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CPJ, partners call on EU to review approach toward Tunisia amid critical human rights decline

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CPJ, partners call on EU to review approach toward Tunisia amid critical human rights decline

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On Friday, the Committee to Protect Journalists and five other press freedom and human rights organizations sent a joint letter to the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen calling for an immediate change in the EU’s approach toward Tunisia due to a severe human rights decline. 

The signatories urged von der Leyen to condemn the crackdown on free speech and to press for the release of those who have been wrongfully incarcerated, including journalists. 

Several members of the press, including Mourad Zghidi, Borhen Bsaies, and Zied el-Heni remain imprisoned in Tunisia solely for exercising their right to report. Two other journalists, Ghassen Ben Khelifa and Khaoula Boukrim, were sentenced to two and four years in prison consecutively. 

Others, like lawyer and media commentator Sonia Dahmani, CPJ’s 2025 International Press Freedom Award honoree, continue to face judicial harassment despite her release from prison in November following the adoption of a European Parliament resolution. 

Read the full letter in English.

Read the full article here

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On beginning a new campaign, I always tell myself that if our efforts lead to the release of even one forcibly disappeared person, that alone would be our greatest success. All other hardships would become meaningless. Becoming part of this struggle has allowed me to heal. The movement gave meaning and purpose to our collective pain and national suffering. That is why solitary confinement and prison cannot break me. As for the Baloch people, solitary confinement has become a place where we write, study the struggles for freedom of people around the world and strengthen our political consciousness. The paradox is that imprisonment only makes our movement stronger. How has solitary confinement affected you, physically and emotionally? Solitary confinement for 14 months, combined with restricted movement and delays in receiving medical care, has led to me suffering since last October from severe back pain and radiculopathy. The lack of timely diagnosis and proper medical treatment worsened my condition. I was eventually transferred to a hospital in February 2026, where I was diagnosed with a lumbar disc prolapse. Despite the diagnosis I am still being denied physiotherapy, which is an essential part of the recovery process. Solitary confinement leaves deep physical and psychological scars on political prisoners. The state’s objective is not just to punish us, but also to weaken our revolutionary identity, morale and political resistance. Our struggle is directed at ending every form of state oppression, which is why we continue to endure the inhumane conditions of solitary confinement with resolve. The state seeks to spread fear among the people by imprisoning them. Yet even within these prison walls, we continue to show our people that oppressed nations can continue to resist state violence effectively. When states choose repression and force over tolerance for dissent, they cease to become institutions of justice and instead turn into instruments of fear. But fear is always temporary. Genuine popular movements of the people will eventually overcome fear and turn it into a source of strength. The irony is that state repression has made people fearless. The killing of innocent individuals and the constant demand for justice have deepened public political consciousness. This is the purpose that I share with every Baloch political activist: that our people understand the importance of collective strength, resistance and political awareness. If my solitary confinement helps strengthen that purpose, then I will endure this imprisonment with pride and determination. What role does the BYC play in Balochistan? The BYC is an indigenous movement of Balochistan. After the state’s implementation of its “kill and dump” policy in Balochistan in 2009, it launched a crackdown on active political parties and movements. Over the past two decades, thousands of innocent Baloch people have been killed. There was an urgent need for a strong public movement against what many Baloch view as an ongoing genocide, with even women and children no longer safe. It was under these conditions that the BYC emerged. Beginning with resistance protests across Balochistan, the movement gradually evolved into a broad public movement that gained widespread support throughout the region. The BYC has played a central role in documenting human rights violations and in advocating for national and political rights in Balochistan. International human rights organisations have largely been denied access to the region under the pretext of security concerns. Representatives of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances have been denied access to Balochistan for 15 years, preventing independent observation and reporting on ongoing human rights abuses. Similarly, many international institutions have been prevented from reporting effectively on the situation in Balochistan. The BYC functions simultaneously as a human rights organisation and as a civil rights movement. It has organised major public gatherings such as the March Against Baloch Genocide, the Raji Muchi and the Dalbandin gathering. Bringing together people from every segment of Baloch society, these mass assemblies served as public referendums against the state’s repressive policies. Alongside organising sit-ins and public demonstrations, the BYC has also become one of the most active bodies documenting and reporting human rights violations in Balochistan. In 2025 alone, the BYC collected data on 1,250 cases of enforced disappearances. This was despite the organisation itself facing an intense state crackdown, with much of its central leadership imprisoned and many activists subjected to harassment and intimidation. The strong participation of women within the BYC also reflects the movement’s progressive political vision. Women have been mobilised, educated about their fundamental rights and encouraged to become active participants and leaders within the organisation. What challenges have you faced promoting nonviolent resistance in Balochistan? Promoting nonviolent resistance and democratic political struggle in Balochistan is an extremely difficult task, given that students, journalists and human rights activists are routinely silenced through state-sanctioned enforced disappearances, killings and targeted violence. Peaceful political movements are often labelled as “anti-state” or “security threats”; activists are subjected to profiling, harassment, arrests and fabricated criminal cases. At present, more than 50 cases have been filed against me and other BYC leaders across Balochistan. Every protest organised by families of missing persons has resulted in cases being registered against us, evidence of the continuation of state policies aimed at suppressing freedom of expression and peaceful political dissent. Even First Information Reports (FIRs) related to the actions of armed groups have been filed against peaceful political activists. This represents an extreme form of state brutality whereby nonviolent political workers are deliberately linked to armed organisations in order to justify the violence inflicted on them by the state. Despite all these pressures and hardships, the people of Balochistan have not abandoned peaceful politics. For the BYC, nonviolent resistance is not merely a political struggle; it is a continuous effort to create space for human rights, justice and dialogue, in an environment dominated by fear, silence and repression. Does reading helping you overcome the isolation of solitary confinement? Books have been my greatest source of support during my solitary confinement, along with my memories of the Baloch resistance movement and the courage of those who have endured repression before us. Books have strengthened my political consciousness, intellectual depth and belief in resistance. They have expanded my understanding and helped me remain connected to my inner strength. Much of our protest inside prison has centred around access to books. Reading about revolutionary movements and political figures has given me the opportunity to reflect deeply on my own struggle, beliefs and purpose in life. Through this process, I have been able to understand my mission with greater clarity. Books have also helped me endure the weakest and most difficult moments of solitary confinement, by giving me the capacity to better understand and carry the pain and suffering of my people. Some of the books I have read during this period include:   Interview with History – Oriana Fallaci The Writings of Mao The Power of Habit – Charles Duhigg Living My Life – Emma Goldman Roots – Alex Haley No Friend but the Mountains: Writings from Manus Prison – Behrouz Boochani The Political Thought of Abdullah Öcalan – Abdullah Öcalan The Geopolitics of Shaming: When Human Rights Pressure Works and When It Doesn’t – Rochelle Teman The Paradox of Repression and Nonviolent Movements – Dalia Ziada Indira Gandhi and the Year That Transformed India – Srinath Raghavan Long Walk to Freedom – Nelson Mandela Mahr-e-Aflak – Surat Khan Marri The Song of Youth – Yang Mo World Order – Henry Kissinger Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics – Tim Marshall Resistance and Decolonization – Amircarl Cabral Men in the Sun – Ghassan Kanafani Remotely Colonial: History and Politics in Balochistan – Nina Swidler Back to the Future: The Khanate of Kalat and the Genesis of Baluch – Martin Axmann Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media – Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky Battle Ground: 10 Conflicts that Explain the New Middle East – Christopher Phillips Baloch Aur Un Ka Watan (The Baloch and Their Homeland) – Dr Farooq Baloch READ MORE

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