Some aspects of the situation of Amazigh rights in Algeria in 2022
Algeria accedes to the UN Human Rights Council but rejects the universal nature of human rights and does not respect its international commitments
Only candidates to fill the four vacant seats for the Africa region on the Human Rights Council, Algeria, Morocco, South Africa and Sudan have joined the supreme human rights body of the on October 11, 2022, for a three-year term beginning on January 1, 2023. Civil society organizations and the Algerian media were surprised by this appointment of Algeria to the CDH when "there is no more freedom of expression in the country, the press is reduced to silence, the parties politicians are under a candle, there is no more democratic life, the population is terrorized by police tracking and justice is exploited”. In a joint report published in October 2022, international NGOs even estimated that a number of countries including Algeria,
Furthermore, Algeria, which has ratified the main international legal instruments, refuses to recognize the universal nature of human rights. During the presentation of the fourth report of the Algerian state under the Universal Periodic Review on November 27, 2022, the Algerian Minister of Justice, Mr. Abderrachid Tabi, declared that his government “rejects any unilateral vision of foreign values who do not recognize the philosophical, civilizational, historical, cultural and religious specificities” of his country.
Thus, for example, in 2018 the UN Human Rights Committee ruled that the Algerian definition of terrorism was likely to allow "the pursuit of behavior that may fall within the practice of exercising freedom of 'expression or peaceful assembly' and therefore asked the Algerian government to modify this article in order to bring it into line with good practice in international law. But in June 2021, Algeria adopted a new wording of article 87 bis of the penal code which goes in the opposite direction to the recommendations of the UN Human Rights Committee.
During the Universal Periodic Review of Algeria on November 11, 2022, representatives of several governments (Canada, United States of America, Germany, Great Britain, Belgium, Norway, Australia...) expressed their concerns regarding human rights violations in that country and made recommendations to the Algerian government to comply with international law. In particular, they called for the repeal of Article 87 bis of the criminal code, which contains an excessively broad and vague definition of terrorism, the release of human rights defenders, bringing the law on associations into line with the Constitution and with international law, the repeal of the Civil Society Organizations International Funding Restrictions Act, the adoption of concrete measures aimed at guaranteeing the exercise of the right to freedom of expression, association and assembly. They also urged Algeria to end the abusive use of pretrial detention and harassment of members of religious minorities and to put in place an independent process to appoint judges and prosecutors and to facilitate visits by mandate holders. 'UN.
Taking advantage of the impunity it enjoys, Algeria does little to respect the recommendations of UN bodies and obstructs visits by UN mandate holders. For example, according to Amnesty International, out of the 229 recommendations made in 2017 to the Algerian State within the framework of the third session of the universal periodic review, 103 have not been satisfied or have only been partially satisfied, either a satisfaction rate of only 55%. On 27/10/2022, the Human Rights Committee adopted its report on the follow-up to the concluding observations addressed to Algeria as a State Party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In this report,
The visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of association, assembly and peaceful assembly scheduled for September 12-22, 2022 has been postponed to an indefinite later date, at the request of the Algerian government. This visit was to take place initially in 2011, then postponed from year to year. For the representative of the Algerian League for Human Rights, "it is a disguised refusal of the special rapporteur's visit to Algeria, as the situation of public freedoms is catastrophic, especially for the rights falling within the mandate of this special rapporteur". .
However, Mr. Mohammad Alnsour, head of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) section of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights was able to go to Algiers for a visit described as "technical", from November 28 to December 2. 2022. The program of this visit and its results have not been made public to date.
On 1/04/2022, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention considered that Kamira Nait Sid, co-president of the NGO Congrès Mondial Amazigh, in pre-trial detention since 24/08/2021, is arbitrarily detained. For the Working Group, the activities of defense of the rights of the Amazighs carried out by Mrs. Nait Sid, are protected by the right to freedom of expression, association and assembly, guaranteed by articles 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration. of Human Rights (UDHR), and by Articles 19, 22 and 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Consequently, he sent a letter to the Algerian government in which he asked them to proceed immediately and unconditionally with the release of Ms. Nait Sid, to ensure that she receives the necessary medical care and to grant her the right to obtain reparation, in particular in the form of compensation, in accordance with international law. He also demanded that the Algerian officials who decided on the kidnapping and sequestration of Kamira Nait Sid be identified, tried and sentenced. But to date, none of these demands of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention have been met and Kamira Nait Sid remains in prison.
