Tunisian authorities failed to ensure an adequate supply of electricity and water during two months of extreme summer heat, undermining the right to health and endangering lives, Human Rights Watch said today. President Kais Saied blamed the shortages on sabotage, yet authorities failed to provide transparent information and instead cracked down on protesters.
Rolling power outages left hospitals and water pumping stations without electricity and households without running water, interrupted critical medical procedures, and contributed to a nationwide shortage of drinking water. Doctors and human rights groups have reported a rise in heat-related hospitalizations and deaths exacerbated by the cuts, including among detainees.
“Tunisians have spent one of the hottest summers on record in the dark and facing water shortages because President Saied’s government failed to ensure adequate access to electricity for millions of people, risking lives,” said Bassam Khawaja, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Instead of blaming sabotage, the authorities should address the root causes of the failure and ensure that everyone, including detainees, has access to water, electricity, and methods for cooling.”
In July 2026, the second-hottest July since 1950, the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (STEG) reportedly imposed rotating outages due to inadequate capacity. Power outages were concentrated between 1 and 5 p.m., when air conditioning increased demand. According to crowd-sourced data, outages lasted up to 12 hours in some extreme cases. In late August, a second wave led to cuts of up to two hours at a time in every region.
Tunisian authorities have not published transparent information about the impact of the outages. The Tunisian Young Doctors Association estimated on July 22 that between 150 and 200 people had died over the previous days from heatstroke or medical equipment failure in the case of patients who depended on electrically powered medical equipment. It reported on August 28 that emergency departments experienced an “unprecedented” rise in deaths and hospitalizations from heatstroke and high temperatures, including deaths of detainees. Local media reported five deaths after respirators in the victims’ homes stopped working.
Four parliament members wrote to the health minister on July 23 about patients on home oxygen therapy. The Health Ministry on August 29 reported 633 medical cases related to the heat wave in public hospitals but made no mention of related deaths. The ministry also denied that health services had been disrupted.
A doctor at one of Tunis’s largest hospitals told Human Rights Watch that due to limited generator capacity, the outages meant the hospital went without electricity in most areas. Its backup generator covered only the intensive care units and operating rooms, the doctor said, while the rest of the building, including the emergency department, had no backup power or contingency plan. Because hospital admissions depended on electronic medical records, staff could not register patients arriving during an outage, even those with life-threatening conditions.
During one outage, neonatal unit doctors ventilated newborns by hand. Outages also affected recovery for patients in post-operative care left without ventilation or air conditioning, the doctor said.
The blackouts also disrupted the water supply. As outages disrupted pumping stations, tap water became intermittent in many parts of Tunisia. The Tunisian Water Observatory recorded 361 cuts to distribution of potable water in August, contributing to a bottled water shortage in a country where much of the population relies on it as their main drinking source. Although the National Authority for Food Safety said tap water is safe, public confidence is low, with reports of cloudy or yellowed water and changes in taste and odor.
Water and electricity cuts affected prisons and detention sites. On August 28, five detainees at Mornaguia prison reportedly died in one day. The Tunisian League for Human Rights documented 20 deaths in prisons and detention facilities amid conditions exacerbated by extreme heat and water and power outages.
The General Secretary of the General Federation of Electricity and Gas said that STEG had alerted its supervising ministry to the risk of power shortfalls and need for additional capacity as early as 2024. A 2026 report by the Tunisian Economy Observatory found that STEG’s investment in generating electricity fell by 87 percent over five years.
Tunisian authorities provided no evidence of sabotage. In late July, prosecutors’ offices across the country opened investigations into STEG managers and employees. President Saied said on August 26 that the outages in several regions were not “ordinary outages,” but rather “deliberately planned acts of sabotage” intended to stoke tensions, spread lies and rumors, and deprive citizens of their right to access services, but provided no further information.
The electricity crisis was foreseeable, and Tunisian authorities had an obligation to prepare for it, including by ensuring that essential services such as water supply and health care were not affected, Human Rights Watch said. The government’s mismanagement and failure to act preemptively compounded the harm.
Protests over water and electricity shortages have spread. The Tunisian Social Observatory of the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights recorded 1,101 protest actions in July and 1,093 in August in all 24 governorates, the highest July and August figures in years.
Following an August 13 protest in Borj Erras over the lack of water, the authorities arrested 12 people, including 9 children, investigating them on suspicion of conspiring against state security, then releasing them the next day.
On August 20, the grassroots movement Nafasheld a demonstration in Tunis under the slogan “No water, no electricity, no freedom.” The next day, the authorities arrested Seifeddine Arfaoui, a political activist and Nafas member, at his home. On August 31, a Tunis court sentenced him to 18 months in prison under article 86 of the Telecommunications Code, for a Facebook post about slogans chanted at the protest.
Human Rights Watch has previously documented a years-long crackdown against all forms of dissent in Tunisia.
Access to electricity is critical to ensuring other rights, including but not limited to health, housing, water, and education, and should be recognized as a distinct human right, Human Rights Watch said.
Tunisia has an obligation to ensure access to electricity and water, including within prisons and detention facilities. Article 48 of the Tunisian Constitution requires the state to provide drinking water to everyone on an equal basis. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights guarantees the right to an adequate standard of living and the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has held that a government’s failure to provide basic services including safe drinking water and electricity violates the right to health under the African Charter. As a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter, Tunisia is also bound to respect the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
“Tunisian authorities have known for years that the electricity grid was inadequate but failed to plan for rising demand and the risks of a scorching summer,” Khawaja said. “Instead of prosecuting protesters, the government should publicly account for the failures of the electric grid, publicize transparent information including a death toll, and set out a clear plan to restore adequate electricity and water.”
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).
