Tunisian Social Observatory

Report October – December 2025 

Fourth Quarter: High Protest Activity, Led by Civil and Political Mobilizations 

The change in the pace of protest and demands, along with a shift toward greater escalation, with a return to the streets, sit-ins, strikes, and demonstrations, was a strategy adopted by protest actors throughout 2025. Once again, the monitoring results confirm this: the last quarter of the year recorded 1,493 protest actions, representing an increase of approximately 45% compared to the same period in 2024, when 826 actions were recorded. 

With this number of actions, the last quarter represents the most active period of the year in terms of mobilization and demands, showing a higher pace than the first quarter (1,132 actions), the second quarter (1,254 actions), and the third quarter (1,316 actions). 

Exceptionally, and unlike most of the results recorded by the Tunisian Social Observatory team of the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights over the years, mobilizations related to civil and political rights dominated the last quarter of 2025. During October, November, and December, the team recorded 585 protest actions related to support for individuals, opposition to judicial decisions, demands for the release of political detainees, denunciation of political positions, violations of citizen rights, and the right to freedom of expression. 

The momentum of civil and human rights mobilizations began even before 2025, coinciding with arrests and trials targeting political opponents, human rights defenders, lawyers, unionists, journalists, and ordinary citizens. These actions gradually became the largest bloc of protest activity. 

The rise in civil and political rights-related mobilizations reflects several implications: it shows protests as a defensive reaction to protect rights and freedoms, denouncing restrictions through laws (e.g., Decree 54) or judicial measures limiting freedom of expression. It also indicates a growing civic and political awareness, alongside declining trust in state institutions and judicial processes, which are increasingly seen as insufficient to protect rights and ensure justice. 

Professional and labor-related mobilizations, traditionally at the forefront of demands, ranked second in terms of frequency in the last quarter of 2025, with 543 actions concerning professional status regularization, improved working conditions, the right to employment, implementation of pending agreements, and payment of salaries and arrears. 

Environmental demands maintained third place, with 123 actions in the last quarter, focused on access to drinking water, closure of illegal dumps, marine pollution control, and sewer network connections. The majority of environmental protests centered on industrial and air pollution in Gabès, sparking a series of mass mobilizations that continue. Gas leaks and fainting incidents among students and residents of the Salam neighborhood near the chemical plant repeatedly triggered new waves of protest. Consequently, Gabès has become a major site for environmental activism, advocating the right to clean air, the right to life, and a healthy environment. Despite the protest momentum, urgent requests for dismantling the chemical complex units have been postponed, and no decision has been issued either by the authorities or the presidential committee formed to address Gabès’ pollution issues. 

The last quarter also witnessed mobilizations demanding the right to education, denouncing the deterioration of educational institutions, calling for development and activation of stalled projects, improvement of roads, transportation, public health, hospital equipment, and specialist medical staff. Farmers protested for fertilizers, irrigation water, and better olive oil prices, while taxi drivers continued their actions seeking licensing. 

According to the monitored sample, Tunisian prisons experienced 170 days of hunger strikes during October, November, and December. Prison spaces became, in the words of political prisoner Ayachi Hammami, “arenas of struggle.” Several detainees involved in the so-called conspiracy case or prisoners of conscience chose hunger strikes to change their situation and demand fair trial guarantees, the right to appear before a judge rather than remote trials, or direct visits. 

Ayachi Hammami continues his hunger strike, which began on December 2, 2025, following his arrest in the conspiracy case, where he was sentenced to 5 years in prison. In the same context, Chaima Ben Issa carried out a 16-day hunger strike starting November 29, the date of the women’s march, before stopping it in response to calls from friends and supporters. The last quarter also included a 33-day hunger strike by political activist Jawhar Ben Mbarek, protesting the continuation of remote trials, and a three-day solidarity hunger strike by several political prisoners demanding the unification of opposition forces. 

The increase in civil and political rights mobilizations influenced the social actor profile. Activists and human rights defenders were the main actors in the last quarter (245 actions), followed by students (190 actions), citizens and workers (182 actions each), unionists (129 actions), public employees (125 actions), and lawyers (105 actions). Teachers participated in 69 actions, journalists in 60, and unemployed graduates in 59. Other mobilizations involved taxi drivers, rural and public transport, farmers, parents, students, traders, and young doctors. 

During the last quarter, social actors mainly used sit-ins (445 occasions), followed by strikes (127), hunger strikes (183), peaceful marches (27), and other forms such as road blockages, activity disruption, wearing red armbands, work stoppage threats, refusal to attend classes, marches to the capital, institution occupations, and “days of anger.” 

For virtual protest actions, social actors addressed authorities, the President, and the Prime Minister through appeals, petitions, and media or social media messages, representing 24.5% of all mobilizations (366 actions). 

Protest spaces varied: media outlets (366 actions), prisons (182), workplaces (166), schools (150), universities (112), and official institutions (about 260). Actions also occurred in front of courts (23) and in symbolic public spaces such as Avenue Habib Bourguiba, the municipal theater, and Kasbah Square (58), important for social actors. 

Tunis remained the leading city for protests with 420 actions, followed by Gafsa (135), Manouba (129), Gabes (94), Nabeul (81), Kasserine (77), Kairouan (60), Bizerte (54), Sfax (48), and Tataouine (44). Ariana, Monastir, and Ben Arous recorded the fewest mobilizations (7, 8, and 9 respectively). 

According to the sample, 21 suicide or attempted suicide cases were recorded: 15 in schools, 4 in homes, 1 in prison, and 1 in a public space. Thirteen were males, 7 females, across all age groups: 6 youth, 5 minors, 5 over 60, and 4 adults. 

These suicides generally reflected rejection and dissatisfaction. Examples include a woman in Sfax, elderly and young men in Kebili, a street vendor self-immolating in Gafsa, students consuming pesticides, and other dramatized acts across the country. Overall, these acts indicate a reduction of psychological, economic, and social security, with vulnerable groups expressing their refusal of reality through extreme acts. 

The last quarter also documented violence, thefts, sexual assaults, harassment, intimidation, killings, with digital and domestic violence on the rise, including violence against women, with over 12 attacks recorded. 

The majority of perpetrators were men (86.9%), mixed-gender violence represented 10.34%, and women committed 2.76%. Victims included men (51.72%), women (17.93%), and mixed cases (30.34%). 

Violence was generally aggressive, motivated by theft, revenge, or protest, often causing serious injury or death. It included interpersonal violence, sexual violence, murder, and security force interventions to dominate, intimidate, or instill fear. Incidents occurred across the country in homes, prisons, transport, recreational spaces, and economic institutions, dominated by public spaces, highlighting normalization of violence and the shift from law authority to force. 

The Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights warns of the spread of violence, a major threat to individuals, society, and state stability. Repeated violence reduces tolerance and dialogue, increases hatred and revenge, undermines trust, weakens the rule of law, and paves the way for chaos and crime.