EU must sanction Tunisia’s Saied say families of jailed opposition leaders

The European Commission has been asked to use its international human rights regime to sanction the Tunisian president and several leading ministers in his government as concern over the collapse of democratic and political freedom in the North African state intensifies.

At a press conference on Wednesday (26 April), the families of jailed opposition leaders in Tunisia urged the EU to impose sanctions against President Kais Saied, citing “the ongoing arrest, torture and in some cases killing, of anyone deemed to be in opposition” to his regime.

They also called for EU sanctions against Interior Minister Kamal Feki and his two predecessors, Justice Minister Leïla Jaffel and Minister of National Defence Imed Memmich.

“The EU must move beyond timid expressions of concern as they have clearly failed to convince Saied to stop or slow down his reckless destruction of Tunisia’s democracy,” said Dr Yusra Ghannouchi, the daughter of Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of the Islamist Ennahda party.

Last week, a European Commission expressed ‘great concern’ following the arrest and detention of Ghannouchi, whose party headquarters have since been shut down.

In recent months, dozens of prominent activists, politicians and trade unionists have been arrested, detained without charge or charged with treason or endangering national security.

Rodney Dixon KC, the lawyer representing the families, added that “what has been unfolding in Tunisia since July 2021 is a spiralling decline into worse and worse violations of fundamental freedoms and rights.”

“Based on the evidence, it is exactly the pattern of abuse that the EU human rights sanctions regime was created to seek to remedy.”

The EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime was created in 2020 to target the perpetrators of serious human rights violations and abuses worldwide, irrespective of where they occur. Sanctions could include travel bans and asset freezes.

The families have also urged the UK government to impose sanctions under the UK’s Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations.

President Saied, elected in 2019, seized most powers in 2021 by shutting down the elected parliament and replacing the government before moving to rule by decree and rewriting the constitution.

A new parliament with far weaker oversight of the government and no law-making powers was elected on a 10% turnout in January.

European Commission plans migration control, financial aid to Tunisia

The European Commission plans to tackle political and economic instability in Tunisia leading to migration influx caused by economic instability, according to an internal note sent to the member states, seen by EURACTIV.

However, the EU has provided financial support to Saied’s government since the start of the political crisis and appears prepared to step up its assistance to prop up Tunisia’s economy and fund a migration control agreement.

EURACTIV reported that the Commission is “preparing a substantial” macro-financial assistance package and “is exploring the possibilities for further budget support to Tunisia”, the internal memo says.

The €1.9 billion macro-financial assistance package the bloc could send to Tunisia is “pending Tunisian agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)”, the note indicates.

In recent weeks, Saied has appeared to push back against the bailout package, saying he would reject any ‘foreign diktats’ from the IMF.

[Edited by Alice Taylor]