Published On 27/10/2025
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Last update: 23:54 (Mecca time)
The Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights announced on Monday that the Tunisian authorities have suspended its activities for a month, in a measure similar to the one they took against the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women last week.
A statement by the Forum, a non-governmental organization active in immigration and environmental issues, explained that it “received this evening, October 27, 2025, an official correspondence informing it of the suspension of its activity for a month, with the same prepared wording that was applied to a number of associations and organizations.”
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The statement did not indicate the reasons behind this action by the authorities, but it noted that the “Forum” has been subjected “since April 2025” to “a continuous series of financial and fiscal audits,” despite “its commitment, as usual, to all legal and administrative arrangements.”
Foreign financing
Local media reported this week that a judicial investigation was recently opened into foreign funding received by various civil society organizations, including the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, the “Ana Yaqat” organization, “Al-Bawsala,” and the “Inkfada” website.
Reuters also quoted civil society sources that suspension decisions were also issued against several other organizations on the grounds of receiving foreign funding, but these organizations have not yet officially announced the decisions.
Ramadan Ben Omar, an official at the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, told Reuters that this measure is presented as a financial audit related to foreign funding, “but the real goal is to silence every independent and strong voice within civil society.”
According to the Business News website, the court ordered “the freezing of the assets of some associations pending the completion of investigations.” The website added, “So far, investigations have led to the dissolution of 47 associations and the freezing of the assets of 36 other associations.”
President Kais Saied has monopolized the powers since 2021 when he decided to freeze the work of Parliament, then dissolve it and dismiss the Prime Minister. The opposition described his measures as a coup. Since then, Tunisian and international non-governmental organizations have expressed their regret at the decline in rights and freedoms in the cradle of the “Arab Spring.”