This report highlights the major human rights violations that have taken place in Algeria since 2019.
Introduction
Since the eruption of peacefully mass protests known as the Hirak movement in February 2019, Algeria has seen widespread calls for political reform denouncing hence an authoritarian and corrupted political system, dominated by a military oligarchy that holds the real power. The movement soon evolved into a broader demand for democratic reforms (civil state and not military state) and rule of law. In response, the Algerian government has employed various repressive tactics, resulting in significant human rights violations, including torture, restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly, and political participation.
Torture and ill-treatments
In addition to local human rights defenders and whistleblowers, international human rights organizations (i.e., Amnesty International [1,2], Human Rights Watch [3], Cairo Institute for human rights studies [4], etc.) have raised significant concerns about torture and ill-treatment in Algeria [5]. The use of torture by the regime has been linked primarily to the repression of political dissent, particularly targeting activists, journalists, and participants in the Hirak protest movement, including minors and elderly people. Despite Algeria’s ratification of the Convention Against Torture, there are numerous documented instances where these practices persist. For instance, detainees have alleged being stripped, beaten, sexually harassed, and subjected to other forms of abuse during detention. Such testimonies are often ignored by judicial authorities, with courts failing to investigate claims brought forward by victims. Below we present some of them:
- Walid Nekkiche: an Algerian student arrested during a peaceful Hirak demonstration, tortured and sexually abused by the political police [6].
- Fatiha Daoudi: sixty-five-year-old women was arrested on July 11 2021 and placed under warrant for days later. She spent 18 months in jail detention before her trial. She declared during her trial that she was forced to strip completely and to drink toilet water [7].
- Saïd Chetouane: a 15-year-old Algerian teenager, arrested during a demonstration, he was subjected to sexual touching, sparking national and international outrage [8]
- Mohamed Ben Halima: former military officer he claimed he was tortured and sexually harassed after being extradited from Spain in 2022 [9,10].
- Yasser Rouibah: Arrested and subjected to torture and inhumane treatment, including physical beatings and inappropriate sexual contact [11,12].
- Chems Eddine (Brahim) Laalami: symbol of judicial abuses against activists. arrested several times for his peaceful activism [13].
- Etc.
Although evidences of torture and ill-treatments committed by security services, the government failed to conform to Article 19’s of the convention against torture reporting requirements. In fact, the third and last periodic report has been submitted in May 2008, and since the government has failed to meet any subsequent deadlines!
We urge the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to review the Algerian authorities in order to conform with the commitee againt torture’s recommendations, in particular Article 19, to submit overdue reports, to stop torture and to address criticisms related impunity, and human rights violations.
Crackdown on Protests and Freedom of Assembly
The Hirak protests began and remain as a peaceful movement advocating for democratic change. Unfortunately, the government’s response has been characterized by heavy-handed repression and legal proceedings under the control of security services:
- Arbitrary Arrests: Thousands of protesters have been arrested, including activists, students, and opposition figures. The overall number of opinion’s detainees since the raise of Hirak is estimated to more than 1500 detainees sentenced between 1 and 7 years of jail. In the majority of cases, they spent a long period of pre-trial detention.
- Surveillance and Intimidation: Security forces have employed surveillance tactics, including the monitoring of social media and telephone conversations, to intimidate and control protesters. The majority of detainees have been arrested to expressing their opinion on social media. The case of Hakim Debbazi is illustrative: this 55-year-old pro-democratic protester and father of three children has been arrested in 2022 for his social media posts. During his pre-trial detention, he passed away in prison without any serious investigation from the authorities [14].
Judicial and Legal Challenges
Allegations of torture are often ignored or not investigated thoroughly. Courts frequently overlook reports of abuse, such as those presented by detainees during trials, signaling systemic impunity for law enforcement officers. Furthermore, amendments to Algeria’s Penal Code, particularly Article 87 bis, have been criticized for enabling these abuses under the guise of counterterrorism.
- Prolonged Detention: some detainees, arrested for just expressing a political opinion on social media that did not conform to what was expected by the regime were held for extended periods without charge or trial, violating hence international norms regarding detention and due process. For instance, 18 former politicians, elder and sick whose age is well over 70 years, are detained for 14 months (since October 12th 2023) without trial till today just because they published a release in which they distanced themselves from the regime’s ruling clans and called for national dialogue to address the ongoing political crisis. They have actually been on hunger strike for 20 days!
- Women detention: to install fear among protesters and pro-democracy, the Algerian government has explicitly and particularly targeted women. In fact, since 2019, many women – activists, students, journalists, etc. – have suffered, and are suffering again, increasingly intense judicial harassment [15].
Diaspora harassment
Algerian authorities have imposed arbitrary travel bans on Hirak activist once they returned to visit their families. Several cases have been reported and documented. Among the latter, the case of the artist-singer Djamila Bentouis [16] is illustrative: She was a hirak’s activist in Paris, where she lives with her husband and two children. She composed with other activists several songs calling for democratic changes. When she returned to Algeria to say goodbye to her dying mother, she was then arrested and sentenced to 2 years in prison! [17].
Also, Human rights watch reported similar cases: “Between January and April 2022, the authorities have prevented at least three Algerian-Canadian citizens, only one of whom has been charged, from returning to their homes in Canada and interrogated them about their links to the hirak”[18].