Web pages about "Algeria"

UN examines human rights in member countries

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:59:20 +0100

All UN member states are facing a rigorous examination of their human rights records. The inaugural session of the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) working group began on Monday.

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a new mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council and, over the next four years, it will regularly review the human rights obligations and commitments of all 192 Member States. Governments themselves will carry out this regular and systematic scrutiny.

The new process will address one of the main criticisms of the Council’s predecessor, the Commission on Human Rights, which was accused of considering only a small number of countries, and of often avoiding pressing situations for political reasons.

The UPR Working Group will, until 18 April, examine the human rights records of 16 countries: Algeria, Argentina, Bahrain, Brazil, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Finland, India, Indonesia, Morocco, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Tunisia and the UK.

This first session will be followed by two further sessions in 2008, so that 48 countries, selected by drawing lots, will have been scrutinized during the year.

An important feature of the new process is that governments of the countries under examination are expected to carry out a broad consultation among civil society. Amnesty International has lobbied energetically to ensure that all relevant voices are heard.

The organisation has submitted information on 14 of the 16 countries above and its members and supporters are working with civil society within each country to raise awareness of the new process.

Amnesty International said, in a statement issued on Monday, that this first session of the UPR Working Group will be key in setting the standard for future reviews, in terms of process as well as substance.

"Both reviewed and reviewing countries have an important role to play. Amnesty International looks to all member states to step up and help launch the UPR as an effective human rights mechanism," said Martin Macpherson, Director of the organization's International Law and Organisations Programme.

Six years from home – Guantánamo detainees from Bosnia and Herzegovina

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 19:12:05 +0000

“I am going back to my wife and children, and you are going back to your cell like a dog.”

Reported statement of US interrogator to Belkacem Bensayeh

Unlike his US interrogator, Belkacem Bensayeh has little hope that he will soon return home to his wife and children. It is now six years since he was seized in Bosnia and Herzegovina and handed over to US forces along with five other men of Algerian origin. All remain held in Guantánamo. None have been charged with any crime. None have been able to challenge the lawfulness of his detention in court.

Despite suffering from numerous ailments, Belkacem Bensayeh is refusing medical treatment at Guantánamo as he does not trust the staff or the facilities. He is currently held in Camp 6, where he spends at least 22 hours a day in a solid steel cell with no natural light.

Another of the men, Lakhdar Boumedienne, has been participating in a hunger strike for over a year to protest his illegal detention. He is being force-fed daily while strapped in a restraint chair. His lawyers have told Amnesty International that letters from his young daughters, begging him to stop his hunger strike, have been withheld from him by the Guantánamo authorities.

The other four detainees are Hadj Boudella, Mohamed Nechle, Saber Lahmar and Mustafa Ait Idir.

Click on the pictures to the right to watch a slideshow with images of the six men prior their detention.

Illegally transferred to Guantánamo

The handing over of the six men to US custody and their subsequent transfer to Guantánamo took place in 2002. This was despite an order of 17 January 2002 by the Supreme Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to immediately release them and a provisional order by the Human Rights Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina to prevent their deportation, expulsion or extradition.

In 2002 and 2003, the Human Rights Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina ruled again that the transfer of the six men was illegal and urged the authorities to take action to protect the rights of the men.

Amnesty International is calling on US authorities to release all Guantánamo detainees immediately unless they are to be charged and given a fair trial.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina authorities have acknowledged their responsibility in the illegal transfer of the six men. They must now do all they can to ensure that, unless the US authorities promptly charge the men and bring them to trial in an independent an impartial court, they are released from Guantánamo and allowed to return to Bosnia and Herzegovina. They must not be forcibly sent to Algeria or any other state where they would be at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

What you can do

Sign up to Amnesty International's framework for ending US illegal detentions, the first step of which is closing Guantánamo.

“Many thanks for all your support during the last 6 years in the fight to free the so called ‘Algerian Six’. I can not really find the words to express my gratitude but whenever I feel down and alone, a letter of support would arrive from one of you and my spirit would rise and I would gain a new strength to continue the struggle…”
Nadja Dizdarevic, wife of Guantánamo detainee Boudella el Hajj.

