other fossil fuel projects.
On April 2, the police arrested nine youth activists in Kampala after protesting against banks supporting the project. On April 23, they again arrested 11 people as they attempted to deliver a letter to Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) protesting the pipeline. They were detained in Luzira Maximum Security Prison before being released on July 22, pending trial. In August, the police also arrested 12 people during a similar protest.
On July 3, a magistrates court committed Dorothy Kisaka, the director of the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), and her deputy David Luyimbazi, to the High Court for trial over manslaughter for the August 10, 2024 landslide at the Kiteezi landfill. The landslide, on the outskirts of Kampala, killed 35 people and injured 23, destroyed homes, and displaced hundreds. Prosecutors said Kisaka and Luyimbazi were aware of the imminent risks of the Kiteezi landfill over four months before its collapse.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
Since the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act was enacted, authorities have perpetrated widespread discrimination and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, their families, and their supporters. The penal code punishes “carnal knowledge” between people of the same gender with up to life in prison.

Disability Rights
Healthcare workers in some public health facilities in Uganda continue to use seclusion and restraints on people with psychosocial disabilities. The Mental Health Act, which legalizes seclusion in mental health facilities, remains in force.
A hearing in a court case, scheduled for March 2025, challenging the use of seclusion rooms for people with psychosocial disabilities, was postponed. The case was brought on appeal by mental health care reform activist Benon Kabale and the Centre for Human Rights and Development (CEHURD). They had sued the government for use of seclusion rooms in 2015 and the High Court ruled against Kabale in 2018, dismissing his testimony due to his mental health history.

Accountability for Serious Crimes
In September, the International Criminal Court held pre-trial proceedings against Joseph Kony, leader of the rebel group Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), in absentia. Kony is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in northern Uganda between 2002 and 2005 and remains a fugitive.

Government Surveillance
The Ugandan government continued to expand its surveillance capacity, including installing video surveillance technology to monitor public spaces. The government also collects and stores vast personal information, including names, signature, photo, and fingerprints of nationals. Uganda’s laws provide for collecting person data and government interception of communications under the pretext of “national security”.
On January 6, the Ugandan government rolled out digital number license plates for private vehicles, purportedly enabling real-time location tracking for vehicles ostensibly for road safety and crime prevention.

Human Rights Watch, World Report 2026. New York.

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Human Rights Watch, World Report 2026

8/5/2026

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Country Report: Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan’s government continued to severely restrict civil and political rights, including freedom of expression, association, religion, and peaceful assembly. There is no independent media, and internet access remains tightly controlled. Authorities routinely target civic activists, government critics, and their families, including those in exile, with harassment and politically motivated prosecutions.
Authorities continued to arbitrarily interfere with citizens’ right to freedom of movement. The government refuses to renew passports through consulates abroad, requiring citizens to return to Turkmenistan, where they may face travel bans. Activists returned from abroad risk arrest and persecution.
Many remain behind bars on what appear to be politically motivated charges, and the fate of dozens of victims of enforced disappearances remains unknown. Turkmenistan continues to criminalize adult consensual same-sex conduct between men and imposes broad restrictions on women and girls.

Freedom of Movement
Turkmen authorities continued to bar its citizens from boarding international flights, under various pretexts such as unclear passport stamps, document misprints, or infractions of host countries’ immigration laws.
In February, migration officials twice barred a 40-year-old woman from flying to Türkiye claiming she could not leave because her children were in Turkmenistan.
On October 29, following several court reviews, including a July decision to overturn a lower court’s travel ban, a court in Ashgabat ordered migration authorities to provide the legal grounds for the travel ban of journalist Nurgeldy Khalykov, previously imprisoned on fabricated fraud charges. At the time of writing, the authorities have not responded. Khalykov remains unable to travel.
Authorities imposed arbitrary travel bans on the brother and sister of wrongfully imprisoned activist Murad Dushemov in apparent retaliation for his activism.
Turkmenistan continued to deny exit to citizens who voluntarily returned to Turkmenistan for passport renewal. After returning in summer 2024 to renew her passport, Zulfiya Kazhyr and her minor daughter, a Turkish citizen, were barred from flying to Türkiye in September 2024. Only in July 2025, did Turkmen authorities allow them to leave Turkmenistan.

