Tunisia withdraws from African Union human rights court

Tunisia has announced its withdrawal from the African Unions’s human rights court, signalling the government’s further neglect of rights issues and cases in the North African country.

In a declaration on Thursday, Tunisia announced “the withdrawal of its recognition of the competence of the (African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights) to accept cases from individuals and non-governmental organisations”.

A reason for the Tunisian government’s withdrawal from the Tanzania-based court, but the move comes at a time when Tunis is increasingly slipping into authoritarianism following a power grab by president Kais Saeid back in 2019.

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Exiting the court – which is tasked with enforcing the African Union’s human rights charter – essentially deprives individuals and human rights groups from bringing cases against Tunisian authorities.

The move comes amid a series of cases filed against Tunis in recent years, such as in May 2023 when the relatives of four detained opposition figures – including Ennahdha party leader Rached Ghannouchi – filed a case demanding their release.

In August last year, the AU court then ruled against Tunisia and urged the government to stop preventing the detainees from accessing their doctors and lawyers.

Following the government’s announcement of its withdrawal from the court, the Tunisian League for Human Rights (LTDH) denounced it as a decision “taken secretly” that it was “a dangerous step backwards and an attempt to withdraw from independent judicial institutions capable of fighting impunity and guaranteeing justice”.

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