Atef Hammami

Atef Hammami, a 46-year-old Tunisian citizen from Ariana governorate, held an intellectual disability card and worked as a day labourer. He died on 15 January 2026 at Charles Nicolle Hospital after being committed to Mornaguia Civil Prison.
He was arrested on 28 December 2025 by the judicial police of Ariana Ville, without the record notifying him of his rights and legal safeguards being signed by him, which raises questions as to whether he understood the circumstances of his arrest. He was committed to Mornaguia Civil Prison in a fragile psychological state; according to his family’s testimony, his lawyer saw him before his committal and observed no signs of violence on him. He was not examined by a doctor upon arrest despite his evident psychological disorder. At the beginning of January 2026, his physical and mental health deteriorated sharply, coinciding with the appearance of marks of violence on his body, and the prison administration only became aware of the seriousness of his condition after he had lost the ability to walk and speak. On 31 December 2025, his family noticed bruises on his eye; he was moving about in a wheelchair and covered his face and head with his hands for fear of being beaten. On 9 January 2026, his lawyers filed a complaint requesting a change in his place of detention to protect his safety, without response. During a later visit, he was able to walk without a wheelchair, but the family noticed clear swelling of his hand, and he asked to be seen urgently by a doctor for acute pain in one of his sides. Security officers gave conflicting accounts of the source of his injuries (assault by prisoners or self-harm), while his lawyer denied that he had been subjected to any violence before his committal. The initial medical report found fractures of the face and ribs, pulmonary haemorrhage, scattered blue bruises and puncture wounds on his fingers, injuries which the family considered ruled out the hypothesis of violence without the use of implements. Razi Hospital refused to admit him despite his previous follow-up there, and according to the family he was moved between several hospitals without receiving the necessary care. Three days before his death, he fell into a coma at Charles Nicolle Hospital, where his family was prevented from visiting him or learning about his condition; the treating doctor later explained that he had suffered facial fractures and internal bleeding and had gone into cardiac arrest while in the coma. He died on 15 January 2026; an investigation into a “suspicious death” was opened on 16 January 2026, and his burial was authorised on 17 January 2026 on the basis of the forensic medical certificate, which gave the cause of death as cardiac arrest accompanied by multiple injuries suspected to have resulted from an assault.