Algiers bomb attacks kill at least 52

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:00:49 +0000

At least 52 people have been killed and many others injured in two bomb attacks in Algiers, according to reports from medical and security figures in Algeria. The attacks appear to have been indiscriminate or to have deliberately targeted civilians and civilian objects.

Reports indicate that a school bus carrying students was part of the destruction when the first bomb exploded in front of the Constitutional Court in the area of Ben Aknoun in the Algerian capital.

A second bomb was then detonated in the district of Hydra, close to the office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. The building was reported to have been partly destroyed and people inside the building are feared to be among the victims.

As yet, it is unclear who carried out these attacks. However, the main Islamist armed group currently active in Algeria, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, claimed responsibility for previous attacks. Bombings on 11 April in Algiers and in September in Batna and Dellys killed at least 87 people.

This group was reported to have changed its name to the al-Qa’ida Organization in the Islamic Maghreb in January this year.

Amnesty International has condemned this morning’s bomb attacks stating that such attacks are absolutely prohibited under international law and show a complete disregard for the most fundamental human right, the right to life.

Algeria: Persistent torture by the Military Security in secret locations

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 16:42:42 +0000

"I was spat at by interrogating officers, insulted and kicked. They did this because I had denied information that they had presented to me." - Former detainee who was tortured by the DRS in 2005

Torture and other ill-treatment continue to be perpetrated with impunity in Algeria in cases of individuals who are thought to have information about terrorism.

The Department for Information and Security (DRS), widely known as Military Security, an intelligence agency within the military that specializes in counter-terrorism, operates with great secrecy.

The DRS systematically holds suspects in secret places of detention, and their families receive no information about their whereabouts, sometimes for months. While held by the DRS, detainees have no contact with the outside world and there are persistent reports of torture and other ill-treatment.
Statements established by the DRS are regularly used in court to obtain convictions for terrorism related offences, while allegations of torture or other ill-treatment in DRS custody are never investigated.

Methods of torture include beatings, electric shocks, the forced ingestion of dirty water, urine or chemicals, and the suspension of detainees from the ceiling. Most detainees do not have access to a lawyer when they are first brought before a judge.

No civilian institution exercises effective oversight over the practices of the DRS. Prosecutors do not enforce safeguards under Algerian law and are apparently not informed of arrests carried out by the DRS.

The DRS specializes in detaining and interrogating people who are believed to have information about terrorist activities, due to their alleged links either with armed groups in Algeria or with international terrorist networks abroad.

The Algerian authorities have been engaged in counter-terrorism measures for well over a decade, and have become a prime ally of the USA and other governments in the "war on terror". Today, the "war on terror" serves as a pretext in Algeria to continue abuses.

Foreign governments must do more to help end torture and ill-treatment in Algeria as security cooperation is being strengthened. Governments should not forcibly return anyone to Algeria who could be at risk of torture or ill-treatment, regardless of any “diplomatic assurances” from the Algerian authorities that returnees will not be tortured or ill-treated.

The Algerian government must end arrests and detentions by the DRS and ensure that all detainees have prompt access to lawyers. They should also repeal amnesty laws that grant impunity to members of the security forces and even criminalize criticism of state agents with years of imprisonment. All complaints against the security forces are now inadmissible, regardless of the crimes they may have committed.

Algerian human rights lawyers acquitted

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 12:20:42 +0000

Algerian human rights lawyers Hassiba Boumerdesi and Amine Sidhoum were acquitted of charges of violating laws governing the organization and security of prisons by a court in Algiers on 25 April 2007. The charges were based on allegations by the prison authorities that they had passed items to their clients in detention without authorization and carried prison terms of up to five years.

Amnesty International believes that the charges were trumped-up and brought against the lawyers to intimidate them and deter them from carrying out human rights work. Their trial began on 17 January 2007.

Both lawyers have thanked the organization for its campaigning work on their case and the moral support they have received in letters from hundreds of its members.

UK must stop deportations to torture states

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 17:04:36 +0000

After labelling them as threats to "national security", the UK has recently deported two men to Algeria, a country with a known record of torture and other ill-treatment of people suspected of involvement in terrorism.

The men said that the Algerian embassy had assured them that they would be granted immunity from prosecution. These assurances were disregarded.

