The President of the Geneva Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CGDDh), Me Ridha Ajmi, met today the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Ms Margaret Satterthwaite, to discuss the further situation more worrying for magistrates and lawyers in Tunisia.
During this meeting, Me Ajmi highlighted the wave of arrests of political opposants which increased in February 2023, and which led to the imprisonment of many lawyers and magistrates in Tunisia. The CGDDh president also approached and completed the files of magistrate Bachir Akermi, who was the victim of forced confinement in a psychiatric hospital in an attempt to silence him, and of lawyer Noureddine Bhiri, hospitalized and leading a strike hungry since his arrest, who was assaulted to the point of breaking his shoulder with his left hand by the Tunisian police. Other issues were also discussed, such as the process of targeted and continuous harassment of the speaker of the dissolved Tunisian parliament Rached Ghannouchi and the complaints being investigated by the UN and African authorities supported by the CGDDh.
Mrs. Margaret Satterthwaite confirmed her close monitoring of the situation in Tunisia and we were able to provide her with new information on the cases of Mr. Akermi and Mr. Bhiri.
Me Ajmi clearly expressed to the Special Rapporteur that the CGDDh, active within international civil society, strongly condemns the harassment and violence against magistrates and lawyers in Tunisia, as well as the recent wave of arrests of political opponents.
The Center joins forces with other organizations concerned about the deterioration of the state of human rights defenders and magistrates, to call on the Tunisian authorities to respect human rights and guarantee the independence of justice and lawyers. The Center thus remains very vigilant about this worrying situation in Tunisia and continues to closely monitor developments in full collaboration with the competent international bodies.
