Human rights groups denounce recent waves of arrests in DRC and Tunisia

Human rights organizations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tunisia have reported waves of arrests involving civil liberties.

In Mambasa, the NGO PROTECTION PLUS condemned the arrest of 18 individuals by local chieftaincy agents and police. The organization stated that the arrests were part of a forced tax collection operation, where the release of detainees was reportedly conditioned on the payment of taxes and fines. PROTECTION PLUS criticized the use of imprisonment as a means to recover fiscal debts and called for an investigation into the involvement of the Congolese National Police.

In Tunisia, the Committee for the Respect of Liberties and Human Rights (CRLDHT) denounced a series of arrests following a peaceful march in Tunis. The march was held in support of four detainees on a hunger strike. The CRLDHT reported that the arrests involved disproportionate force and that some detainees were deprived of contact with lawyers or family members, a situation the organization likened to short-term forced disappearances.