Following their deportation to Algeria, Reda Dendani and another Algerian man, known for legal reasons only as "H", were held virtually incommunicado by an Algerian intelligence agency for approximately 12 days. As far as Amnesty International can establish, they were then charged with "participation in a terrorist network operating abroad", and remanded into custody.

In spite of this, the UK is attempting to deport other Algerians on the basis of assurances from the Algerian authorities that the deportees would be treated humanely and would benefit from amnesty measures.

Another "national security suspect", known as Abu Qatada, faces return to Jordan after a UK court recently rejected his appeal against deportation on "national security" grounds.

In unfair and largely secret proceedings, the court disregarded ample evidence that, if returned to Jordan, Abu Qatada would face a real risk of violations of his fundamental human rights. Torture and other ill-treatment in certain detention centres in Jordan are routine, and access to detainees by lawyers and human rights bodies is denied.

The UK government's assertion that a "Memorandum of Understanding" (MoU) between the UK and Jordan is an effective mechanism to protect Abu Qatada from these risks was nevertheless accepted

The UK looks set to continue its attempts to deport individuals, on national security grounds, to states with appalling records of torture and other ill-treatment. The decision to deport is taken largely on the basis of secret information, in proceedings that are inherently profoundly unfair.

The UK authorities recognize that, but for these "assurances" and MoUs, the deportees would face a real risk of egregious human rights violations in their country of origin. The UK government maintains that, through securing these "assurances", it is meeting its human rights obligations.

Plainly, it is not.

Diplomatic assurances:

    * breach international human rights obligations;
    * are unreliable and unenforceable;
    * are inherently discriminatory in that they apply only to particular individuals.

Algeria - Amnesty International Report 2007

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:22:17 +0100

The government introduced new amnesty laws entrenching impunity for gross human rights abuses in a stated effort to bring closure to the internal conflict of the 1990s, and criminalizing criticism of past violations by government forces. It made no progress in investigating cases of enforced disappearance and other serious human rights abuses committed during the 1990s or in clarifying the fate of the victims of enforced disappearance. Some 2,200 people who had been imprisoned or detained on terrorism-related charges were released under the amnesty laws and members of armed groups who surrendered were offered exemption from prosecution. However, fighting between armed groups and security forces continued, claiming over 300 lives, including more than 70 civilians. There were persistent reports of torture and ill-treatment of suspects detained by the authorities and accused of terrorism-related activities and there were concerns over the fairness of trials in terrorism-related and politically motivated cases. Journalists, trade unionists and human rights defenders were subject to harassment and prison sentences.

Background

Algeria continued to be affected by the legacy of the long and bloody internal conflict of the 1990s in which as many as 200,000 people are believed to have been killed as a result of attacks and abuses by both armed groups and government security forces. The government branded its policy of "national reconciliation" as the definitive solution to overcoming this brutal legacy. It introduced blanket amnesty measures and exemptions from prosecution for those responsible for past abuses, compensation payments for some categories of victims, social benefits for former armed group members and their families, and measures aimed at reintegrating people who had been ostracized due to their suspected support for the Islamic Salvation Front (Front islamique du salut, FIS). The FIS, whose election success in 1992 had sparked the army's intervention and the ensuing internal conflict, remained banned and excluded from the political process although some of its former leaders actively supported the government's "reconciliation" plan.

Algeria was an important ally in the US-led "war on terror". Violence by residual armed groups persisted, often in connection with criminal activities such as smuggling, protection rackets and money-laundering. The government continued its armed campaign against these groups, which it claimed were aligned with al-Qa'ida. Despite the persistent risk of torture in terrorism-related cases, Algerians were deported from several countries where governments alleged they were a risk to national security. Some countries apparently received assurances from the Algerian authorities that returnees would not be tortured or ill-treated, but Algeria refused independent monitoring of detainees who had been returned from other countries.

Raised oil and gas prices led to high revenues which allowed the government to repay some two thirds of its foreign debt. International financial institutions warned that urgent reforms were needed to diversify growth and create employment. Violent protests over social and economic conditions remained rife amid widespread allegations of corruption.

