ABSTRACT
This chapter is the first part of the book's country case study on Tunisia during the Ben Ali era (1987–2011). It first gives a brief historical overview of human rights activism in Tunisia between the foundation of the Tunisian Human Rights League in the late 1970s and the regime change in 2011. Relying on dozens of interviews with prominent former activists and other stakeholders, this chapter then analyzes the role that different factors such as cross-border human rights mobilization and Tunisia's outside vulnerability played in international protection efforts towards Tunisian activists. On the basis of defenders' own assessments, the chapter discusses to what degree international visibility and casework did provide such protection under Ben Ali's regime. It finds a generally consistent picture of a perceived protective effect of international attention, with some notable exceptions.
