Yosra Frawes, president of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (ATFD), joined women protesting in Tunis on March 6, 2021, to denounce violence against women. FETHI BELAID / AFP
It was another major blow for Tunisian civil society. Community organizations, NGOs and charities have become a prime target of President Kais Saied's autocratic rule. Authorities suspended two of the country's most powerful advocacy groups for one month, accusing them of stoking tensions in the country. After the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (ATFD), a landmark feminist organization, was suspended on October 24, the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES), one of the main nonprofit organizations born out of the 2011 revolution, announced on Monday that it had also been suspended for 30 days.
Saied's government has stepped up its pressure on civil society actors, accusing them of receiving suspicious foreign funding. Dozens of other organizations reported being subjected to official investigations.
This unprecedented clamp-down comes as tensions mount in Tunisian society, particularly in the southeast city of Gabès, where there have been growing demonstrations against pollution. Since September, residents have been repeatedly poisoned by gas emissions from the Groupe Chimique Tunisien (Tunisian Chemical Group), which specializes in converting phosphate into agricultural fertilizer and is described by Saied as a "pillar" of the national economy.
