Rights group counts 33,000 prisoners for 17,000 places in Tunisian jails
The association Intersection pour les droits et les libertés published a set of infographics on the evening of 1 August putting the prison population at more than 33,000 for an official capacity of 17,000 beds: an occupancy rate of 194 percent, against 23,000 inmates in 2022. It gives Tunisia 267 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants, above Morocco (238) and far above France (100), and names facilities where occupancy has passed 200 percent: Kairouan at 251 percent (2024), Mornaguia 210 percent (2024), Gabès 209 percent (2022) and Sfax 200 percent (2024). It also counts thirteen deaths in custody between July 2025 and July 2026 that it describes as suspicious, warning that the absence of transparent investigations risks turning individual abuses into structural impunity. The figures are the association's own and have not been confirmed by the justice ministry.