Statement of Solidarity with the Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights
The World Organization Against Torture expresses its deep concern over the attempts to disrupt and destabilize the work of the National Council of the Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights, which took place last weekend in an effort to undermine one of the country’s key pillars in the defense of democracy, freedom, and human rights. It also condemns the ongoing campaign in the media and on social networks targeting the League through direct attacks on its president, Bassem Trifi, and its board of directors.
These attacks come in a broader political context marked by the shrinking of civic space and increasing restrictions on all forms of civil and political activity, aimed at silencing critical or opposing voices through prosecutions and harassment of human rights defenders and syndicalists. This is part of a broader effort to discredit and isolate intermediary bodies in order to weaken their balancing role in society.
In response, the World Organization Against Torture expresses its full solidarity with the League, its board of directors, and its president, and reaffirms its commitment to defending the right to freedom of association, as guaranteed by law, the Constitution, and international human rights instruments, against all forms of interference, restriction, or division targeting organizations committed to the defense of human rights.