Tunisian anti‑racism activist jailed for eight years

Submission statement: The jailing of a pioneering anti-racist activist in Tunisia highlights the country's autocratic slide under President Kaes Sayed, who has wielded the racist conspiracy theory of the Great Replacement to justify a crackdown against NGOs helping Subsaharan migrants, numerous in Tunisia as it's an important transit point between the Sahel and Europe; but also illustrates deeper issues with racism in North Africa.

The article deals with the case of Saadia Mosbah, a former stewardess who has been at the forefront of anti-racism in Tunisia, advocating for equal rights and dignity for Black Tunisians – who represent 10-15% of the population – and Subsaharan foreigners. She sponsored a pioneering bill in 2018 criminalizing racial discrimination, but has been targeted by Kaes Sayed's regime since his self-coup in 2021, as the Tunisian President alleges NGOs like Mosbah's are plotting to replace Tunisia's Arab majority by Black Africans – a conspiracy theory that has been echoed across North Africa as nationalist populism grips the region and migration waves from beyond the Sahara stress the countries' resources.

The first Arab country to rise in revolution against its longtime dictator, Tunisia has experienced democratic backsliding under President Kaes Sayed since 2019, who has solidified power around himself and launched a massive wave of politically motivated arrests targeting his critics, but more largely civil society figures, threatening to smother Tunisia's democratic gains in the name of the continuation of the revolution.