Impunity

There was no progress towards investigating the numerous gross abuses, including torture, killings, abductions and enforced disappearances, committed by armed groups and state security forces during the conflict of the 1990s. The government continued to fail to co-operate effectively with relevant UN human rights bodies and mechanisms in addressing the human rights legacy of the conflict.

Impunity was entrenched further by amnesty laws issued under presidential decrees in February, which were said by the government to implement the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation, a framework document adopted by national referendum in 2005. Human rights groups and associations of victims staged public demonstrations to protest against the new legislation, describing it as unconstitutional.

The amnesty laws declared that any complaint against the security forces and those who acted in conjunction with them would be inadmissible, effectively granting them blanket immunity for human rights violations committed during the years of internal conflict. Moreover, the laws threatened with imprisonment those who speak out about abuses by the security forces. During the 1990s, security forces and state-armed militias carried out widespread torture and thousands of extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances, all crimes under international law. The amnesty laws contravene Algeria's international obligation to investigate these crimes and hold the perpetrators to account, thereby denying victims and their families an effective remedy for the wrongs to which they were subjected.

The amnesty laws also enlarged the scope of earlier measures granting exemption from prosecution to members of armed groups who surrendered to the authorities within a six-month period, in a stated effort to end fighting by armed groups. The law provided insufficient safeguards to ensure that those who had committed serious crimes, for example killings of civilians, would be prosecuted. According to official statements, up to 300 armed group members surrendered before the deadline expired, but it was not known how many of them were exempted from prosecution and by what process. The authorities announced that those giving themselves up in future would benefit from similar measures beyond expiry of the deadline.

The laws also provided for the release under an amnesty of those detained or imprisoned for alleged involvement in terrorist activities except for collective killings, rape and bomb attacks. According to official statements, some 2,200 people who had been charged with or convicted of involvement in terrorist activities were freed from detention in March and in the following months, but the names of those released and the process for determining eligibility were not published. Several people charged with involvement in international terrorism were initially released, although they were not entitled under the terms of the law. Some of them were later rearrested and detained. Other detainees who would have been eligible for release were still in detention at the end of the year.

• In August the UN Human Rights Committee ruled that Malik Medjnoun, who had been detained without trial for nearly seven years, should be tried immediately or released, and that human rights violations he had allegedly suffered in detention should be investigated. However, the government was not known to have taken any action in response to this decision and Malik Medjnoun remained detained without trial at the end of the year. In 2000, he was charged with participation in the 1998 killing of Lounes Matoub, a prominent singer, a crime which has not yet been fully, impartially and independently investigated. In 1999 and 2000 Malik Medjnoun was held in unacknowledged and secret detention for seven months during which he was reportedly tortured.

Political killings

More than 300 people were reported to have been killed by either armed groups or government security forces during the year, including over 70 civilians.

Armed groups continued to carry out attacks on military and, to a lesser extent, civilian targets. Military forces carried out search operations and attacks in areas where armed group violence persisted, killing alleged armed group members. There were concerns that some of these killings might have been extrajudicial executions and that some of those killed were women and children related to armed group members, but details were difficult to obtain.

Violations in counter-terrorism

Torture continued to be used with impunity. There were persistent reports of torture and other ill-treatment in the custody of the Department for Information and Security (Département du renseignement et de la sécurité, DRS), a military intelligence agency which carries out terrorism-related arrests and investigations. Detainees held in DRS custody said they were beaten, tortured with electric shocks, suspended from the ceiling, and forced to swallow large amounts of dirty water, urine or chemicals. They were held by the DRS in secret locations for up to several months, during which they were denied contact with the outside world, in violation of the law. Reports of torture and ill-treatment were not known to have been investigated, despite new provisions criminalizing torture introduced in 2004. At least three people convicted of belonging to a terrorist group were sentenced to death in their absence.

• Hadj Djilali Bouazza, an Algerian national resident in Belgium, was arrested in March, some 10 days after arriving on a visit to Algeria. He was detained in DRS custody for three months during which he was not permitted contact with the outside world and reportedly abused by being stamped on, blindfolded and beaten on the side of his head, causing temporary deafness in one ear. An independent medical examination requested by his lawyer did not take place. He remained in prison awaiting trial for alleged terrorist activities in Algeria and abroad.