Government Critics and Activists
Turkmenistan continued to surveil and harass civic activists and government critics including those in exile.
Dissident bloggers Alisher Sakhatov and Abdulla Orusov, known for their online criticism of the Turkmen government, have been missing since July 24, 2025. In April,
Turkish authorities detained and held them in deportation detention on national security grounds. In May, Türkiye denied them international protection. Umidajan Bekchanova, another dissident, has been detained in a Turkish deportation center since May 30 over alleged security threats and faces deportation to Turkmenistan. Turkish authorities cancelled her residence permit in October 2024 allegedly at Turkmenistan’s behest.
On April 3, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, urged Turkmenistan to investigate the alleged November 2024 poisoning attempt of 75-year-old independent journalist Soltan Achilova, who claimed it was intended to prevent her from traveling abroad. Following the failed attempt, authorities forcibly hospitalized her, claiming she had an infectious disease. Achilova remains under constant government surveillance.

Political Prisoners, Enforced Disappearances, and Torture
Dozens of individuals arrested more than two decades ago remained forcibly disappeared in the Turkmen prison system. Authorities refused to provide information on their whereabouts to the public or to allow families and lawyers to have contact. The fate and whereabouts of at least 21 individuals whose prison sentences expired between 2017 and 2024 remain unknown. In early 2025, authorities disclosed the whereabouts of 12 forcibly disappeared individuals who had served criminal sentences; five were confirmed dead.
In June, Turkmen authorities failed to release Murat Dushemov, a civic activist, when he finished serving his initial four-year sentence, instead holding him in pre-trial detention for three months on fabricated allegations of assaulting another prisoner. On September 16, a court in Turkmenabad sentenced Dushemov to an additional eight years in prison in a closed trial on unknown charges. On July 29, Lawlor called for Dushemov’s immediate release.
Many others wrongfully imprisoned remain behind bars on bogus, politically motivated charges. They include Mansur Mengelov, Saddam Gulamov, and Myalikberdy Allamuradov.
According to Turkmen.news, a Netherlands-based outlet, Turkmen prisons are overcrowded and plagued by poor conditions. Impunity for torture and other ill-treatment of detainees persists. In August, a forensic expert affiliated with Physicians for Human Rights, a non-governmental group, reviewed postmortem photos of Allamyrat Hudayramov, who died in police custody in 2023, and found his injuries were not self-inflicted, contradicting official claims. In April, the UN Committee against Torture raised concerns about Turkmenistan’s lack of efforts to prevent torture in custody.

Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
In 2025, Turkmenistan failed to ensure the right to an adequate standard of living and to food. Independent reporting indicated that high food prices and shortages of certain staple goods undermined access to food in the country. Prices for certain staple foods rose significantly in January. In February, Ashgabat authorities reportedly forbade private shopkeepers from selling sunflower oil and chicken under threat of fines.
Systemic forced labor in Turkmenistan’s cotton harvesting persisted. Authorities continued to compel public sector employees to harvest cotton. In Dashoguz province, authorities reportedly extorted money from individuals who refused to work in the fields to hire replacement pickers.

Freedom of Media and Information
Turkmenistan maintained one of the world’s most repressive media environments. Independent journalism is banned, and the government systematically blocked internet access, reportedly to promote state-controlled Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). Authorities targeted VPNs, online games, antivirus updates, and thousands of IP addresses. On February 23, WhatsApp reportedly became accessible without a VPN, but was blocked five days later.
In September, security officials in Dashoguz province sentenced a woman to 15 days in jail for allegedly posting “indecent” photos on TikTok and reading “anti-government” websites. In August, National Security officials in Lepab province reportedly pressured mobile phone vendors to install and sell agency-developed VPN systems and servers.
On February 15, authorities in Balkanabad warned public sector employees and residents against visiting foreign media websites critical of Turkmenistan. Police summoned one man who disagreed publicly, held him overnight, questioned him, and searched his phone before releasing him.

