Civil society leaders expressed concern on Wednesday over the authorities’ intention to amend Decree-Law No. 2011-88 of September 24, 2011 regulating civil society organisations (CSOs).
The leaders said they feared “a hardening of the law against civil society”.
Speaking at a press conference at the headquarters of the National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT), Bassem Trifi, president of the Tunisian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LTDH), said that the political authorities were aiming to “toughen the law against civil society” by amending Decree-Law 88 and submitting Bill 2023-27 to parliament, which was approved by the Committee on Rights and Freedoms last October.
“Decree-Law 88 is one of the achievements of the revolution and a pillar of freedom of assembly and association,” he said.
He added that the discourse of the current government includes a series of accusations of treason, foreign funding and terrorism against CSOs, despite the fact that they operate transparently and under the su
pervision of a number of bodies, including the Central Bank, the Financial Analysis Commission and the Ministry of the Interior.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse