Tunisia cracks down on NGOs
The Tunisian government has ordered nongovernmental organizations to disclose all of their foreign funding in what some see as an attempt to suppress the civil society sector.
On June 12, the Tunisian government issued a statement ordering all nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to declare all funds they receive from abroad and threatened to prosecute any party that failed to comply. The move, unprecedented since the fall of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, has sparked controversy in the local civil society sector.
Some in this sector saw it as within the scope of the anti-corruption campaign announced by the government on May 23, while others saw it as an attempt by the executive branch to control civil society.
