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Indicators · A comprehensive reading of the figures

Indicators of prison conditions in Tunisia

All the figures compiled on the platform on one page: capacity and recorded detainees, the distribution of overcrowding, governorates, types of detention facility, and documented cases. Figures are shown as entered by the documentation team; last synchronised 2026-07-27.

01 · Overview

Key figures

33detention facilities
20governorates covered by the data
26,053Total capacity
25,304Recorded number of detainees
17detention facilities above 100%
41documented violations

02 · Capacity pressure

The national rate and the distribution of overcrowding

Detention facilities by occupancy rate

Critical overcrowding (over 200%) 5
Over capacity (100–200%) 12
Within capacity (below 100%) 14
No occupancy data 2

National rate = total recorded detainees ÷ total original capacity across all detention facilities. The declared rate of each facility determines its colour on the map.

03 · Geographic distribution

Governorates by recorded number of detainees

For each governorate: the number of detention facilities, original capacity, recorded detainees, and the occupancy rate calculated from their totals.

Manouba4 detention facilities · capacity 7,999 9,296116%
Sfax1 detention facility · capacity 1,385 2,771200%
Gabès1 detention facility · capacity 620 1,900306%
Bizerte3 detention facilities · capacity 1,511 1,862123%
Mahdia1 detention facility · capacity 900 1,503167%
Sousse2 detention facilities · capacity 1,133 1,277113%
Le Kef3 detention facilities · capacity 1,134 87277%
Zaghouan1 detention facility · capacity 428 729170%
Monastir1 detention facility · capacity 392 694177%
Kébili1 detention facility · capacity 485 689142%
Tunis2 detention facilities · capacity 1,246 64452%
Gafsa1 detention facility · capacity 296 619209%
Médenine1 detention facility · capacity 588 53791%
Siliana1 detention facility · capacity 421 40496%
Béja2 detention facilities · capacity 191 366192%
Jendouba1 detention facility · capacity 299 365122%
Ben Arous3 detention facilities · capacity 1,108 31629%
Sidi Bouzid2 detention facilities · capacity 415 28168%
Kairouan1 detention facility · capacity 502 17936%
Nabeul1 detention facility · capacity 5,000 0—

Map coordinates are approximate; 33 of 33 detention facilities have a location recorded as “approximate”.

04 · Types of detention facility

By type and by group detained

By type of detention facility

Civil prison28 detention facilities
25,282Theoretical capacity 24,224Actual capacity 24,790Number of detainees 98%
Rehabilitation centre5 detention facilities
771Theoretical capacity 268Actual capacity 514Number of detainees 67%

By group detained

Share of the total number of detainees: 25,304 detainees.

Mixed facilities do not report how detainees are split between men and women, so they are counted as a separate group.

05 · Highest occupancy rates

All detention facilities ranked by declared occupancy rate

  1. 01. Medjez El Bab Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre Béja · 80 of 13 615%
  2. 02. Gabès Civil Prison Gabès · 1,900 of 620 306%
  3. 03. Mornag Civil Prison Manouba · 850 of 400 213%
  4. 04. Gafsa Civil Prison Gafsa · 619 of 296 209%
  5. 05. Sfax Civil Prison Sfax · 2,771 of 1,385 200%
  6. 06. Monastir Civil Prison Monastir · 694 of 392 177%
  7. 07. Saouaf Civil Prison Zaghouan · 729 of 428 170%
  8. 08. Mahdia Civil Prison Mahdia · 1,503 of 900 167%
  9. 09. Béja Civil Prison Béja · 286 of 178 161%
  10. 10. Bizerte City Civil Prison Bizerte · 430 of 270 159%
  11. 11. Manouba Women's Prison Manouba · 680 of 443 154%
  12. 12. Kébili Civil Prison Kébili · 689 of 485 142%
  13. 13. Borj El Roumi Civil Prison Bizerte · 993 of 813 122%
  14. 14. Mornaguia Civil Prison Manouba · 6,129 of 5,352 120%
  15. 15. Jendouba Civil Prison Jendouba · 365 of 299 119%
  16. 16. Messaadine Civil Prison Sousse · 1,218 of 1,058 115%
  17. 17. Nadhour Civil Prison Bizerte · 439 of 428 103%
  18. 18. Siliana Civil Prison Siliana · 404 of 421 96%
  19. 19. Harboub Civil Prison Médenine · 537 of 588 91%
  20. 20. Borj El Amri Civil Prison Manouba · 1,637 of 1,804 91%
  21. 21. Sers Civil Prison Le Kef · 439 of 552 80%
  22. 22. Souk Jedid Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre Sidi Bouzid · 59 of 75 79%
  23. 23. Sidi El Hani Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre Sousse · 59 of 75 79%
  24. 24. Le Kef Civil Prison Le Kef · 365 of 476 77%
  25. 25. Rabta Civil Prison Tunis · 144 of 188 77%
  26. 26. El Mourouj Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre Ben Arous · 286 of 428 67%
  27. 27. Sidi Bouzid Civil Prison Sidi Bouzid · 222 of 340 65%
  28. 28. El Dir Civil Prison Le Kef · 68 of 106 64%
  29. 29. Bouchoucha Custody Centre Tunis · 500 of 1,058 47%
  30. 30. Haouareb Civil Prison (Kairouan) Kairouan · 179 of 502 36%
  31. 31. El Mghira Girls' Rehabilitation Centre Ben Arous · 30 of 180 17%

No recorded occupancy rate: Oudhna Civil Prison, Belli Civil Prison (Nabeul).

06 · Documented cases

What do the documented cases tell us?

7documented cases · Women
28documented cases · Men
0documented cases · LGBTQI+ community

Most frequent types of violation

Ill-treatment 28
Denial of medical care 26
Violation of due process 16
Suspected torture 15
Suspicious death in prison 13
Denial of family visits / contact with family 10
Denial of access to a lawyer 6
Overcrowding 5

Detention facilities with the most documented cases

Mornaguia Civil PrisonManouba 5
Belli Civil Prison (Nabeul)Nabeul 2
Borj El Roumi Civil PrisonBizerte 2
Rabta Civil PrisonTunis 1
Gafsa Civil PrisonGafsa 1
Bizerte City Civil PrisonBizerte 1

8 detention facilities have at least one documented case. The absence of cases does not mean that no violations occurred.

All documented cases Detention facilities directory Methodology and sources