Unlawful Travel Bans Placed On Those Critical of Tunisia's Leader

In the first month since his assumption of exceptional powers, Tunisian president Kais Saied has overseen the widespread use of "unlawful and arbitrary" travel bans. Amnesty International has documented the cases of at least 50 people - including judges, senior state officials and civil servants, businessmen, and a parliamentarian - who have been barred from traveling abroad over the past month. The bans have been imposed without judicial authorization or written explanation, and no timeframes have been specified. Saied says he wants to save the country from collapse amid economic woes and rising Covid cases.

President Saied has claimed that he was acting constitutionally when he arrogated broad powers for himself on July 25, after months of stalemate among Tunisia's governing institutions and amid a deepening Covid-19 crisis. The constitutional provision he invoked states that after 30 days, the Constitutional Court, upon a request from the Parliament, is to rule on whether the exceptional conditions still exist that would warrant the exercise of extraordinary powers.