Several months have passed since the death of our colleague and International Board member Kamel Labidi, who passed away in January 2026 in Virginia, USA. As we gather for the General Assembly, we take a moment to formally honour his memory and acknowledge the profound loss his passing represents for Tunisia, for the global movement in defence of freedom of expression, and for all of us who had the privilege of working alongside him.
As a journalist and advocate for media freedom, Kamel, paid a heavy personal price for his principles. As early as 1978, he was fired from Tunis Afrique Presse, Tunisia’s official news agency, for refusing to participate in a government propaganda campaign against the national labour union and spent three years barred from his profession as a result. In 1994, the Ben Ali regime permanently dismissed and banned him from journalism entirely. In January 1996, police raided his home and confiscated his passport to prevent him from travelling to a UNESCO conference. Later that year, he was forced into exile. Each of these moments could have been an ending. For Kamel, each moment deepened his commitment.
From exile, he continued his work on multiple fronts. He reported for major international outlets, including The Guardian,The Christian Science Monitor, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. He served as Director of the Tunisian section of Amnesty International, and as a human rights education coordinator for Amnesty International across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). He advised the advocacy and campaigning network IFEX as its MENA consultant and served as Regional Representative for the Committee to Protect Journalists. Prior to the revolution in Tunisia in January 2011, he co-founded the IFEX Tunisia Monitoring Group, a coalition of 21 organisations dedicated to promoting press freedom, freedom of assembly, and judicial independence in Tunisia.
After the revolution, he returned home to Tunisia to lead the National Authority to Reform Information and Communication (INRIC), the independent commission tasked with overhauling the country’s media sector. When the government failed to implement the commission’s recommendations and obstructed its work, he resigned after 15 months rather than compromise the integrity of the process. He later founded the group Vigilance pour la Démocratie et l’État Civique, built on his lifelong conviction that freedom of expression can only be sustained through strong institutions and the rule of law.
Kamel served as a member of the International Board of ARTICLE 19 from 2013 to 2018, bringing to our work a depth of experience and moral clarity that few could match.
Kamel’s dedication and passion for freedom of expression and media freedom in Tunisia and around the world was inspirational, and he is greatly missed. Though we mourn his death, we also celebrate his life. With his unique expertise, experience, and energy, he had a talent for motivating his colleagues, friends, and fellow activists, and he made a profound contribution to the human rights movement. – Saloua Ghazouani, Regional Director for Middle East and North Africa, ARTICLE 19
We extend our deepest condolences to his family. We were honoured to serve alongside him, and we carry his commitment forward in our work.