Freedom of Religion
Religious freedom remains tightly controlled. Unregistered religious activity is banned, and the state heavily regulates religious materials and education. Turkmenistan offers no alternative to compulsory military service. In January, in two separate cases, authorities sentenced Jehovah’s Witnesses Agabek Rozbaev, 20, and Arslan Vepaev, 21, to 18 months and two years of corrective labor, respectively, for conscientious objection.

Women’s and Girls’ Rights
Women and girls continued to face pervasive restrictions on the exercise and enjoyment of their rights. Turkmenistan bans voluntary abortions after five weeks of pregnancy. Access to legal abortions is limited by the few reproductive health clinics that are certified to provide such procedures. The public education system lacks comprehensive sexuality education in its curricula, focusing instead on promoting abstinence until marriage.
Turkmenistan has no law on domestic violence, does not criminalize it as a standalone offense, and lacks adequate protections for survivors.
In June, the Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, an exile-based human rights organization, raised concerns over online harassment and hate speech targeting women.
In March, authorities in Ashgabat reportedly introduced an informal dress code in the public sector, requiring unmarried women to wear yellow headscarves at work and married women to wear yellow dresses, threatening dismissal for noncompliance.

Human Rights Watch, World Report 2026. New York.

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Human Rights Watch, World Report 2026

7/5/2026

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Country Report: Turkiye
The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan consolidated its authoritarian trajectory with an unprecedented onslaught on the main political opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) that threatened freedom of political association and free and fair elections. A year after the party made gains over Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party in local elections, on March 19, the authorities detained Istanbul mayor and Erdoğan rival Ekrem İmamoğlu. Concurrently, the Erdoğan government pursued an end to the four- decade conflict with the armed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), in negotiation with its jailed leader, Abdullah Öcalan. On May 12, the PKK declared its decision to disband and disarm.
The government exercises control over domestic courts and persists in non-compliance with binding judgements of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), leading to serious human rights violations.
An annual inflation rate officially recorded as 31 percent at time of writing left low- and middle-income people’s rights to food and housing vulnerable to increasing food and rental prices.

Freedom of Expression
Public broadcaster TRT, news wire service Anadolu Ajansı, and most private TV news channels are government-aligned, as is the broadcasting watchdog, the Radio and Television High Council (RTÜK), that imposes arbitrary fines on oppositional TV news media and streaming platforms, as well as broadcasting suspensions that are disproportionate and violate the right to freedom of expression.
Journalists, public figures, and social media users frequently face prosecution and sometimes detention pending trial for criticism of the government and judiciary. At time of writing, 27 journalists and media workers were in pretrial detention or serving sentences.
On November 26, Fatih Altaylı, a journalist broadcasting on YouTube, was convicted and sentenced to a prison term of four years and two months on baseless charges of threatening President Erdoğan during a broadcast. Detained in June, he remains in prison pending appeal. Two executives from the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD) are on trial on charges of “publicly disseminating misinformation” and “attempting to influence a fair trial” on the basis of February speeches including criticism of the government’s human rights record.
In November, five staff members at the satirical magazine Leman stood trial for “inciting hostility and public enmity” on the basis of a cartoon in the June 25 edition that the authorities claimed, and the magazine refuted, was of the Prophet Muhammed. The cartoonist was released in November after five months in detention, while the trial continues.
On the day police arrested İmamoğlu, the government imposed bandwidth reduction (internet throttling) for 42 hours, making social media platforms inaccessible without the use of VPNs, many of which are partly blocked. Regular court and internet regulator decisions arbitrarily order social media companies to take down online content. The X account of Ekrem İmamoğlu, with 9.7 million followers, has been blocked in Türkiye since May 8.

