Imed Haouech

Imed Mhaouech, a 36-year-old Tunisian citizen from Monastir governorate, was arrested on 13 March 2024 and committed to Monastir Civil Prison in connection with a criminal case. He died on 6 May 2024 at Fattouma Bourguiba Hospital in Monastir in suspicious circumstances.
He was sentenced to nine months in prison on 13 March 2024, before appealing the judgment. His family was not informed of his arrest, trial or sentence, and only learned of his whereabouts after a telephone call from the prison administration. On 23 April 2024, his mother visited him for the first time and found him in a wheelchair, unable to move, suffering from paralysis of his legs, acute headaches and continuous bleeding from his mouth, with visible marks of violence on his body, although he had been in good health before his arrest; she fainted during the visit. On 24 April 2024, his mother filed a complaint with the Prosecutor General at the Monastir Court of Appeal requesting an urgent medical examination and the opening of an investigation. Imed appeared before the President of the Court of Appeal in a wheelchair and stated that he had been subjected to violence and torture by prison officers, and was referred to Fattouma Bourguiba Hospital; however, his mother stated that he was taken there and discharged quickly without actually being allowed to see a doctor or receive necessary care. In late April 2024, his family was able to visit him for the last time, when he was still in a critical condition, before they were later prevented from visiting him on the pretext that he refused to see them and had gone on hunger strike. He died on 6 May 2024. The Public Prosecution opened an investigation into the death, which, as of the time this documentation was prepared, had neither revealed the truth about the death nor established responsibility.