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Arab News
a day ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Once a beacon of hope, Tunisia's civil society struggles to survive
TUNIS: In May 2024, Tunisian activist Cherifa Riahi was arrested just two months after giving birth, accused of harboring illegal migrants. Over a year later, she is still in prison without charge. Rights groups see Riahi's case as a symbol of accelerating repression of civil society under President Kais Saied, who dissolved parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree. The crackdown marks a significant turnaround for Tunisia, where civil society groups flourished in the wake of the 2011 uprising that unseated President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, inspired other Arab Spring uprisings, and helped shape a democratic transition. • Activists subject to detentions, threats • Groups report asset freezes and raids • President accuses them of serving foreign agendas As head of a refugee support group, Riahi had been helping sub-Saharan asylum seekers and other migrants find housing and access medicine and food. Her family says she did nothing wrong. The forced separation from her daughter and young son has been traumatic. 'The girl doesn't recognize her mother at all,' Riahi's mother Farida, who is now caring for her grandchild, told Reuters at their family home in La Marsa near the capital, Tunis. 'They took her while she was breastfeeding. We didn't even have time to understand what was happening.' Since Saied's power grab, at least a dozen civil society figures like Riahi have been detained on allegations activists denounce as fabricated, according to rights groups and lawyers. At least 10 civil society groups have had their assets frozen and offices raided, they say. The Tunisian General Labour Union, which won the 2015 Nobel peace prize with other civil society groups and could once bring tens of thousands onto the streets, has been sapped by the arrests of junior officials on corruption charges. The Tunisian government's media office did not respond to calls and written questions seeking comment about Riahi's case and those of other activists and civil society groups. Saied, 67, has accused civil society groups of 'serving foreign agendas' and undermining national unity. He has said he will not be a dictator and that freedom and democracy will be preserved, but that he will not allow chaos or interference through foreign funding or organizations that represent a 'tool of treason.' Activists warn that some of Tunisia's last surviving democratic gains are at risk as the judiciary, media and parliament have all come under tighter executive control and most opposition party leaders are in prison. 'The attack on civil society organizations is not an isolated incident,' said Romdhane Ben Amor of the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, an independent advocacy group. 'It comes within the context of the authorities' plan to close civic space and to end the democratic openness achieved by Tunisians after January 14, 2011.' 'SEEN AS ENEMIES' In Tunis, the offices of I Watch, an anti-corruption watchdog founded after the 2011 revolution, used to bustle with dozens of employees, volunteers and journalists. These days, only three employees work on-site. Dozens work remotely, some fearing raids or arrests. Wajdi Belloumi, I Watch's president, said its bank transfers have been hindered and official investigations into the group are piling up. Hotels have stopped renting spaces for the group's events, citing vague instructions from authorities, Belloumi said. Last year, the electoral commission refused for the first time to allow I Watch to monitor elections due to suspicions of foreign funding. 'We're seen as enemies now,' Belloumi told Reuters. 'Many volunteers are afraid. Whistle-blowers have gone quiet. The pressure is everywhere — legal, financial, even personal.' Ben Amor said he had received anonymous threats and started looking over his shoulder in public spaces. 'People start saying, 'This man must be gotten rid of',' he said, referring to comments sent in private messages, or ''your son studies at that school, your daughter studies at that school ... I saw you on that street'.' Foreign governments that once championed Tunisia's democratic transition now prioritize curbing migration and short-term stability, rights groups say. Ben Amor said he believed he had been targeted particularly after speaking out against Saied's recent anti-migrant rhetoric. In 2023, the same year Tunisia signed a pact with the European Union aimed at stemming migration across the Mediterranean, Saied said illegal immigration was part of a 'conspiracy' to alter Tunisia's demographics. Since then, authorities have dismantled tents and carried out forced deportations — the campaign amid which Riahi was detained. Though the space for civil society groups is shrinking by the day, Belloumi said he remains committed. 'We chose this path — transparency, justice, accountability,' he said. 'And we're not walking away.'
New York Post
07-05-2025
- Health
- New York Post
Veterinarian warns against seemingly harmless activity with your dog — after massive parasite was found in woman's pelvis
It's just doggone bad luck. Doctors discovered a cyst twice the size of a tennis ball in the pelvis of a pregnant woman who was rushed to the hospital following months of abdominal pain. 3 One veterinarian has issued a warning over a habit treasured by dog owners over fear of tapeworm infection. Ben Ali et al., Open Journal of Clinical & Medical Case Reports They successfully saved the 26-year-old woman — who was 20 weeks pregnant — before running scans that revealed it was a hydatid cyst, a growth formed by a tapeworm infection that humans most commonly get from interacting with dog poop. While the case study did not specify what caused the cyst, one veterinarian is letting dog owners know a possible culprit could lie in a treasured activity: letting a dog lick your face. 'Ideally, dogs should not lick faces, especially around the mouth or eyes, as a matter of health,' Dr. Aimee Warner, a resident veterinarian at pet insurance company Waggel, told the Daily Mail. 'Humans are not infected by the adult tapeworms within the dog, but instead ingest Echinococcus eggs passed in dog feces by accident. If a dog has fecal soiling on its mouth or coat and then licks someone, there is a potential — albeit rare — for transmission.' To avoid contracting the disease, Warner recommends keeping your dog away from raw meat and livestock, getting the pooch dewormed regularly and maintaining good personal hygiene. 3 'Good pet ownership can be the difference in preventing risks,' she said. Getty Images/iStockphoto 'Good pet ownership can be the difference in preventing risks,' she said. The female patient was from Tunisia, where the researchers note that the Echinococcus granulosus tapeworm is 'very common.' This parasite can lead to severe liver damage in humans and is increasingly being reported in parts of Europe, Canada and the US. 3 To avoid contracting the disease, Warner recommends keeping your dog away from raw meat and livestock, getting the pooch dewormed regularly and maintaining good personal hygiene. Getty Images While rare, cases are reported annually in states like Arizona, New Mexico, California and Utah — and are more prevalent in rural areas, particularly those with dogs and sheep. In 2018, a 35-year-old woman complaining of tingling in her feet was found to have a tapeworm lodged in her spine. In 2020, doctors were stunned to discover that a woman's bulging eyes were caused by a cyst that was filled with baby tapeworms. And in 2024, a New York mother discovered her persistent seizures had been caused by tapeworm eggs in her brain.