Freedoms of Association and Assembly
During a wave of protests following İmamoğlu's arrest, police arbitrarily arrested and courts detained hundreds of people, mostly students, exercising their right to protest. They faced trial on charges including attending unauthorized demonstrations and failure to disperse.
Thousands of people face detention, ongoing investigations, and unfair trials on terrorism charges for alleged links with the movement led by deceased US-based cleric Fethullah Gülen, which the government deems a terrorist organization responsible for the July 15, 2016 attempted military coup. The justice minister announced in July that investigations against 58,000 and trials of 24,000 individuals were continuing, and that a total of 11,640 remanded and convicted persons alleged to be connected with the Gülen movement remained in prison. Many have faced prolonged and arbitrary imprisonment. In 2025, arrests and new criminal investigations were conducted against hundreds of individuals alleged to have continuing links with the movement.

Attacks on Lawyers and Human Rights Defenders
In 2025, lawyers faced heightened judicial harassment, particularly when representing clients in politically motivated cases or making statements advocating human rights protection.
In March, an Istanbul court approved the removal of the board of the Istanbul Bar Association in a civil case initiated by the Istanbul prosecutor after the association issued a December 2024 statement calling for an investigation into the killing of two Kurdish journalists in a Turkish drone strike in Syria. The bar association has appealed the decision. A directly related criminal case against the association for “spreading terrorist propaganda” and “misinformation” continues.
Lawyers acting for İmamoğlu and those arrested in related cases faced criminal investigation and sometimes detention. İmamoğlu’s defense lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan has been held in pretrial detention since June and in November was indicted on charges of “membership of a criminal organization” in the main case against İmamoğlu (see details below).
Osman Kavala, Çiğdem Mater, Can Atalay, Mine Özerden, and Tayfun Kahraman, known for their civil society engagement, remain in prison after their convictions on baseless charges of organizing the 2013 Gezi Park protests and attempting to overthrow the government. Kavala has been arbitrarily detained since October 2017 and the others since their April 2022 convictions. Türkiye has flagrantly disregarded ECtHR decisions ordering Kavala’s release. In 2025, the Istanbul prosecutor widened the investigation, prosecuting talent manager Ayse Barım, who was detained for eight months, and investigating journalist İsmail Saymaz.
Enes Hacıoğulları, an LGBT rights defender and youth delegate to the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, was detained for a month on the basis of a widely shared and non-inciteful speech he made to the congress about police abuses during the protests against İmamoglu’s arrest. His trial on charges of “disseminating misinformation,” for which he could face a two- to six-year prison sentence, continues.
In May, Syrian refugee rights advocate Taha Elgazi was deported to Syria months after the Turkish authorities arbitrarily revoked his Turkish citizenship.

Torture and Ill-Treatment in Custody
Young people who the police arrested during the mass demonstrations following İmamoğlu'sdetentionreportedill-treatmentonapprehensionandwhileincustody. A widespread culture of impunity persists with rare instances of law enforcement officials being held accountable.
Exceptions include the May 8 court conviction in the southern province of Hatay of four ranked soldiers to life imprisonment on charges of torturing to death two Syrian refugees and torturing four others who had crossed the border into Türkiye on March 11, 2023. Human Rights Watch had previously documented the case. In September, 13 gendarmes stood trial in Hatay for the death in custody of Ahmet Güreşçi and the torture of his brother Sabri Güreşçi, a case documented by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International in a 2023 report on police and gendarmerie abuses. The trial continues, and the defendants face a possible sentence of life imprisonment if convicted.

