Sihem Bensedrine (1955) is a former Tunisian journalist and human rights activist. She is a prominent advocate for freedom of expression and women’s rights in Tunisia. Bensedrine was imprisoned under the Ben Ali regime. She returned to Tunisia in 2011 after several years in exile and became chair of the Truth and Dignity Commission — until she was arrested again during a coup in 2021. In 2025 she was released, but charges brought by the regime are still pending.
Honorary doctor Difference Day for Freedom of Expression 2018
Bensedrine began her career as a journalist in the 1980s, working for various Tunisian newspapers and magazines. In the 1990s, she co-founded the National Council for Liberties, a non-governmental organisation that fought against censorship and repression in Tunisia. In 2001, Bensedrine was arrested and imprisoned because of her activism, but was later released following international pressure. She continued her work and played a key role in the Tunisian Revolution of 2011, which led to the overthrow of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
After the revolution, Bensedrine was appointed by the interim government as head of the newly established Truth and Dignity Commission, tasked with investigating human rights violations committed during the Ben Ali regime. She also served as a member of the Tunisian Constituent Assembly, where she contributed to drafting the new constitution. Bensedrine received numerous awards for her activism and journalism, including the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize in 2011. She remained a prominent voice for human rights and democracy in Tunisia. In 2018, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the VUB and the ULB.
On that occasion, she stated that when one witnesses tyranny, one carries a responsibility. For her, fighting for human rights was a way of reclaiming her dignity. The 2011 revolution, she said, had been a gift for all Tunisians and for human rights defenders, because it gave them the opportunity to rebuild the state and its institutions. With the Truth and Dignity Commission, she hoped to put an end to abuses against the population. More than 50,000 people gave testimony to the commission about corruption, torture, rape and other crimes. At the time, she said she was relieved that so many people were able to share their stories — and especially that they were willing to forgive. They chose not to seek revenge in order to achieve justice. That was not easy, she noted, as some wanted impunity for the crimes committed. “But you cannot build a democracy on impunity,” she said. “You cannot build it without justice.”
However, when President Kaies Saied seized power in Tunisia in 2021, the political climate changed. Bensedrine voiced strong criticism of the authorities’ erosion of the rule of law. Following a complaint alleging that she had falsified a chapter on corruption in the banking sector in a report by the Truth and Dignity Commission, the authorities opened an investigation into Bensedrine in February 2023. She was accused of “fraud, forgery and abuse of official capacity”. On 1 August 2024, Bensedrine was placed in pre-trial detention. Her prosecution appeared to be retaliation for her efforts to expose human rights violations.
On 14 January 2025, the 14th anniversary of the Tunisian Revolution, Bensedrine announced that she was going on an indefinite hunger strike to protest against her arbitrary detention. On 26 January, she was admitted to hospital due to health complications. Two days after her hospitalisation, Bensedrine’s lawyers learned that an investigating judge in Tunis had extended her pre-trial detention by a further four months. But on 19 February, the Tunis Court of Appeal approved a request for her provisional release and imposed a travel ban. Meanwhile, other charges against her remain pending, but the judge has yet to set a date for the first hearing. Amnesty International continues to monitor the situation closely.
Sources: VUB Today, VUB YouTube channel and Amnesty International
