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In Tunisia, abuses of dissidents amounting to “psychological torture” have surged since President Kais Said took power in 2021, rights groups said Tuesday.
Said froze parliament on July 25, 2021, seizing wide-ranging executive power. Critics called it a “coup” and was the only attack on democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring uprisings more than a decade ago.
Incidents of torture instigated by political leaders in Tunis declined after dictator Zin El Abidin Ben Ali was overthrown in 2011, said Helen Legay of the Global Organization Against Torture.
But since Said’s seizure of power, such abuses have “extended to political opponents” of the Tunisian leader, she said.
“What we are very concerned about is the increase in recent years of what we call psychological torture, or at least the mistreatment of people under police surveillance.
“It comes in the form of new restrictions such as arbitrary restrictions on freedom, house arrest, travel bans and police visits,” Reggie said.
“And this forms a painful environment that is increasingly present in Tunisia.
Citing the violent repression of the 2020 and 2021 demonstrations, he said, “It’s coming back more and more. We’re seeing torture and ill-treatment institutionalized in the protests.
Legeay said security forces largely enjoyed “impunity” and provided “implicit consent” for targeting “protesters, political opponents, and members of the LGBTQ community.” .
In Tunisia, she said, “we are making a little progress” with the judiciary hearing more trials and several convictions being recorded in violent cases involving security forces.
But Tunisia has not yet suspended or imprisoned anyone accused of committing such crimes, she added.
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