Kurdish Conflict and Crackdown on Opposition
The Erdoğan government pursued an end to the four-decade conflict with the armed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), in negotiation with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. On May 12, the PKK announced its compliance with a February 27 call by Öcalan to the armed group to disband and disarm, and a cross-party parliamentary commission began in August to examine relevant legal reforms. In the scope of ending the conflict, the government has yet to take steps to ensure equal rights for Kurds and other minority groups, to promote anti-discrimination measures, to amend abusive counterterrorism legislation, or to release political prisoners.
Among the jailed Kurdish activists and politicians on trial for or convicted of terrorism offenses for legitimate non-violent political activities and speeches are former Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ. They have been in prison since November 4, 2016.
İmamoğlu was arrested on March 19 along with two district mayors and over 100 municipal employees, council members, and businesspeople. After repeated waves of arrests, in November, the Istanbul prosecutor indicted İmamoğlu and 401 others on a series of charges, accusing the mayor of abusing his public office to establish a criminal organization and others of being members of it, with other charges centering on corruption, bribery, and fraud. The trial will begin on March 9, 2026.
İmamoğlu also faces a series of other ongoing trials, which are at different stages, based on arbitrary accusations. Several could result in him being banned from politics in the case of a final conviction.
Lawsuits against the leadership of the CHP nationally and in Istanbul that were aimed at removing party chair Özgur Özel and others continued through 2025. These cases and the detention of CHP mayors and council members in Istanbul districts and in cities including Adana and Antalya reinforce concerns of a concerted effort by the authorities to sideline the main political opposition party, gravely undermining the rights to freedom of political association and free and fair elections.

Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Migrants
Türkiye hosts one of the largest refugee populations in the world—with Syrians under temporary protection officially stated to number 2.4 million and substantial numbers of Afghans and other groups. Authorities have increasingly ignored protection claims and sought to reduce the refugee population by issuing unlawful deportation orders that are often based on arbitrarily labelling people irregular migrants or a security threat and coercing them to sign “voluntary” return forms. Examples include an April detention and deportation order issued against Turkmenistan activists Alisher Sakhatov and Abdulla Orusov, labelling them a threat to national security, despite a lack of concrete evidence. The whereabouts of the two since July is unknown and there are grave concerns they may have been deported to Turkmenistan despite a Constitutional Court interim ruling barring their return to Turkmenistan because of serious risk of persecution there.

Women’s and Girls’ Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
The government used its designation of 2025 as the "year of the family" to justify measures that undermined women's rights and the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. On May 2, the Ministry of Family and Social Policies issued a circular to 81 provincial directorates instructing them to avoid using terms like gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity, citing threats to family unity and society. In October, a draft law was leaked that proposed criminalizing conduct deemed “contrary to biological sex” as well as its so-called “promotion,” and prohibiting access to gender-affirming care outside strict new limits. While no law has yet been officially proposed, there are concerns that the government has not ruled out such measures.
The authorities justified increased arbitrary censorship of social media and digital platforms, and criminal investigations of artists with vague references to "public morality," and obscenity. In October, the Istanbul prosecutor indicted the all-female music group Manifest accusing its members of exhibitionism and obscenity on the basis of their costumes and dancing during a concert. The six singers were released with travel bans after testifying before the prosecutor, and they cancelled their national tour.
Istanbul Pride was banned for the eleventh consecutive year, and many cities across the country imposed similar bans.

Climate Change Policy
Türkiye avoided committing to a phase out of fossil fuels with its September announcement of revised but unambitious greenhouse gas emission mitigation targets. In 2025, local community groups challenged the government decision to expand the Afşin Elbistan coal power plant A.

Human Rights Watch, World Report 2026. New York.

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Human Rights Watch, World Report 2026

6/5/2026

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Country Report: Tunisia
Tunisian authorities tried dozens of people, including prominent opposition figures, lawyers, and activists, in politically motivated cases and sentenced them to long prison terms on vague charges including terrorism or conspiracy against state security. The government has turned arbitrary detention into a cornerstone of its repressive policy, aimed at depriving people of their civil and political rights.
Civic space shrunk as authorities harassed activists and targeted civil society organizations with unfounded criminal investigations, increasing financial and administrative controls, and restrictions on their activities.

