Tunisia: Court orders release of human rights activist Sihem Bensedrine following increasing international criticism

A Tunisian appeals court has ordered on Wednesday February 19 the release of prominent human rights activist Sihem Bensedrine, although she remains subject to a travel ban due to ongoing legal cases.

Bensedrine, 74, was the head of the now-defunct Truth and Dignity Commission (IVD), which was responsible for investigating human rights abuses committed by previous autocratic regimes. She had been detained since August on charges of allegedly falsifying the commission’s final report, which was published in 2020. Authorities also accused her of accepting a bribe to include a section in the report that implicated the Franco-Tunisian Bank (BFT) in corruption—an allegation she has strongly denied.

Her husband, Omar Mestiri, welcomed the court’s decision, telling AFP that while Bensedrine had suffered, she remained in good spirits and was determined to fight for her rights. Earlier this year, Bensedrine staged a hunger strike to protest her detention, which led to her hospitalization after 10 days. The IVD, established in 2014 following Tunisia’s 2011 revolution, was tasked with documenting human rights violations committed between 1955 and 2013, during the authoritarian rule of presidents Habib Bourguiba and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

The court’s decision follows increasing international criticism of Tunisia’s crackdown on political opponents. On Tuesday, the United Nations human rights chief condemned the “persecution of political opponents” and called on Tunisian authorities to end the wave of arrests and arbitrary detentions.