Over the past twenty years, Tunisia has made great strides in human development, dramatically improving its education system, health services and life expectancy. At the same time, however, Tunisia has moved backward on human rights and democracy. Tunisia is a deeply repressive country, in which personal liberty is regularly and systematically violated by the state. In an election in which most opposition parties were barred from participating, in October 2004 President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali was reelected with close to 95 percent of the vote. Tunisia’s constitution was amended to allow Ben Ali to run for a fourth five-year term and to grant the head of state “permanent immunity for acts connected to official duties.”
In the last few years, the government intensified its campaign to silence human rights activists and to destabilize and cripple independent organizations. A handful of independent human rights groups continue to operate in the face of extreme government harassment. The Fund delivers desperately needed resources to these isolated activists, helping them to expose violations to the international community.
The Fund aims to provide sustainable support for human rights organizations. To that end, we maintain a long-term focus on specific countries and regions where we believe strategic grant-making can make a difference in advancing human rights protections over time. The Fund has had a program in Tunisia since 2004.