• Ahmed Chergui was arrested in Boumerdes province, east of Algiers, at the end of June. He was held by gendarmerie officers for three days, during which time he was reportedly stripped and threatened with a dog. He was then transferred to DRS custody and allegedly subjected to further torture, including severe beatings on his legs. Despite extensive bruising to his thighs, a medical certificate reportedly stated that he had no traces of injuries. He was charged with terrorism-related activities and remained in detention awaiting trial.

Enforced disappearances

No steps were taken to clarify the fate of thousands of victims of enforced disappearance between 1993 and 2002. Dozens of court cases brought by their families had not led to full judicial investigations or prosecution of the alleged perpetrators. The laws on "national reconciliation" barred courts from investigating complaints against those responsible.

In March the UN Human Rights Committee issued its first rulings on cases of enforced disappearance in Algeria. The Committee found that the state had violated several provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in failing to protect the rights and life of Salah Saker and Riad Boucherf who had disappeared in 1994 and 1995 respectively. The Committee also recognized that the treatment by the authorities of their relatives, who remained without news of their fate or whereabouts, amounted to ill-treatment.

The laws on "national reconciliation" included provisions to compensate families of victims of enforced disappearance, but no payments had been made by the end of the year. In the absence of any investigations or judicial proceedings, many families rejected the compensation offer, fearing that the payments were intended to silence their calls for truth and justice.

Several dozen families of victims of enforced disappearance who had appealed to the authorities for help in previous years were summoned by security forces and given written notification of the death of their loved ones, a prerequisite for any compensation claims. The documents, however, refuted the families' claims that their loved ones had been arrested by security forces, stating instead that they had been killed by unidentified men or while participating in an armed group.

Families of victims of enforced disappearance were intimidated and some were prosecuted in connection with documentation they had produced and their campaigning activities on behalf of victims of enforced disappearance in Algeria or because of their peaceful protests against the government's national reconciliation policies.

Intimidation of human rights defenders and journalists

There were continuing restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly, and several independent organizations, including organizations of families of victims of enforced disappearance, continued to be denied legal status. Some of the restrictions were linked to the state of emergency, imposed in 1992, which remained in force.

The amnesty laws introduced in February criminalized free speech about the conduct of the security forces. Under these new laws, anyone exposing human rights violations or wishing to generate debate about them could face prosecution and up to five years' imprisonment, or 10 years in the case of a second offence. By the end of the year, the laws were not known to have been applied, but victims of human rights abuses and their families, human rights defenders, journalists and trade unionists faced a range of other forms of harassment and intimidation, including the threat of court action for exercising rights guaranteed under international law.

Algerian media reported that some 20 journalists were prosecuted for defamation after complaints by public officials. Some 15 prison terms of up to one year were imposed, but most journalists remained at liberty pending appeals.

In July, President Bouteflika decreed a pardon for all journalists convicted in connection with laws restricting free speech. Dozens of journalists sentenced to prison sentences and fines benefited from the measure. This followed a similar announcement in May which had, in practice, benefited very few of the 200 or so journalists it was officially aimed at. This was because it covered only journalists whose sentences had been confirmed, and most of those prosecuted were at liberty awaiting the outcome of appeals. b Trumped-up charges were brought against lawyers Hassiba Boumerdesi and Amine Sidhoum in September in an apparent attempt to intimidate them and deter them from carrying out human rights work. They remained at liberty pending trial for violating laws governing the organization and security of prisons.

Refugees and migrants

Irregular migrants were at risk of detention and collective expulsion. There were also reports of ill-treatment of irregular migrants by Algerian border police. Thousands of irregular migrants, including possible asylum-seekers, were deported to countries in sub-Saharan Africa without being able to make asylum applications or to appeal against deportation orders.

AI country reports/visits

Reports

- Algeria: Unrestrained powers - Torture by Algeria's Military Security (AI Index: MDE 28/004/2006)

- Algeria: New amnesty law will ensure atrocities go unpunished (AI Index: MDE 28/005/2006)

- Algeria: Torture in the "war on terror" - a memorandum to the Algerian President (AI Index: MDE 28/008/2006)

Visit

AI informed the government in May that it wished to visit Algeria, but was denied access to the country.

