Tunisia: Solidarity with Trans Woman Human Rights Defender Mira Ben Salah and Damj- the Tunisian Association for Justice and Equality
On 21 February 2025, a group of Tunisian human rights organizations published a joint statement in solidarity with Damj- the Tunisian Association for Justice and Equality and the coordinator for its office in the South of the country, trans woman human rights defender Mira Ben Salah. Front Line Defenders joins the Tunisian human rights organisations in support of trans woman human rights defender Mira Ben Salah and Damj. The joint solidarity statement came in the context of an ongoing smear campaign against the trans woman human rights defender due to her work as a queer activist in Tunisia.
Mira Ben Salah is a trans woman human rights defender, queer activist, and the coordinator of the Southern office of the Tunisian Association for Justice and Equality (Damj) in Sfax, Tunisia. She has also been part of many human rights and social movement campaigns, calling for freedom of expression and socio-economic rights. Due to her human rights work, Mira ben Salah has been repeatedly harassed by the Tunisian authorities and has faced multiple smear campaigns.
Damj, the Tunisian Association for Justice and Equality, is a human rights organisation that promotes justice, equality and inclusion for the LGBTIQ+ community in Tunisia. It was established in 2002 to safeguard the rights of marginalized individuals facing criminalization and discrimination because of their sexual orientation and gender identities. The organisation actively strives to decriminalize homosexuality and diverse gender identities, channeling its efforts through legal reforms, networking events, communal gatherings, and collaborations with civil society partners. Damj extends its advocacy to the national and international level, forging partnerships with human rights groups to advance legal empowerment for the queer community in Tunisia. Concurrently, Damj provides protection, legal assistance, and capacity building for queer individuals and activists. Damj addresses critical needs and stands as a dedicated advocate for LGBTQI+ rights in Tunisia while facing violations and challenges including discrimination, violence, defamation campaigns and unjust arrests of its employees and members.
Since organising the Queer Declaration Conference on 31 January 2024, Damj and its members, mainly Mira Ben Salah, have faced digital smear campaigns led by pro-government social media accounts calling for the dissolution of Damj and inciting violence against its members. In conjunction with these digital campaigns, Mira Ben Salah’s personal data has been disclosed online, including her home address and phone number. Furthermore, Damj’s hotlines in the South of the country have received a massive number of threatening calls.
These attacks against Damj are not unprecedented: the organisation has experienced similar harassment dating as far back as July 2023, when it would frequently receive telephone calls from alleged security agents attempting to collect association members' personal information. The callers accused the association of being illegal and suspicious, with threats of closing it following reports being drawn up by the police.
On 19 September 2024, the Tunisian authorities summoned trans woman human rights defender Mira Ben Salah to appear before the police station in Bab Bahr, Sfax without presenting any justification. This summoning came in the context of several security summons against queer activists and associations in Tunisia, as a result of a vast anti-queer digital campaign beginning on the evening of 13 September 2024. The campaign was started by hundreds of anti-queer social media pages and was followed by a media campaign that incited the arrest and punishment of queer activists and associations in Tunisia.
Since September 2024, trans woman human rights defender Mira Ben Salah has been targeted by social media pages smearing her civic engagement and activism with the queer movement in Tunisia, and calling for her imprisonment. Additionally, in February 2025, pro government social media pages published her personal contact information and home address. This harassment has also extended to Mira Ben Salah’s family in Sfax, Tunisia.
Local Tunisian civil society organisations have concluded in their joint statement that the harassment against Mira Ben Salah is a tool to intimidate her into withdrawing the criminal complaint she filed in July 2023 and February 2024 with the Public Prosecutor at the Court of First Instance in Sfax. This criminal complaint was filed due to the repeated and continuous police harassment which she was facing.
Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned about the smear campaigns and harassment threatening the safety of trans woman human rights defender Mira Ben Salah and the peaceful and legitimate human rights work of Damj. It believes that these cases of harassment form part of a campaign against human rights defenders and queer activists who have been denouncing the crackdown on LGBTIQ+ individuals - between September 2024 and January 2025, more than 84 LGBTI individuals were arrested in different locations in Tunisia.
Front Line Defenders calls on the Tunisian Authorities to ensure the safety of the trans woman human rights defender Mira Ben Salah and to ensure that Mira Ben Salah and all LGBTIQ+ defenders at Damj can carry out their peaceful human rights activities. It also urges the Tunisian authorities to guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Tunisia can carry out their human rights work without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions, in line with Tunisia international human rights obligations and commitments.
