TUNISIA: ANTIRACISM FIGURE FACING EIGHT YEARS IN PRISON

Your Excellency,

I urge you to immediately and unconditionally release woman human rights defender, Saadia Mosbah, who has been arbitrarily detained since May 2024. She is the president of anti-racism organization, Mnemty (“My dream”), founded in 2013. On March 19, 2026, the Tunis Court of First Instance sentenced her to eight years in prison and a fine exceeding TND 120,000 (about EUR 36,000). She was prosecuted alongside eight other Mnemty staff members and associates on unfounded financial criminal charges related to their human rights work.

Prior to the judicial investigation, Mnemty was targeted by a smear campaign led by pro‑government social media accounts amid a surge in anti-Black and xenophobic rhetoric by public officials that has fueled racist violence. In detention, Saadia Mosbah reported racial discrimination including a racist physical assault by a prison guard and a denial of adequate medical care. The other defendants also endured racial discrimination during the investigation.

I urge you to ensure the immediate release of Saadia Mosbah and the quashing of the conviction and sentence against her and the five other Mnemty staff members. I call on you to investigate allegations of racist ill-treatment against Saadia Mosbah, which may amount to torture, and to cease using the criminal justice system against human rights defenders while respecting the rights to freedom of expression and association.

Yours sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]