Distinguished members of Tunisia’s political opposition have introduced they are going to be becoming a member of a collective starvation strike in solidarity with jailed politician Jawhar Ben Mbarek, whose well being they are saying has severely deteriorated after 9 days with out meals.
Ben Mbarek, the cofounder of Tunisia’s important opposition alliance, the Nationwide Salvation Entrance, launched a starvation strike final week to protest his detention since February 2023.
Really helpful Tales
listing of three gadgetsfinish of listing
Ben Mbarek’s father, veteran activist Ezzeddine Hazgui, stated throughout a information convention within the capital Tunis on Friday that his son is in a “worrisome situation, and his well being is deteriorating”.
Hazgui stated his household would launch a starvation strike in solidarity together with his jailed son.
“We won’t forgive [Tunisian President] Kais Saied,” he added.
The leaders of Tunisia’s main opposition events additionally declared on Friday that they might go on starvation strike in solidarity with Ben Mbarek.
Amongst them is Issam Chebbi, the chief of the centrist Al Joumhouri (Republican) Celebration, who can be behind bars after being convicted in the identical mass trial as Ben Mbarek earlier this yr. Wissam Sghaier, one other Al Joumhouri chief, stated some get together members would comply with go well with.
Rached Ghannouchi, the 84-year-old chief of the Ennahdha get together, who can be serving a hefty jail sentence, introduced he was becoming a member of the starvation protest.
Ghannouchi was convicted in July of “conspiring towards state safety”, including to earlier convictions, together with cash laundering, for which he has been sentenced to greater than 20 years in jail and for which he claims innocence.
A submit on his official Fb web page stated Ghannouchi’s starvation strike sought to assist Ben Mbarek, however he was additionally taking a stand to defend “the independence of justice and freedom within the nation”.
Ben Mbarek was sentenced in April to 18 years behind bars on fees of “conspiracy towards state safety” and “belonging to a terrorist group”, in a mass trial slammed by human rights teams as politically motivated.
Rights teams have warned of a pointy decline in civil liberties within the North African nation since Saied received the presidency in 2019.
A sweeping energy seize in July 2021, when he dissolved parliament and expanded govt energy so he may rule by decree, noticed Saied jail lots of his critics. That decree was later enshrined in a brand new structure – ratified by a extensively boycotted 2022 referendum – whereas media figures and attorneys crucial of Saied have additionally been prosecuted and detained beneath a harsh “fake news” law enacted the identical yr.
Most not too long ago, lawyer and outspoken Saied critic Ahmed Souab was sentenced to 5 years in jail on October 31 beneath Decree Regulation 54, because the laws is understood.
The Tunisian League for Human Rights stated there have been “quite a few makes an attempt” to influence Ben Mbarek to droop his starvation strike, however he has refused, saying he’s “dedicated to keep up it till the injustice inflicted upon him is lifted”.
Jail authorities denied on Wednesday that the well being of any of its prisoners had deteriorated due to a starvation strike.
The Arab Organisation for Human Rights within the UK stated questions have been raised relating to the jail administration’s compliance with legal guidelines governing medical take care of detainees on starvation strike and the “safeguarding of their proper to bodily security and human dignity”.
“Tunisian regulation explicitly stipulates the state’s accountability to guard the lifetime of any prisoner, even when that particular person chooses starvation strike as a type of protest,” the rights group stated in an announcement on Friday.
“The jail administration is subsequently obliged to make sure applicable medical care and common monitoring,” it stated, including that Ben Mbarek’s protest displays “a broader local weather of political and social pressure that transcends his private state of affairs”.
“His motion represents a type of protest towards detention situations and judicial processes that many view as influenced by present political polarisation,” the group stated.
“Finally, the case of Jawhar Ben Mbarek exposes a deeper disaster regarding respect for the rule of regulation and the precept of accountability,” it added.
يواصل أستاذ القانون الدستوري جوهر بن مبارك إضرابه المفتوح عن الطعام في محبسه منذ 29 أكتوبر الماضي داخل السجن المدني ببلي (ولاية نابل)، احتجاجاً على اعتقاله فيما يُعرف بقضية “التآمر على أمن الدولة”.
وتظهر المعطيات المتوفرة أن الحالة الصحية لبن مبارك تزداد هشاشة مع استمرار… pic.twitter.com/HrHwe14juE
— المنظمة العربية لحقوق الإنسان (@AohrUk_ar) November 7, 2025
Translation: Constitutional regulation professor Jawhar Ben Mbarek continues his open-ended starvation strike in his place of detention since October 29 contained in the civil jail of Belli (Nabeul Governorate), in protest towards his arrest in what is named the “conspiracy towards state safety” case.
Obtainable knowledge present that Ben Mbarek’s well being situation is turning into more and more fragile with the continued full abstention from meals, which locations his bodily state in a crucial part requiring exact and fixed medical monitoring.
