The Algerian authorities should end their crackdown on fundamental
rights and freedoms and release all human rights defenders and
activists who unjustly languish in jail, said 12 NGOs today, ahead of
the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders’
visit to Algeria, from 26 November to 5 December. The visit comes
amid a dire human rights situation, with over 230 activists,
journalists and human rights defenders currently imprisoned solely
for exercising their rights to freedom of speech, association and
peaceful assembly.
The
mandate of Special Rapporteur, Mary Lawlor, includes reporting on the
situation of human rights defenders, broadly defined as ‘all
persons, who individually or in association with others, act to
promote or protect human rights peacefully.’
‘Those
who dare to make a stand for human rights are coming under attack in
Algeria on an alarming scale. They are facing an onslaught of
harassment, intimidation, and unlawful detention. Some have been
forced to flee the country and seek safety elsewhere, while others
are still locked in jail,’ said
Wadih Al Asmar, President of EuroMed Rights.
It
will be of utmost importance for the Special Rapporteur to pay
particular attention to the risk of harassment and intimidation of
civil society activists she may meet during her visit to Algeria. We
draw the attention of the Special Rapporteur to a possible case of
reprisals against Ahmed Manseri, the President of the Algerian League
for the Defense of Human Rights (Ligue algérienne pour la défense
des droits de l’Homme, LADDH) in Tiaret. He was arrested on 8
October 2023 and sentenced to one year in prison under spurious
charges of disseminating documents that harm the national interest,
incitement to unarmed assembly, and attack on the integrity of the
national territory. On 17 September 2023, Manseri met with the UN
special rapporteur on freedom of association and peaceful assembly,
Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, during his visit to Algeria from 16 to 26
September 2023. The signatory organizations call on the Algerian
authorities to refrain from any acts of reprisal aimed at punishing
or intimidating human rights defenders.
Over
the past two years, Algerian authorities have shut down almost all
spaces for dissent. They have dismantled most independent civil
society groups that were created to defend human rights, and have
shuttered the remaining media outlets that represent voices of
resistance in the face of the prevailing authoritarianism in the
country. Prominent associations such as the LADDH and the Youth
Action Rally (Rassemblement Actions Jeunesse, RAJ), created in 1989
and 1992 respectively, have been dissolved by the administrative
tribunal merely for activities that are inherent to their mandate,
such as hosting conferences critical of the authorities, meeting with
foreign activists, or defending minority rights. Authorities have
often relied on vague and broadly worded laws to curtail the ability
of human rights defenders to operate freely. For example, a tribunal
in Algiers sentenced Nacer Meghnine, the
president of the association SOS Bab el-Oued, to
one year in prison for ‘undermining
national interest’ after they found publications in the premises of
the association denouncing repression, arbitrary arrests and torture.
‘Human
rights defenders play a crucial role in challenging state practices,
protecting the environment, calling for an end to torture, and
defending minority rights and workers’ rights. And today they are
bearing the brunt of the relentless assault on their right to speak
out and stand against the abuse of power by the authorities. The
authorities should end this misbegotten policy and allow civil
society and activists to carry out their endeavors without undue
restrictions,’ said Ziad
Abdeltawab, Deputy Director at the Cairo Institute for Human Rights
Studies.
Prominent
human rights defenders have been forced to flee the country due to
constant intimidation and harassment and in some cases prosecution
and arbitrary detention for speaking up against repression. Such was
the case of Zakaria Hannache, a human rights defender, who played a
crucial role in monitoring the arrests and trials of activists during
the Hirak mass protest movement calling for political change. On 2
March 2023, an Algiers court sentenced him to three years in prison
in absentia on spurious charges of ‘spreading fake news,’
‘receiving funds,’ and ‘undermining state security and the
integrity of the national territory.’ In March 2022, Hannache was
imprisoned for six weeks on unfounded charges, including ‘apology
for terrorism’ and ‘spreading false information’, in relation
to his activism. After his release, he was subjected to acts of
intimidation and pressure, which pushed him to leave the country for
Tunisia in August 2022 where he obtained refugee status with the
UNHCR.
Another
defender who was forced to flee is Amira Bouraoui, a gynecologist who
has been politically active since 2011, including during the Hirak
protest movement. In 2021, she was sentenced to a total of four years
in prison in two cases for ‘insulting the president’ and
‘offending Islam.’ She was subjected to an arbitrary travel ban
in 2021 and fled across the Tunisian border in February 2023.
Other
defenders are still languishing in jail. For example, Mohad Gasmi, an
environmental activist fighting the exploitation of shale gas in
southern Algeria, has been incarcerated since 14 June 2020. In 2022,
he was sentenced to three years in prison in two separate cases, one
for posting critical messages on social media and the other for
disclosing confidential information without the intention of treason
or espionage, related to his activities abroad to protect the
environment and against the exploitation of shale gas. In protest
against his arbitrary detention, Gasmi began a hunger strike in July
2023, which resulted in a deterioration of his health. Currently, he
remains unjustly imprisoned in Bou Saada prison. Kamira Nait Sid,
co-president of the Amazigh World Congress, was arrested at her home
on August 24, 2021. On 4 July 2023, she was sentenced to five years
in jail, reduced to three on appeal, for charges of ‘receiving
funds to undermine national unity and state security’, ‘the use
of technology to spread false information’ and ‘membership in a
terrorist organization.
‘Languishing
in jail for fighting for human rights should never be tolerated. It
is high time for Algerian authorities to put an end to the security
approach in the management of public affairs and to recognize the
damage they are making to the country by erasing any independent
voice and by crushing the lives of those who defend human rights,’
said
Abdelouhab Fersaoui, former president of the dissolved association
RAJ.
Over
the past three years, Algerian authorities have adopted a raft of
repressive new laws to stifle dissent and criminalize activism. The
Penal Code was amended to include an article
providing for up to 14 years in prison for participating in an
organization or association that receives foreign funds without
authorization. Presidential Ordinance No. 21-08 of 2021 changed the
definition of terrorism to criminalize actions aimed at changing the
system of governance by unconstitutional means, which effectively led
to the outlawing of peaceful advocacy of regime change and
calls for democratic reforms. The counterterrorism laws were used for
example to prosecute human rights defenders Said Boudour, Jamila
Loukil and Kaddour Chouicha, from the LADDH section in Oran.
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