GENEVA: A United Nations rights expert on Thursday denounced Algeria’s harassment and criminalization of human rights defenders, highlighting a number of cases including that of independent journalist Merzoug Touati.
Mary Lawlor, the UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders, said she was “deeply disappointed” to see the situation had not improved since she visited Algeria in late 2023.
“Human rights defenders in different fields of work, some of whom I met, are still being arbitrarily arrested, judicially harassed, intimidated and criminalized for their peaceful activities under vaguely worded provisions, such as ‘harming the security of the state’,” she said in a statement.
Lawlor, an independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council but who does not speak on behalf of the United Nations, voiced particular concerns about Touati’s case.
The independent journalist and rights advocate “has been subjected for years to trials on spurious charges,” she said, saying it was “among the most alarming cases I have recently examined.”
He had been detained three times since the start of last year, she said.
During his latest arrest last August, she said, “his family was reportedly subjected to ill-treatment. He was then allegedly physically and psychologically tortured while in police custody for five days.”
“He continues to be judicially harassed even after his release.”
Equally concerning, Lawlor said, were the arrests last year of three human rights lawyers, Toufik Belala, Soufiane Ouali and Omar Boussag, and a young whistleblower, Yuba Manguellet.
She also drew attention to the case of the “Association of Families of the Disappeared,” set up during the Algerian Civil War in the 1990s to seek answers over the forcible disappearances amid the violence.
The organization had repeatedly been prevented from holding events by huge contingents of police forces surrounding its office in Algiers.
“Its female lawyer and members, many of whom are mothers of disappeared persons, have been manhandled and forced to leave the location on these occasions,” the statement said.
“I want to repeat that I met nearly all of these human rights defenders,” Lawlor said, adding that “not one of them was in any way pursuing violent acts.”
“They all must be treated in accordance with international human rights law, which Algeria is bound to respect.”
UN expert slams Algeria’s ‘criminalization’ of rights activists
https://arab.news/r32c4
UN expert slams Algeria’s ‘criminalization’ of rights activists
- Mary Lawlor, the UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders, said: “Human rights defenders in different fields of work, some of whom I met, are still being arbitrarily arrested”
- Equally concerning, Lawlor said, were the arrests last year of three human rights lawyers
Arab and Islamic states reject Israel’s recognition of Somaliland
- Israel formally recognized Somaliland as an “independent and sovereign state” on Friday
- Saudi Arabia on Friday expressed full support for sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity of Somalia
A group of foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries, alongside the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), have firmly rejected Israel’s announcement of its recognition of the Somaliland region within Somalia.
In a joint statement issued on Saturday, the ministers condemned Israel’s decision, announced on December 26, warning that the move carries “serious repercussions for peace and security in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea region” and undermines international peace and security, the Jordan News Agency reported.
The statement described the recognition as an unprecedented and flagrant violation of international law and the charter of the United Nations, which uphold the principles of state sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, JNA added.
Israel formally recognized Somaliland as an “independent and sovereign state” and signed an agreement to establish diplomatic ties, as the region’s leader hailed its first-ever official recognition.
The ministers reaffirmed their full support for the sovereignty of Somalia, rejecting any measures that would undermine its unity or territorial integrity.
They warned that recognizing the independence of parts of states sets a dangerous precedent and poses a direct threat to international peace and security.
The statement also reiterated categorical opposition to any attempt to link the move with plans to displace the Palestinian people outside their land, stressing that such proposals are rejected “in form and substance.”
Alongside the Jordanian foreign ministry, the joint statement was issued by the foreign ministers of Egypt, Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, The Gambia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Maldives, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Somalia, Sudan, Turkiye and Yemen, as well as the OIC.
Saudi Arabia on Friday expressed full support for the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Somalia, and expressed its rejection of the declaration of mutual recognition between Israel and Somaliland.
