FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TUNIS — The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) is issuing an urgent follow-up alert on the critical decline in the health of Wael Naouar, Steering Committee member and Tunisian leader, who has now entered his twenty-first day of a continuous hunger strike in El Mornaguia prison.
Naouar remains detained alongside fellow GSF organizers Nabil Channoufi, Ghassan Henchiri, and Ghassan Boughdiri, together known as the Sumud 4. The four activists were arrested in March 2026 for their roles in the historic Sidi Bou Said port launch in 2025 and their efforts to mobilize support for the 2026 flotilla mission challenging Israel’s illegal blockade on Gaza.
The GSF commends the continued work of the lawyers in Tunisia, who have visited the Sumud 4 in prison daily over the past week. They have confirmed that Naouar’s health is now critical: he is suffering severe stomach pain, extreme exhaustion, an inability to stand or walk steadily, and is having great difficulty when speaking.
Having already endured nearly six months of harsh pre-trial detention before starting his hunger strike on August 16, Naouar’s health is deteriorating at a rate that far outpaces standard medical timelines. Medical reports indicate that acute electrolyte depletion, exacerbated by the extreme heatwaves, has accelerated his physical breakdown to levels typically seen after day thirty of a hunger strike.
In the past three weeks alone, heatwaves have killed 20 prisoners in Tunisian detention centers, according to human rights organizations.
Two other Sumud 4 members are also facing serious health issues. Ghassan Boughdiri has developed a rash covering his entire body. Ghassan Henchiri requires surgery for injuries sustained to his head when Israeli occupation forces attacked him during last year’s flotilla mission. He, too, has developed a body-wide rash since July, which has been compounded by inadequate medical care.
The continued pre-trial detention of the Sumud 4 is a clear violation of Tunisia’s binding obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. With Naouar’s condition rapidly deteriorating inside a prison system currently facing a deadly environmental and health crisis, Tunisia’s legal duties under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to protect his life and physical safety are being seriously violated.
These escalating health crises underscore the urgency of this weekend’s call to action. On September 5 and 6, GSF is calling for intensified public mobilization worldwide: gather in public squares, municipal plazas, parks, university campuses, and cultural centers to demand the immediate release of the Sumud 4.
The Global Sumud Flotilla renews its core demands to the Tunisian government:
- Immediately and unconditionally release Wael Naouar, Nabil Channoufi, Ghassan Henchiri, and Ghassan Boughdiri, with guaranteed access to urgent, specialized external medical treatment for Naouar as well as for Henchiri and Boughdiri, and ensure detention conditions comply with the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.
- Drop all politically motivated charges against the Sumud 4 and their fellow organizers.
- Lift all restrictions currently imposed on the movement and political activity of previously released GSF activists, respecting their rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
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