About us
We document what happens behind the walls
“Behind the Walls” is an independent platform documenting prison conditions in Tunisia through figures and sources: where the detention facilities are, how many people they can actually hold, how many they detain, and what reports and testimonies have documented about what happens behind their walls.
The platform starts from a simple question: what do we really know about Tunisian prisons? Official figures are scattered, and human rights testimonies are spread across reports, newspapers and organisations, with no single place that brings them together and puts them on the map. We gathered what is available into one database, linked every figure and every case to its source, and presented them so that the full picture is visible to everyone.
The map is the entry point. Each dot is a detention facility: its colour reflects the occupancy rate and its size the number of detainees. From a dot you reach the facility profile: its original capacity, the recorded number of detainees, the documented cases linked to it, its timeline and its references.
The platform
An open database and interactive map covering 33 detention facilities in 20 governorates, with 41 documented violations and46 timeline events, all linked to14 sources that can be consulted.
Supervising authority
The platform is published as part of the Intersection project and run by an independent editorial and human rights team that collects, reviews and updates the data. It is not affiliated with any official body, and its figures reflect only what is documented in its sources.
Goals
- Reveal the scale of the prison network and the pressure on capacity through figures, not impressions.
- Link every documented case to the detention facility where it occurred and to its original source.
- Provide an open reference for journalists, researchers, lawyers and human rights organisations.
- Support public accountability with verifiable, reviewable information.
How we work
From the source to the map
We collect
Published official figures, reports by human rights organisations, press material and documented testimonies.
We verify
We compare original capacity with the recorded number of detainees, keep each value exactly as reported in its source, and flag what needs review.
We link
Every detention facility, case and event carries a link to its source, so no figure is shown without its reference.
We update
The team adds new data as it comes in, and the date of the last synchronisation is shown on the methodology page.
Who this platform is for
A reference for those who want to know and to hold to account
Journalists
Citable figures, with their sources, for every detention facility and every governorate.
Researchers
A single database that can be filtered and compared across time and geography.
Lawyers and organisations
Documented case files linked to the detention facility, the date and the reference.
Families and the public
A clear picture of what an overcrowding figure means for those living behind the walls.
The limits of what we publish
Accuracy before completeness
Our commitments
- We never show a figure without a source, or a case without a reference.
- We respect the dignity of detainees and their families and do not publish photos or personal data without a clear human rights and editorial basis.
- We correct anything shown to be wrong and say so in the record itself.
What to keep in mind
- Map coordinates are approximate: they show the general location of a detention facility, not its exact address.
- The absence of a documented case at a facility does not mean that no violations occur there.
- Occupancy rates are those declared in the sources and may differ from the current situation.