Tunisian authorities must immediately launch prompt, impartial, and independent investigations into the alarming spike in deaths in detention during the severe heatwaves of the summer and address life-threatening prison conditions across the country to ensure this does not occur again, Amnesty International said today.
The Tunisian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LTDH) confirmed at least 23 deaths of prisoners between July and August 2026, as Tunisia experienced its hottest summer since 1950. Extreme heat and nationwide shortages of bottled water compounded already harsh prison conditions, marked by chronic overcrowding and severe disruption to running water. Families of prisoners reported medical negligence which prison officials have denied.
The Tunisian authorities have a duty to protect the lives and health of everyone in their custody.
Heba Morayef, Amnesty International
“The Tunisian authorities have a duty to protect the lives and health of everyone in their custody. Holding detainees in unventilated cells during record-breaking heat, without adequate access to drinking water is a grave violation of the right to life. Overcrowding of up to 194%, a likely symptom of the crackdown on political space, indicates a crisis of incarceration,” said Heba Morayef, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.
“The government’s repeated denials and refusal to provide transparent accounts of what occurred add to the cruelty inflicted on detainees and their grieving families. Families deserve answers about why their loved ones died in state custody. The authorities must ensure that those responsible for any abuse or neglect are held to account and take urgent action to prevent further deaths. Overcrowding, lack of drinking water and inadequate healthcare cannot be accepted as routine features of prison life.”
Amnesty International verified the cases of 12 deaths in custody. The organization spoke to family members, lawyers and civil society organizations and reviewed or verified testimonies from family members shared online.
In one illustrative case, Alaa Eddine Abdelkader, a 24-year-old university student held in pre-trial detention at Mornaguia Prison, died on 28 August 2026, after approximately four months in detention. Alaa Eddine’s uncle, Abdelmajid Bouajila, told Amnesty International that during a visit two days earlier, Alaa described unbearable heat inside his overcrowded and poorly ventilated cell, difficulties breathing and sleeping, recurring water cuts that sometimes lasted for days, and shortages of bottled water, which detainees relied on for drinking water.
According to hospital records reviewed by his family, Alaa Abdelkader was admitted to Charles Nicolle Hospital on the evening of 27 August and died shortly after midnight on 28 August. The records reportedly listed heatstroke, multiple organ failure and coma as the causes of death. Despite his death, prison staff accepted food parcels and books from his mother on 28 August without informing her that he had died. The family only learned of his death three days later, when a relative deposited money into his prison account so that he could purchase water and other basic necessities. At the time of writing, the forensic medical report had not been made available to the family.
Deaths were reported across multiple facilities, including Mornaguia, Gafsa, Gabès, Kairouan and Sfax. Families reported that detained relatives, mostly held in pre-trial detention, suffered from extreme dehydration, acute breathing difficulties, skin conditions due to water cuts. Family members also reported on frequent delays in receiving needed medical care, inconsistency in supplying medicine and delayed referrals to hospitals despite deteriorating health conditions.
On 27 July, Tunisia’s General Directorate of Prisons and Rehabilitation (CGPR) issued a statement claiming that officials had taken the necessary measures to address extreme temperatures in prisons and denied allegations of deteriorating detainee health conditions and restrictions on family and lawyer visits. On 22 August, CGPR spokesperson Hatem Akrout rejected allegations of medical negligence and inadequate healthcare in prisons, asserting that detainees received appropriate medical monitoring and treatment, including referrals to public hospitals when necessary.
Amnesty International has documented 12 instances where prison management failed to promptly notify families of a relative’s severe illness or death and families learned of deaths only days or weeks later during scheduled visits, or after attempting to deposit funds into their deceased relatives’ prison accounts.
Under international human rights standards, withholding such critical information from families causes severe psychological distress and may constitute cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment under Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)…. Rule 69 of the Nelson Mandela Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisonerson specify that:
“In the event of a prisoner’s death, the prison director shall at once inform the prisoner’s next of kin or emergency contact. Individuals designated by a prisoner to receive his or her health information shall be notified by the director of the prisoner’s serious illness, injury, or transfer to a health institution.”
Articles 6 and 10 of the ICCPR require states to guarantee the right to life and treat all persons deprived of their liberty with humanity and respect for dignity. Under Rule 71 of the Nelson Mandela Rules, all deaths in custody must be reported without delay to an independent competent authority for effective investigation.
Dire prison conditions compounded by severe heatwave
Tunisia’s prison system is gripped by chronic overcrowding, with the national occupancy rate reaching approximately 194% in 2025, according to Prison Insider. Conditions are even more severe in some facilities, including Kairouan prison (251%), Mornaguia prison (210%) and Gabès prison (209%). At least eight prisons provide less than two square metres of living space per detainee.
According to Tunisia’s National Institute of Meteorology, the summer of 2026 was the hottest recorded since 1950, with exceptionally high night-time temperatures limiting opportunities to cool down.
The heatwave coincided with recurrent electricity cuts and interruptions to running water supplies in most of the country, which in turn severely affected the production and distribution of bottled water during July and August 2026.
Shortages reportedly persisted in some areas until mid-September, including in prisons. Several prisons restricted the amount of water detainees could purchase from prison commissaries, in some cases limiting them to just one litre or a single 1.5-litre bottle per day. In some facilities, these restrictions coincided with disruptions to the running-water supply that lasted several days.
On 24 July 2026 Tunisia’s National Authority for the Prevention of Torture (INPT) warned that extreme heat and prison overcrowding were endangering detainees’ health, lives, and dignity, urging authorities to take immediate protective measures.
Growing restrictions on independent prison monitoring
Amid deteriorating detention conditions, Tunisian authorities have over the past year imposed increasing restrictions on independent prison monitoring and oversight.
Since November 2025, the Tunisian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LTDH) has reported repeated denials of access to prisons across the country. Restrictions intensified during the period in which several deaths in custody were reported. On 21 July 2026, the LTDH’s Sousse branch said it was prevented from visiting Messadine Prison despite seeking to monitor detainees in critical situations. On 4 September, the organization’s Gafsa branch reported being denied access to Gafsa Civil Prison, where it had sought to investigate reports of two deaths in custody and complaints about detention conditions.
According to the LTDH, prison authorities have increasingly required prior authorization from the Ministry of Justice before granting prison visits, a requirement the organization says is incompatible with the prison-monitoring agreement it signed with the authorities in 2015. While the Ministry of Justice has denied terminating the agreement, restrictions on access have continued.
Requests for prison visits by the parliamentary committee on rights and freedoms have similarly gone unheeded since 2023, severely hindering independent evaluation of detention facilities.
“The authorities must open prisons to independent scrutiny and act on the concerns raised by civil society and parliamentarians. Blocking access shields detention conditions from scrutiny and denies detainees a vital safeguard against abuse,” said Heba Morayef.