UN rapes Tunisia over arrest of former justice minister | Human Rights News

The UN has expressed “grave concern” over human rights abuses in Tunisia, and calls for the release or prosecution of Officer Ennahdha.

The United Nations has expressed concern over human rights violations in Tunisia and has demanded the release or release of a former justice minister arrested in a crackdown on the Ennahdha party.

Noureddine Bhiri, a member of parliament and vice-president of Ennahdha, was put into a car by street-wearing police on 31 December and held for several hours in undisclosed locations.

He was later charged with felony criminal mischief.

The 63-year-old, who had several previous health conditions, including diabetes and hypertension, was taken to hospital on January 2. hunger strike.

He remains in hospital and is being cared for there.

Former Interior Ministry official Fathi Baldi was also arrested on 31 December in a similar situation. His whereabouts were kept secret for several days.

Liz Throssell, a spokeswoman for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, said on Tuesday that the dark state of the men’s detention was “already a serious concern” for human rights abuses in Tunisia.

The arrest was “echoed by practices that have not been seen since.” [former President Zine El Abidine] Ben Ali’s time ”and asked the Tunisian authorities to release him immediately or to charge the couple.

Concerns about “suffocating dissent”

Tunisia was the only democracy to emerge from the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, removing Ben Ali, along with a few other Arab leaders.

Ennahdha played a major role in Ben Ali’s subsequent transition a take power President Kais Saied in July last year.

The party has demanded that Bhiri be released and that his arrest is an illegal attempt to silence the country’s political opposition.

Committed to eradicating corruption, on July 25 last year, Saied ousted the Ennahdha-backed government, ousted parliament – the party’s largest bloc – and then took steps to govern by decree.

His opponents and civil society groups have expressed fear of a return to the authoritarianism of Ben Ali’s rule.

Throssell said the UN “is concerned about the stifling of dissent in Tunisia, including the misuse of anti-terrorism legislation and the increasing use of military tribunals to try civilians.”

But many Tunisians, tired of a corrupt and inefficient system, have welcomed Saied’s actions.

Among the international loudspeakers, the Tunisian press union said on Tuesday that it had state television it banned all political parties from entering its buildings or participating in social gatherings. Apparently the ban has been in place since Saied seized most of the power in July.

Representatives from seven Western countries and the European Union have called on Tunisia last month to respect “fundamental freedoms” and set a deadline for a return to democratic institutions.

Saied reiterated that he respects all freedoms and rights and will not become a dictator.