Prisons in Tunisia: Heat Wave, A Double Sentence

Living within a few square meters, sharing a bed (when the opportunity presents itself), drinking, eating, and sleeping all in the same claustrophobic space, with no view other than the surrounding concrete walls. As Tunisia staggers through crippling heat, thousands of prisoners are serving a double sentence: prison time and the indecent conditions of their detention. Several suspicious deaths within the span of a few days reflect a reality in Tunisian prisons that the government has failed to come to terms with.

Parliament-Government-Presidency: The Unannounced Rupture

Relations between Tunisian Parliament and the government have never been so deleterious. The majority of ministers no longer attend debates. The President, for his part, has no qualms about treating his ministers with condescension and, when difficulties arise, tossing them to public condemnation. A scenario which reveals a rupture at every level of Tunisia’s decision-making infrastructure.

When Democracy Goes Dark, So Does Everything Else: Tunisia’s  Electricity & Water Crisis

In Tunisia, the lights going out are no longer a temporary inconvenience but a visible symptom of failed governance. Rolling power cuts and water shortages are not just the result of extreme heat or aging infrastructure; they reflect years of underinvestment, distorted energy policies, and a political system that separated democratic procedure from material delivery. Tunisians traded freedom for the promise of decisive leadership and got neither. As electricity and water become privatized survival tools—tanks and generators for those who can afford them—inequality deepens. What has never been tried is a democracy answerable for both the vote and the tap, for freedom and the lights staying on.

Journalism in Tunisia: Between political legacy and historical contingencies

Since 2022, freedom of expression and the right to information have suffered serious setbacks. Reforms initiated have failed to set up real safeguards against the derailing of the country’s “democratic transition” for political and personal ends. It is precisely the media’s entanglement with political power that constitutes the main handicap to its liberalization and full development.

UGTT-Kais Saied: 2026, a decisive year?

With a general strike and special congress drawing near, 2026 promises to be a decisive year for the union organization founded by Farhat Hached. In December, the UGTT’s long-standing secretary general, Noureddine Taboubi, resigned from his position just as the Union gears up  for a nationwide strike. Will the Union recover its place among the country’s dynamic forces, despite a destabilizing internal conflict and government attacks aiming to bring the organization to its knees?

Criminalizing Dissent: Six Stories from Tunisia’s Political and Media Crackdown

Tunisia’s political and media landscape has changed drastically since 2021, with expanded use of criminal law against journalists, opposition figures, and commentators critical of authorities. This article presents the profiles of six individuals targeted within the scope of the government’s crackdown on dissidence: journalist Chadha Hadj Mbarek, media commentator Mourad Zeghidi, opposition politician Issam Chebbi, party leader Abir Moussi, young journalist and political activist Siwar Bargaoui, and lawyer–politician Ghazi Chaouachi.