Algeria - Amnesty International Report 2008

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:38:08 +0100

Continuing political violence across the country left at least 491 people dead, an increase over 2006. Many were killed in bomb attacks for which a group calling itself al-Qa’ida Organization in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility. People suspected of links with terrorism were held incommunicado and in secret and were at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. Several terrorism suspects returned to Algeria by other states were sentenced to jail terms after proceedings which did not conform to international standards. Human rights defenders and journalists were harassed. The government took encouraging steps towards addressing violence against women and abolishing the death penalty, but did nothing to break the shield of impunity protecting members of armed groups and government security forces who committed gross human rights abuses during the internal conflict of the 1990s.

Background

A low turnout in the May parliamentary elections apparently reflected a lack of public confidence in the effectiveness of state authorities in addressing security, unemployment, lack of housing, water shortages and other problems. Concern about corruption fuelled discontent as it appeared that profits from rising oil and gas exports were not benefiting the wider population, and there was a continuing flow of migrants to Europe.In November, the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) recommended that the government address the continuing problems of impunity, secret detention and torture, discrimination against women and restrictions on freedom of expression.

Political killings

Al-Qa’ida Organization in the Islamic Maghreb, formerly known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, the main active Islamist armed group in Algeria, attacked both civilian and military targets. The group claimed responsibility for bomb attacks in Algiers in April and December and in Batna and Dellys in September, which killed at least 130 people, many of them civilians, and injured hundreds of others. In September, the authorities announced that Hassan Hattab, the Salafist Group’s first leader, had turned himself in.Government forces killed dozens of alleged members of armed groups during search operations and in clashes. Few details were available but there was concern that some of the victims may have been extrajudicially executed.

Violations in the context of counter-terrorism

Secret detention

The Department for Information and Security (Département du renseignement et de la sécurité, DRS), the military intelligence agency, continued to detain alleged terrorism suspects incommunicado and in secret locations, often military barracks, where they were at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. Those detained included several Algerian nationals returned from other states.

Mohamed Rahmouni was arrested by security officials in plain clothes on 18 July near his home in Bourouba, Algiers. His family inquired as to his whereabouts and a month after his arrest his mother was called to the judicial police office in Bourouba and told that her son was being detained and well-treated by the DRS. At the end of the year, however, it remained unclear where he was being held and whether he was facing charges, and relatives were still denied access to him.
A man known as “K” because of legal restrictions and Reda Dendani were detained by the DRS when they were deported to Algiers on 20 and 24 January respectively by the UK authorities, who considered them a threat to national security. “K” was released uncharged on 4 February after being held for longer than the legal limit of 12 days without charge or access to legal counsel; Reda Dendani was held by the DRS until 5 February and then transferred to prison to await trial (see below). Both were held secretly, probably in military barracks in Algiers, and without access to their relatives.

Unfair judicial proceedings

Terrorism suspects faced unfair judicial proceedings. Detainees were not always assisted by legal counsel when they were first brought before a judge and some said that they had not reported torture or other ill-treatment by the DRS for fear of reprisals. In any event, detainees’ allegations of torture and other ill-treatment were not investigated by judicial authorities even when “confessions” allegedly extracted under torture or other duress were used as evidence against them in court.

A man known as “H” returned to Algeria by the UK authorities was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment on 10 November for “belonging to a terrorist network abroad”. At trial, he alleged that he had been tortured by the DRS and made to sign a statement whose contents were not disclosed to him before he was brought before the judicial authorities. The court accepted this statement as evidence against him without investigating his allegations. It also dismissed his claim that the Algerian embassy in London had assured him that he would benefit from the amnesty measures adopted in 2006 in Algeria if he was returned there from the UK.
Reda Dendani was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment in November for “belonging to a terrorist network abroad”. At trial, he alleged that DRS officers had beaten him when he asked to see a statement they had prepared and required him to sign, and that he had not reported this when first brought before a judge because of DRS threats. The court did not investigate his allegations.