During its 73rd ordinary session which took place in Banjul (Gambia), from October 21 to November 10, 2022, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) adopted a report on the situation of human rights. man in Africa. Concerning Algeria, the "African Commission recalls the letter of urgent appeal that it sent to the Algerian Government on 27/09/2021 regarding the devastating effects of covid-19 on the indigenous Amazigh populations, the arson in the territory of Kabylie and the repression against the Amazighs, to which no response has been provided to date", and notes that "the repression against the Amazighs and particularly against the Kabyle community has increased in recent years, with around 300 Kabyles often imprisoned without trial, some for 2 years”. The report also notes that "Kamira Nait Sid, co-president of the NGO Congrès Mondial Amazigh has been arbitrarily detained for more than 13 months, according to the opinion of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (A/ HRC/WGAD/2022/15)”. In conclusion, the African Commission calls on the Algerian government to “conduct independent investigations into the issues raised in the urgent appeal letter of September 27, 2021, significantly reduce the duration of pretrial detention and release the Amazigh detainees who are in a situation of arbitrary detention”. During the month of November the Algerian authorities released about fifty Kabyle political detainees but at the same time the arrests never stopped. NGO Congrès Mondial Amazigh has been detained for more than 13 months, arbitrarily according to the opinion of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (A/HRC/WGAD/2022/15)”. In conclusion, the African Commission calls on the Algerian government to “conduct independent investigations into the issues raised in the urgent appeal letter of September 27, 2021, significantly reduce the duration of pretrial detention and release the Amazigh detainees who are in a situation of arbitrary detention”. During the month of November the Algerian authorities released about fifty Kabyle political detainees but at the same time the arrests never stopped. NGO Congrès Mondial Amazigh has been detained for more than 13 months, arbitrarily according to the opinion of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (A/HRC/WGAD/2022/15)”. In conclusion, the African Commission calls on the Algerian government to “conduct independent investigations into the issues raised in the urgent appeal letter of September 27, 2021, significantly reduce the duration of pretrial detention and release the Amazigh detainees who are in a situation of arbitrary detention”. During the month of November the Algerian authorities released about fifty Kabyle political detainees but at the same time the arrests never stopped. on Arbitrary Detention (A/HRC/WGAD/2022/15)”. In conclusion, the African Commission calls on the Algerian government to “conduct independent investigations into the issues raised in the urgent appeal letter of September 27, 2021, significantly reduce the duration of pretrial detention and release the Amazigh detainees who are in a situation of arbitrary detention”. During the month of November the Algerian authorities released about fifty Kabyle political detainees but at the same time the arrests never stopped. on Arbitrary Detention (A/HRC/WGAD/2022/15)”. In conclusion, the African Commission calls on the Algerian government to “conduct independent investigations into the issues raised in the urgent appeal letter of September 27, 2021, significantly reduce the duration of pretrial detention and release the Amazigh detainees who are in a situation of arbitrary detention”. During the month of November the Algerian authorities released about fifty Kabyle political detainees but at the same time the arrests never stopped. significantly reduce the length of pre-trial detention and release Amazigh detainees who are in arbitrary detention”. During the month of November the Algerian authorities released about fifty Kabyle political detainees but at the same time the arrests never stopped. significantly reduce the length of pre-trial detention and release Amazigh detainees who are in arbitrary detention”. During the month of November the Algerian authorities released about fifty Kabyle political detainees but at the same time the arrests never stopped.
A dark new year for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the Amazighs
Over the past two years, the Algerian government has adopted reforms to the penal code that are very restrictive of freedoms, which it justifies by the need to "criminalize acts threatening the security and stability of the country, public order and security , undermining state security and national unity”. Heavy penalties are provided for any person or organization from civil society who receives financial aid from abroad (article 2) or who disseminates “fake news” (article 3). Concerning terrorism, article 87 bis retains such a broad and imprecise definition that anyone using their freedom of expression is likely to be prosecuted for glorifying terrorism. The government then classified the Kabyle political organization called “Movement for the Autodetermination of Kabylia” (MAK), as a terrorist organization, although this movement has always acted by peaceful means. The Algerian legal arsenal has enabled the authorities to carry out hundreds of arrests, detentions and convictions of Kabyles, including members and sympathizers of the MAK but also human rights defenders, leaders of associations Amazighs, journalists, writers, artists, students, etc.
