Tunisia's prison authority publishes health figures, threatens legal action against critics

Tunisia's prison authority said on 22 August that it recorded 20,773 hospital consultations for detainees in the first half of 2026, rejecting accusations of deteriorating care or neglect that it called a distortion of reality. Spokesperson Hatem Akroute said medical decisions are made by qualified health staff, not by the administration, and the authority warned it may take legal action against anyone spreading what it calls false information about the institution. It is the authority's second denial on the same subject since late July, when the Tunisian League for Human Rights said it could not verify prison conditions because it had been barred from visiting.

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