Impunity

The government took no steps to address the gross and widespread human rights abuses committed by armed groups and state security forces during the internal conflict of the 1990s in which as many as 200,000 people were killed.In November, the HRC called for the government to amend Articles 45 and 46 of the 2006 Decree implementing the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation (Law 06-01), which give impunity to the security forces and criminalize public criticism of their conduct.

Enforced disappearances

Algeria signed the new International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance on 6 February but failed to take any steps to investigate the fate of thousands of victims of enforced disappearances and continued to implement Law 06-01. Under this, relatives can seek compensation if they obtain a death certificate from the authorities for the person who disappeared. Some families complained that they were pressurized to seek such certificates, while others refused to do so out of concern that this would close the door to any investigation. The authorities told the HRC that they had selected 6,233 requests for compensation and had categorized some 17,000 cases as “killed terrorists”, but provided no details of the disappeared to whom these referred. Some families received death certificates stating that relatives who had disappeared had been killed while active in armed groups. It was not known how many families received compensation.

No progress was made in resolving the disappearance of Salah Saker, a teacher arrested by state agents in 1994, even though the HRC had called in 2006 for an immediate investigation into his case.
In July, the HRC ruled on the cases of Mohamed Grioua and Mourad Kimouche, who disappeared after arrest by state agents in 1996. The HRC found that the state had failed to protect their rights and lives, and called for full investigations and for the perpetrators to be prosecuted.

Freedom of expression

Human rights defenders and journalists were harassed by the authorities. A number of them were prosecuted and threatened with imprisonment on criminal defamation charges, apparently to punish or deter criticism of government policies and officials. The HRC recommended that the law be changed to decriminalize defamation, but the law remained in place.

Human rights lawyer Amine Sidhoum was charged with defamation in relation to comments attributed to him in a 2004 newspaper article. The journalist who wrote the article was also charged in late October. Their trial, set for November, was adjourned until January 2008. In March, Amine Sidhoum and another human rights lawyer, Hassiba Boumerdessi, were acquitted
of passing prohibited items to prisoners who were their clients.
Mohamed Smain, President of the Relizane branch of the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights, was convicted on 27 October of “denouncing imaginary crimes”. He had alleged that the bodies of some 20 people who had disappeared after they were seized by local state-armed militia had been buried in a mass grave in Sidi Mohamed Benaouda. He was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay a fine and damages. The court had first convicted him in 2002 but had been ordered to retry him following a ruling by the Supreme Court. Mohamed Smain lodged a new appeal and remained at liberty.
Hafnaoui Ghoul, a journalist and human rights activist with the Djelfa branch of the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights, was notified in September that the head of the Djelfa gendarmerie had charged him with defamation and ordered him to report to the gendarmerie weekly. He had been imprisoned for six months in 2004 after being convicted of defaming
local officials.

Refugees and migrants

Refugees, asylum-seekers and irregular migrants were at risk of detention, collective expulsion and ill-treatment. Although details were sparse, thousands were believed to have been deported to countries in sub-Saharan Africa without being able to apply for asylum or appeal against their deportation.

In August, 28 people from countries in sub-Saharan Africa, who were recognized as refugees by UNHCR, were deported to Mali after they were tried without legal counsel or the assistance of interpreters on charges of entering Algeria illegally. They were dumped near the desert town of Tinzaouatene, where a Malian armed group was active, without food, water or medical aid. The refugees were stuck there for days because of insecurity, before being able to reach the Malian capital.

Violence and discrimination against women

In February, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women visited Algeria. She welcomed important amendments made in 2005 to reduce discrimination against women, but drew attention to aspects of the Family Code which allow discrimination against women in matters of housing and inheritance. She also expressed concern as to whether victims of rape and sexual enslavement during the internal conflict were being compensated.The HRC recommended that Algerian law be amended to ensure equality between men and women in terms of marriage, divorce and housing and to criminalize marital rape.

Death penalty

The authorities maintained a de facto moratorium on executions although death sentences continued to be passed. Dozens of members of armed groups were sentenced to death on terrorism charges, mostly in their absence. In November, Algeria co-sponsored a resolution at the UN General Assembly calling for a global moratorium on executions.

Amnesty International report

Algeria: Briefing to the Human Rights Committee (MDE 28/017/2007)