⚡ Special Edition: UN Rules Tunisia's Imprisonment of Ghannouchi Is Arbitrary
Tunisia Watch
The United Nations Has Ruled: Rached Ghannouchi Is Arbitrarily Detained
In a formal opinion adopted on November 10, 2025 and published in February 2026, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Tunisia's imprisonment of Rached Kheriji — known internationally as Rached Ghannouchi, founder of the Ennahda party and elected President of the Assembly of Representatives — violates international human rights law across four separate legal categories.
The Working Group called for his immediate release and the right to reparations, including compensation.
"The deprivation of liberty of Rached Kheriji is arbitrary, contrary to Articles 2, 7, 9, 10, 11 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Articles 2, 9, 14, 19 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights — falling under Categories I, II, III and V."
Who Is Rached Ghannouchi?
Rached Kheriji, born in 1941 and widely known as Rached Ghannouchi, is the founder and longtime leader of Ennahda — Tunisia's largest opposition political party and, until the 2021 coup, the dominant force in parliament. He served as the elected President of Tunisia's Assembly of Representatives of the People, the country's parliament, making him one of the most senior elected officials in the country.
On April 17, 2023, more than fifty plainclothes officers stormed his home. He was arrested without a warrant, his personal documents and electronic devices were seized, and he was taken to an undisclosed location. His family and lawyers were denied knowledge of his whereabouts for 48 hours. He has been held in Mornaguia Prison ever since — now over two and a half years in detention.
From Elected Speaker to Prison Cell
President Saied suspends parliament, revokes the prime minister, lifts parliamentary immunity, and assumes legislative, executive, and judicial powers by decree.
At least 17 current and former Ennahda members are arrested. Ghannouchi is subjected to more than ten police interrogations — most resulting in no charges when referred to prosecutors.
Arrested without a warrant by 50+ plainclothes officers at his home. Held incommunicado for 48 hours at an undisclosed location. All personal documents and electronics seized.
Brought before an examining magistrate. His lawyers were barred from assisting during interrogation. A detention order was issued after nine hours of questioning — based solely on a public speech in which he warned that excluding political groups from Tunisian life would be "a civil war project."
Convicted in absentia for "glorifying terrorism" — for paying tribute to an Ennahda leader by saying he "feared neither the powerful nor tyrants." Sentenced to one year; later increased to 15 months on appeal. His lawyers were notified of the hearing too late to prepare.
Faces at least 12 separate judicial proceedings and has been convicted in three, including a 22-year sentence in the so-called "Installingo" conspiracy case — based entirely on anonymous testimony with no material evidence.
Conducts three hunger strikes in solidarity with political prisoners. His Parkinson's disease has significantly worsened in detention. Physiotherapy sessions were abruptly halted. He is held in near-isolation, barred from collective activities including prayer.
UN Working Group adopts Opinion No. 63/2025, ruling his detention arbitrary under four categories of international law and calling for his immediate release.
Four Violations of International Law
The Working Group found Ghannouchi's detention unlawful under four distinct categories — an exceptionally broad condemnation that addresses not just how he was arrested, but why, and the conditions of the system that imprisoned him.
Arrested without a warrant, held incommunicado for 48 hours, and denied access to counsel. The UN found this amounted to a form of enforced disappearance and a complete absence of legal foundation.
His detention results from the peaceful exercise of free expression and political opinion. The UN found the government failed entirely to demonstrate that his public statements constituted incitement to violence.
Barred from legal counsel during interrogation, tried without adequate notice to his lawyers, convicted without material evidence, and judged by a judiciary under direct executive control.
His imprisonment is part of a systematic campaign targeting Ennahda members and opposition figures — a pattern documented by the UN High Commissioner and multiple Special Rapporteurs.
84 Years Old, Parkinson's, and Alone in a Cell
The UN Working Group referred Ghannouchi's case to the Special Rapporteur on the right to health, citing the gravity of his medical situation and the failure of prison authorities to respond adequately.
Ghannouchi is 84 years old and suffers from Parkinson's disease — a progressive neurological condition that has worsened markedly since his incarceration. According to the UN opinion, physiotherapy sessions authorized for three months were abruptly terminated by prison administration without explanation. Repeated medical certificates and requests for necessary equipment to help him write have been systematically denied.
The Working Group reminded Tunisia of its obligations under Article 10 of the International Covenant and the UN Nelson Mandela Rules: that all persons deprived of liberty must be treated with humanity and dignity, and that elderly detainees with chronic conditions require special attention.
What the Working Group Is Asking of Tunisia
The Working Group formally demands that Tunisia:
- Release Rached Ghannouchi immediately and unconditionally
- Grant him the right to reparations, including financial compensation
- Conduct a thorough and independent investigation into the circumstances of his arbitrary detention
- Take measures against those responsible for violations of his rights
- Amend its laws and practices to bring them in line with international human rights obligations
- Disseminate the UN opinion as widely as possible
Tunis Ignored the UN — Then Responded Late
The Working Group transmitted its communication to the Tunisian government on July 10, 2025, requesting a response by September 8. Tunisia asked for an extension, was granted until October 7 — and then responded on October 8, one day late. The Working Group formally noted it could not accept the response as submitted within the deadline.
In its belated reply, the government offered only general assurances: that legal procedures had been followed, that the anti-terrorism law was internationally compliant, that judicial independence was constitutionally guaranteed, and that Ghannouchi was receiving medical care. The government did not specifically rebut a single factual allegation — not the warrantless arrest, not the 48-hour disappearance, not the denial of counsel, not the interrupted physiotherapy. The Working Group treated the unrebutted allegations as established facts.
This pattern — ignoring or dismissing UN human rights procedures — is consistent with Tunisia's response to the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, whose rulings ordering democratic reforms Tunis has also refused to implement.
A Verdict That Tunisia Will Ignore — And What That Means
The UN Working Group's ruling is unambiguous: Rached Ghannouchi should be free. The evidence of arbitrary detention, free speech suppression, fair trial violations, and political discrimination is overwhelming. But Tunisia has already demonstrated, through its treatment of African Court rulings, that it does not consider itself bound by international human rights decisions. The real audience for this ruling is not Tunis — it is the international community. Every government, institution, and donor that continues normal relations with the Saied regime does so now with full knowledge that it is engaging a state the United Nations has formally declared to be arbitrarily imprisoning its most prominent opposition leader.