Political Crackdown
On April 19, a Tunis court sentenced 37 people, including lawyers, political opponents, activists, researchers, and businessmen, to between 4 and 66 years in prison in a politically motivated case known as the “Conspiracy Case.” They were accused of “conspiracy against internal and external State security” and terrorism for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government of President Kais Saied. The court issued the sentences in a mass trial after just three sessions, without providing the defendants an adequate opportunity to present their defenses and without other due process protections.
Following the “Conspiracy Case” trial, anti-terrorism forces arrested a defense lawyer in the case and former administrative judge, Ahmed Souab, at his home on April 21, following comments he made questioning the independence of the judiciary. A judge ordered Souab detained on April 23 and on October 31 an anti-terrorism court sentenced him to five years in prison. Authorities have also subjected other defense lawyers in the same case to increasing judicial harassment and criminal prosecution for the legitimate exercise of their profession.
On November 27, a Tunis Appeals Court confirmed sentences against 34 of the 37 “Conspiracy Case” defendants between 5 and 45 years in prison and acquitted three. Authorities then arrested three prominent activists convicted in the case: Chaima Issa, Ayachi Hammami, and Ahmed Nejib Chebbi.
On June 12, a Tunis court sentenced Abir Moussi, leader of the Free Destourian Party (PDL) and prominent opponent to president Kais Saied, to two years in prison for criticizing the electoral commission. Moussi has been imprisoned since October 2023 in connection with her statements and activism. She was previously handed a two-year sentence in a 2024 case related to her remarks on legislative elections. On December 12, Moussi was again sentenced to 12 years in prison for seeking “to change the form of government.”
On June 20, a Tunis court sentenced Moncef Marzouki, former president of Tunisia, Abderrazak Kilani, a lawyer and former minister, and Imed Daïmi, a former member of parliament and prospective candidate for the 2024 presidential election, to 22 years in prison. They faced terrorism and security-related charges reportedly in connection with a press conference they held in Paris. All three are in exile and were sentenced in absentia.
On July 8, a Tunis court sentenced 21 people, including leaders of the Ennahda party and other opposition members, former government officials, and lawyers to prison terms of between 12 and 35 years on vague terrorism and state security charges. Among them was Rached Ghannouchi, former president of the Ennahda party detained since April 2023 and convicted in several cases, who received a 14-year sentence in absentia.
On October 1, Nabeul court sentenced Saber Ben Chouchane to death for peaceful Facebook posts criticizing the president and calling on Tunisians to take to the streets. Ben Chouchane, who was arrested on January 22, was convicted under article 72 of the penal code, which provides for the death penalty for “attempting to change the form of government” as well as under article 67 for “insulting the president,” and Decree-Law 54 on Cybercrime for “spreading fake news.” After his conviction sparked public outrage, he was released on October 7 following a presidential pardon.

Freedom of Assembly and Association
On April 10 and May 9, security forces banned two events from taking place at the Rio theater in Tunis without a legal basis. The first was a mock trial in support of people arbitrarily detained for their peaceful opinions and activities, while the second was a rally in support of imprisoned journalist Mourad Zeghidi.
At least eight people working for non-governmental organizations in Tunisia were arbitrarily arrested between May and November 2024 in connection with their association work, in particular for providing aid to asylum seekers and refugees and combating racism. On November 24, two employees of the Tunisian Council for Refugees, Mustapha Djemali and Abderrazek Krimi, charged with facilitating the irregular entry and stay of foreign nationals in Tunisia, were sentenced to two years in prison and released for time served.
Several associations are facing criminal investigations in connection with their activities and finances or increased financial and administrative controls.

Freedom of the Press and Access to Information
At least three journalists, Chadha Hadj Mbarek, Mourad Zeghidi, and Borhen Bsaises remained imprisoned as of December. Lawyer and media commentator Sonia Dahmani was released on November 27 after 18 months in prison.
Reporters Without Borders ranked Tunisia 129th out of 180 countries in its 2025 World Report Index on press freedom, a decline by 11 ranks compared to the previous year. It highlighted increasing political pressure on newsrooms, tightening legislation, and a climate of fear and self-censorship.
In August, the authorities shut down the National Authority for Access to Information, an independent body established in 2016 to guarantee the right to access information, which had been gradually restricted since Kais Saied became president in 2019.

