Tunisia Crackdown on NGOs Intensifies as Power Cuts and Water Shortages Spark Protests
Tunisia is intensifying its crackdown on civil society organisations as public anger grows over severe power cuts, water shortages and extreme summer heat.
Human Rights Watch says authorities under President Kais Saied have used prosecutions, arbitrary detention, financial investigations and suspensions to target NGOs and their members. At least 47 people connected to civil society groups have been prosecuted since 2024, while at least 10 were held in preventive detention beyond the legal maximum.
The crackdown began with the arrests of 14 workers from asylum-support and anti-racism organisations between May and December 2024. Human rights defender Saadia Mosbah was sentenced to eight years in prison in March 2026 on what HRW described as abusive financial-crime charges.
Meanwhile, worsening living conditions have triggered protests against Saied. Temperatures have repeatedly approached 50°C, increasing demand for electricity and water. Rotating power cuts have disrupted water supplies because pumping stations depend on electricity.
Drought, shortages of raw materials and disruptions to bottled-water production have further intensified the crisis, while hospitals have faced additional pressure from heat-related illnesses.
The Tunisian Organisation of Young Doctors reported an “unprecedented” rise in heat-related deaths and called for a health emergency.
Saied has blamed the electricity and water failures on alleged deliberate sabotage but has provided no evidence. The unrest comes amid years of deteriorating civil liberties following his 2021 power grab, which rights groups say has contributed to an increasingly authoritarian political environment.
