Algeria rebuffs UN criticism on human rights defenders

Algerian officials defended their human rights record at the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday March 5th, directly contradicting a damning report that shows ongoing persecution of human rights defenders by Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor that will be formally presented on March 6th according to according to AL24.

The diplomatic clash comes as Amnesty International and six other organisations issued an urgent appeal this Monday, condemning Algeria’s ongoing repression of civic space.

Lawlor’s report of her visit to Algeria from the 25th of November to the 5th of December 2023 has been the spark for this debate.

The report dove into the issues of human rights defenders in the country and will be presented on the 6th of March to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UN).

According to the UN, Lawlor stated that after more than a year post her visit that she is “deeply disappointed to see that human rights defenders in different fields of work…are still being arbitrarily arrested, judicially harassed, intimidated and criminalised for their peaceful activities under vaguely worded provisions, such as ‘harming the security of the State'”.

The Algerian representative to Geneva, Rachid Bladehane, defended his country’s record, stating that Algerian law fully guarantees the rights and freedoms of human rights defenders while expressing that Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor’s visit demonstrated Algeria’s commitment to endorsing human rights in alignment with international practices.

The representative focused on human rights being a “cornerstone of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s program.”

With Tebboune being president since December 2019, Bladehane defended the regime’s protection of human rights through its implementation of the 2020 constitutional amendments and the creation of the Mediator of the Republic institution in 2021 where there can be clear communication between the Algerian institutions and its citizens.

Bladehane may have tried to save Algeria’s image in front of the UN in Geneva, defending Tebboune’s tenure, yet it has not stopped many criticisms and incidents which have gone against the human rights they claim to uphold.

Amnesty International, alongside six other organisations, have in an open letter on Monday, the 3rd of March, called on observer states of the UN Human Rights Council to “address ongoing repression of civic space in Algeria”.

The letter openly condemns the situation, which they believe “remains bleak”.

Amnesty has called on the Human Rights Council to condemn Algeria’s crackdown on human rights defenders, demand an end to arbitrary detentions, and call for the immediate release of those imprisoned for peaceful activism.

The appeal also asks authorities to honour their obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and develop new association laws in consultation with civil society.

This criticism has come from the numerous events which have gone against human rights in Algeria in the last few years and have taken place under the Tebboune government, which has just argued that it follows human rights standards.

Attacks on freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly, just to name a few, alongside torture have taken place in this time.

On 2 April 2023, freedom of expression was attacked when an Algiers court dissolved Interface Media and its news outlets, fining them DZD 10 million while sentencing director Ihsane El Kadi to seven years for his journalism.

Then freedom of peaceful assembly was restricted by arresting at least 40 activists on August 20, including Soheib Debbaghi, Mohamed Tadjadit and lawyer Sofiane Ouali, to prevent a gathering commemorating the historic 1956 Soummam Congress. The activists, according to the National Committee for the Liberation of Detainees, were released later that day.

These cases are just two in the long list of offences on human rights which have occurred in Algeria under the Tebboune regime.

The report in Geneva may have been hushed by the Algerian representative who reaffirmed Algeria’s commitment to human rights.

However, it is evident Algeria faces a significant issue in its ability to uphold the rights it professes to guarantee so openly.

AL24, United Nations Human Rights Council, Amnesty International