Detained Tunisian flotilla activists: Worsening health amid family anguish | Human Rights News
Tunis, Tunisia – Nine-year-old Yassar Naouar faces a difficult reality as he visits his father, Wael, in prison. To shield his already troubled father from further pain, Yassar fights back tears until he finds a private moment to cry after leaving the facility.
Yassar’s grandfather, Hichem Naouar, has observed significant changes in the boy since his father’s arrest. Yassar now sleeps next to his mother after experiencing nightmares and has struggled academically. When other children questioned him about his father’s character, asking if he was a thief, Yassar firmly responded, “Never.”
Wael’s youngest child, four-year-old Sumud, lacks the understanding of her father’s situation. During a recent visit, she attempted to reach out to him through a glass barrier, inadvertently hitting her head against it in her eagerness to embrace him.
Hichem Naouar spoke with Al Jazeera outside the Tunis Court of Appeal on Wednesday, where he had come to monitor the latest developments concerning Wael’s detention. He became emotional as he recounted Wael’s condition during their last meeting—a fragile figure with trembling hands, struggling to focus and maintain his health.
Wael later confided to Hichem that fellow prisoners indicated he sometimes wakes up calling for Sumud in the night.
Hichem reflected on Wael’s character, recalling a moment during the Sumud land convoy in Libya in May, when Wael intervened to rescue a fellow participant from an attempted kidnapping. He also recounted an incident during a flotilla when Wael bravely jumped into the sea to save a drowning woman.
“Wael’s strength lies in his principles and commitment to his community,” Hichem stated. “He has always stood against injustices faced by workers.”
The Case and Its Wider Fallout
Wael, now 41, initiated a hunger strike on August 16 to protest his detention, leading to a hospital transfer due to deteriorating health. He suspended the strike after 38 days, emphasizing that this decision did not signify a withdrawal of his demands.
Wael Naouar and three other activists—Ghassan Henchiri, Ghassan Boughdiri, and Nabil Channoufi—have been in custody since March as part of an investigation by Tunisia’s Economic and Financial Judicial Pole regarding alleged financial misconduct related to fundraising for the Global Sumud Flotilla. This campaign aims to send aid to Gaza and confront Israel’s blockade.
Judicial sources indicated that authorities are scrutinizing the origins and allocation of funds raised for the flotilla. The activists maintain their innocence and have not been convicted of any crimes.
Defense attorneys have questioned the necessity of their continued detention while the investigation remains open. Ghassan Ghribi, a member of the defense committee, criticized the judicial process, referring to the latest four-month extension of pretrial detention as an “exception to the exception.” The extension was ordered by the court on September 11, and this decision is currently being contested.
“The investigating judge spent six months on this case without taking any substantial investigative steps beyond questioning the activists,” Ghribi asserted.
On Wednesday, the Court of Appeal upheld the extension, resulting in the continued pretrial detention of the four men. Henchiri, Boughdiri, and Channoufi remain on hunger strike.
Authorities have framed the case as a financial investigation rather than a politically motivated prosecution. The government has denied any misuse of the judiciary for silencing dissent and maintains that legal proceedings are conducted independently and lawfully.
The repercussions of the case extend beyond the detained activists. Fourteen individuals arrested during a September 19 protest demanding the activists’ release are now in pretrial detention, including a minor who faced a juvenile judge. Tunisia’s Child Protection Code advises prioritizing preventive measures over detention for minors.
Attorney Rafed Rabbeh indicated that the detainees are facing multiple charges, including participating in an assembly purportedly intended to disrupt public order and making unfounded public allegations against officials—charges based on various provisions of Tunisia’s Penal Code.
The Toll on Those Left Behind
From Gafsa, Ghassan Henchiri’s father, Sebti, reported that his son remains awake but looks unwell after nearly a month on hunger strike.
“He’s visibly exhausted but still conscious,” Sebti said, sharing details of his son’s health struggles, including an untreated head injury incurred during previous detention in Israel. Ghassan’s family has sought medical attention for him, but their requests have often been unmet.
“His fatigue is evident, and the prison conditions are arduous,” Sebti remarked, also highlighting ongoing health issues affecting Ghassan, including a skin rash that has disrupted his sleep.
“I will remain steadfast; I will not abandon my rights, and these false accusations do not define me,” Ghassan told his father.
The impact of Ghassan’s detention has reverberated through his family life, as he had been a teacher and was recently engaged. Sebti described Ghassan’s political activism as deeply rooted within their family, stemming from a legacy of advocacy for freedom and dignity for Tunisians.
“This commitment is what he was raised on,” Sebti said.
Human Rights Watch has raised alarms about the use of financial investigations against civil society figures in Tunisia, highlighting broader implications for freedom of expression and assembly.
The emotional strain on the Naouar and Henchiri families is palpable, marked by anxieties from prison visits, urgent phone calls, and children questioning when their fathers will return.
Yassar continues to yearn for his father, even expressing a willingness to embark on a hunger strike of his own.
When asked where her father is, Sumud simply replied, “Palestine. Prison.”