Migrants, Asylum Seekers, and Refugees
As of March, there were over 10,600 refugees and asylum seekers registered with the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in Tunisia, including 5,000 Sudanese nationals, many of whom had fled the conflict in Sudan starting in April 2023. UNHCR said that 86 percent of those it had registered originated from countries affected by armed conflict and widespread violence.
Tunisia lacks a national asylum system and the asylum applications procedures managed by UNHCR in Tunisia have been suspended since June 2024 at the request of Tunisian authorities.
Migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees in Tunisia continue to face serious violations by security forces, including arbitrary arrests and detention, collective expulsions to the borders with Algeria and Libya, ill-treatment, torture, and sexual violence. According to humanitarian sources, Tunisian authorities expelled least 12,000 people between January and April 2025 alone, including unaccompanied children.
In April, security forces dismantled part of the al-Amra and Jbeniana migrant camps north of Sfax, where thousands of migrants and asylum seekers from other African countries were living. The national guard removed migrants from the camps, arresting some and expelling them from the country. Anti-migrant campaigns continue to be widely shared on social media.
The tightening of security measures and the rise of anti-migrant rhetoric have increasingly restricted migrants’ access to health care, education, transportation, work, and housing.
Despite evidence of serious violations, the European Union continued to cooperate with Tunisia on migration in the follow-up to the 2023 EU-Tunisia Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that was accompanied by €105 million in EU support for migration management in Tunisia. The European Commission remained silent on Tunisia’s violations of migrant rights, despite continued abuses by the National Guard including the Coast Guard, who had benefitted from EU support, and despite the Tunisian government’s broader restrictions to civic space and severe crackdown on critics. The European Commission has still not implemented the recommendations included in the October 2024 report of the European Ombudsman, including ensuring public human rights monitoring and setting criteria for suspending EU-funded projects due to human rights violations.

Women’s and Girls’ Rights
Tunisian law continues to discriminate against women in inheritance rights and President Saied has expressed opposition to legal reforms. President Saied promulgated a 2022 constitution which states that “Tunisia is part of the Islamic Umma [community/nation]” and makes the realization of “the purposes of Islam” a responsibility of the state. Such provisions could be used to justify attacks on women’s rights based on interpretations of religious precepts.
A 2017 law on violence against women set out new support services, prevention, and protection mechanisms for survivors. However, there are numerous shortcomings in the law’s implementation. These include inadequate police and judiciary response to complaints of domestic violence, insufficient state funding for the law’s implementation, and a lack of sufficient women’s shelters.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
Authorities continued to prosecute and imprison men for alleged same-sex sexual conduct under article 230 of the penal code, which provides up to three years in prison for “sodomy.” LGBT activists have also faced increased harassment.
According to LGBT rights groups, authorities’ arrest and prosecution of people based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity has increased since the end of 2024. Between September 2024 and January 2025, over 80 people, mainly gay men and trans women, were arbitrarily arrested in different cities, detained, and prosecuted, according to the Tunisian Association for Justice and Equality (DAMJ). In July, at least 14 people were arrested in Djerba and Tunis, and at least six of them were sentenced to prison terms under article 230 of the penal code. Some of those arrested were targeted digitally and entrapped by members of the security forces on social media or dating applications.
Authorities also continue conduct forced anal examinations—purportedly to identify “proof” of homosexual conduct— which are a form of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment that can amount to torture.

African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights
In March, the government announced it would withdraw its declaration under article 34(6) of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The decision will prevent individuals and certain non-governmental organizations with observer status from directly bringing cases against Tunisia before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The withdrawal decision will take effect in March 2026. The African Court has condemned Tunisia’s human rights and democratic backsliding since 2021 and issued multiple rulings that the government has failed to implement.

Human Rights Watch, World Report 2026. New York.

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Human Rights Watch, World Report 2026

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