Kamira Nait Sid, co-president of the NGO Congrès Mondial Amazigh, detained since 08/24/2021 and prosecuted in particular for belonging to a terrorist organization and advocating terrorism, was tried and sentenced on 12/5/2022 by the Court of Sidi -Mhamed of Algiers, to five years in prison and a fine of 100,000 dinars. His lawyers filed an appeal against this judgment.
During the fires that ravaged Kabylia in August 2021 and which claimed between 200 and 300 victims, Djamel Ben Smail, a young man from another region of Algeria, died in unclear circumstances in Larvaa -Nat-Iraten, a locality in Kabylie. The police then carried out around a hundred arbitrary arrests of Kabyles accused of having set fire to Kabyle forests and villages and of having killed Djamel Ben Smail. Following an expeditious collective trial before the Criminal Court of Algiers on November 24, 2022, 54 people were found guilty and sentenced to death for terrorism, arson, murder and membership of the MAK and 28 others were sentenced to sentences ranging from 2 to 10 years in prison. The defense lawyers all denounced the violations of laws and legal procedures, in particular the absence of material evidence, the taking into account of confessions obtained through the use of torture, convictions for acts prior to the law, accusations and convictions on the basis of article 87 bis of the penal code , unconstitutional and repeatedly denounced by the relevant bodies of the UN, the ban on the defendants and their lawyers from speaking in the Amazigh language during the hearings. The lawyers called these trials "masquerades", "political trials" with "phantom crimes". the ban on the defendants and their lawyers from speaking the Amazigh language during the hearings. The lawyers called these trials "masquerades", "political trials" with "phantom crimes". the ban on the defendants and their lawyers from speaking the Amazigh language during the hearings. The lawyers called these trials "masquerades", "political trials" with "phantom crimes".
The Kabyles in particular are subjected to police and judicial harassment (arbitrary arrests, incessant summonses before police stations, prosecutors or judges, placements under judicial supervision, etc.), others are prevented from leaving the country even though they are concerned by no legal proceedings and others are actively sought by the sinister brigades of research and intervention (BRI) of the police. Still others leave the country clandestinely by all means. This is the case, among many others, of Said Salhi, vice-president of the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights (LADDH, dissolved on the sly in 2022), who had to go into exile in Europe in June 2022 . Algeria leaves the choice to Amazigh militants and Kabyles in particular as well as to human rights defenders, only between silence, exile, prison or death as has been the case among others, of Kamel-Eddine Fekhar, who died in detention in 2019. There is no justice in Algeria but just a military junta which imposes its rules while prohibiting any protest, however peaceful it may be. This creates a climate of fear, terror and permanent anguish, which has extinguished civil society organizations and reduced social life to survival activities. If this stifling leaden screed is maintained any longer, it risks one day or another being exploded from the inside, with incalculable damage. of Kamel-Eddine Fekhar, who died in detention in 2019. There is no justice in Algeria but just a military junta which imposes its rules while prohibiting any protest, however peaceful it may be. This creates a climate of fear, terror and permanent anguish, which has extinguished civil society organizations and reduced social life to survival activities. If this stifling leaden screed is maintained any longer, it risks one day or another being exploded from the inside, with incalculable damage. of Kamel-Eddine Fekhar, who died in detention in 2019. There is no justice in Algeria but just a military junta which imposes its rules while prohibiting any protest, however peaceful it may be. This creates a climate of fear, terror and permanent anguish, which has extinguished civil society organizations and reduced social life to survival activities. If this stifling leaden screed is maintained any longer, it risks one day or another being exploded from the inside, with incalculable damage. which shut down civil society organizations and reduced social life to survival activities. If this stifling leaden screed is maintained any longer, it risks one day or another being exploded from the inside, with incalculable damage. which shut down civil society organizations and reduced social life to survival activities. If this stifling leaden screed is maintained any longer, it risks one day or another being exploded from the inside, with incalculable damage.
Deaf and blind, benefiting from total impunity, doped with oil and gas whose prices are soaring, the Algerian power is acquiring more means to pursue its aggressive and ultra-repressive policy. Algeria's military budget for 2023 has more than doubled, but the country does not have a single forest firefighting aircraft.
CMA, 31/12/2022
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