Algerian authorities should immediately release human rights defenders, civil society activists, opposition figures, journalists, and all others arbitrarily imprisoned for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression and assembly, Human Rights Watch said today.
Three years after the emergence of the ” Hirak ” protest movement, which organized massive weekly peaceful demonstrations to demand political reform, the authorities are still detaining at least 280 activists, many of whom are linked to Hirak, charged or convicted on the basis of vague accusations. Some face terrorism charges on the basis of a definition of the term so broad that it becomes arbitrary. Their numbers have skyrocketed over the past year, as authorities have also targeted associations and political parties close to the Hirak.
“ Algerian authorities should release the hundreds of people imprisoned for peaceful speaking or pro-Hirak activism,” said Eric Goldstein, acting Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. ” Picking up dubious charges of ‘terrorism’ and vague indictments like ‘undermining national unity’ cannot obscure the fact that it is really about silencing critical voices of a peaceful movement.
On February 22, 2019, millions of Algerians marched through the streets of Algiers and other cities to voice their opposition to a fifth term in office for former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Hirak (” movement ” in Arabic) protesters, who gathered in the streets every Friday after February 22, won Bouteflika’s resignation in April 2019. But, later that year, when the movement opposed the holding of a presidential election without first implementing reforms, the authorities began to arrest people perceived to be figures of the movement.
The crackdown intensified after the election of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in December 2019, although protests came to a halt in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. On the second anniversary of the Hirak, in February 2021, protests resumed but waned three months later due to repression and the weakening of the movement.
According to the National Committee for the Liberation of Detainees (CNLD), created in August 2019 by activists and lawyers to monitor arrests and trials, at least 280 people are currently imprisoned for peacefully expressing their opinions, for most of them related to the Hirak. The Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights (LADDH) estimated the number of people in detention at 330 on February 5, 2022.
As the anniversary of Hirak approaches, at least 40 detainees in El Harrach prison in Algiers began a hunger strike on January 28 to protest against their detention, which they consider arbitrary, said the Collective for the defense of prisoners of conscience, a group of lawyers. Most of these hunger strikers are in preventive detention and have been awaiting trial for months.
According to this Collective, the authorities transferred more than 20 hunger strikers from El Harrach to the prison of Saïd Abid in Bouira, east of Algiers, and to that of Berrouaghia, southwest of the capital. ” We consider that the transfer of these detainees to other prisons is, on the one hand, a punitive measure, on the other, it aims to break this [ strike ] movement “, declared Abdelghani Badi, a lawyer member of the Collective, to the daily El Watan.
One of these hunger strikers is Hassan Bouras, a journalist and member of the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights based in El Bayadh, in the west of the country, one of his lawyers told Human Rights Watch. Arrested on September 6, 2021, he is accused of ” undermining national unity “, ” contempt of constituted bodies ” and ” promotion of false information “, said this lawyer, but also of ” joining a terrorist organization “, “ apology for terrorism ” and “ conspiracy against state security ”, among other charges, relating in particular to his Facebook publications. Bouras, who had previously been imprisoned for his remarks critical of the Algerian government, is currently the subject of several legal proceedings.
In June 2021, President Tebboune amended the penal code by ordinance, broadening the already overly broad Algerian definition of the notion of ” terrorism ” contained in article 87, to include any action having as its object ” to work or incite, by any means whatsoever, to accede to power or to change the system of governance by unconstitutional means ” or ” to undermine the integrity of the national territory or to incite to do so, by any means whatsoever “.
Authorities have used this article to prosecute a growing number of activists, journalists, and human rights defenders.
On January 24, they arrested Abdelkrim Zeghilèche, an activist who runs the Sarbacane radio station based in Constantine. He is accused of ” apologizing for terrorism”, ” using information technology to spread terrorist ideas ” and ” posting and distributing publications harmful to the national interest”, in connection with his Facebook posts and statements. in the media, his brother, Abdelmoumen Zeghilèche, told Human Rights Watch. Abdelkrim Zeghilèche had already been imprisoned before for his opinions during the Hirak.
The authorities also targeted opposition political parties supporting the protest movement. On January 20, the Council of State, Algeria’s highest administrative court, ordered the temporary suspension of the activities of the Socialist Workers’ Party ( PST ) and the closure of its premises in Algiers. This decision followed a complaint against this party filed on April 26, 2021, by the Ministry of the Interior, which accused it of not having held its annual congress as required by both its internal regulations and the Law. no. 12-04 on political parties.
“This suspension aims to] make our party pay for its political positions and its resolute commitments in the Hirak, against repression and alongside social struggles,” the party said. This party was officially founded in 1989 after the establishment of the multiparty system in Algeria but existed unofficially before.
The suspension order came despite the fact that the party held its congress on April 24, 2021, and handed over related documents to the interior ministry, party official Samir Larabi told Human Rights Watch.
On January 20, the Council of State rejected a similar request from the Minister of the Interior to suspend another opposition party, the Union for Change and Progress (UCP) chaired by Zoubida Assoul, a lawyer. However, this party is still awaiting another decision from the Council of State concerning a request for dissolution filed by the Minister of the Interior.
The two secular opposition parties, the Democratic and Social Movement (MDS) and the Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD), are also in the sights of the authorities. MDS spokesperson Fethi Gharès, 48, was sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of 200,000 dinars ($1,420) on January 9, 2021, for ” contempt of constituted bodies “, ” call to assembly ” and “ dissemination of information that could harm the national interest ”, accusations based in particular on political statements he had made online, his wife, Messaouda Cheballah, told Human Rights Watch.
On January 6, the RCD received a formal notice from the Ministry of the Interior accusing it of violating Law No. 12-04 on political parties by having organized ” activities outside the objectives stipulated in its law fundamental. This formal notice came after a meeting held on December 24, 2021, at the RCD headquarters in Algiers, in which several activists mobilizing for the creation of a front against repression and for freedoms had participated.
As for civil society organizations, a court on October 13 dissolved the Rassemblement Actions Jeunesse (RAJ), a pro-Hirak organization, following a complaint by the Ministry of the Interior that its activities were contrary to the objectives defined by Law no. 12-06 on associations and the statutes of the association. The RAJ is a major organization created in 1992 to promote cultural activities, human rights, and the values of citizenship.
In addition, the cultural association SOS Bab El Oued in Algiers has ceased its activities and its premises have been closed since the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) raided its office in April 2021 and confiscated equipment. The president of this well-known local association, Nacer Meghnine, was sentenced in November to one year in prison for ” undermining national unity and the national interest”, among other charges related to the activities from the Association.
All of these parties and organizations have actively participated in the Hirak movement and are members of the Democratic Alternative Pact (PAD), an alliance of opposition forces that was formed in June 2019, during the protest movement.
