Allow families of the disappeared express their demands for truth, justice (...)

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Allow families of the disappeared express their demands for truth, justice and reparation without fear of reprisals

Algeria / North Africa

Thursday 26 August 2010 by Amnesty International , Observatory , Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network

Don’t silence families of the disappeared calling for the truth

18 August 2010

Amnesty International, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) and the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights - FIDH - and the World Organisation Against Torture - OMCT), deplore the Algerian authorities’ attempts to silence families of victims of enforced disappearance by violently breaking-up their last two weekly peaceful protests. The organizations call on the authorities to allow families of victims of enforced disappearance to hold peaceful protests without fear of reprisals, and to respond to their legitimate demands for truth, justice and adequate reparation.

On 11 August, law enforcement officials prevented some 40 relatives of victims of enforced disappearance and their supporters from holding a peaceful protest in front of the official human rights body, the National Advisory Commission for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights (Commission nationale consultative de promotion et de protection des droits de l’Homme, CNCPPDH) in Algiers. Officials did not provide the families with an official reason for preventing their peaceful demonstration, merely stating that they are following “orders from above”.

Families of victims of enforced disappearance have been demanding for years that the authorities reveal the fate and whereabouts of their relatives, who vanished after being taken away by members of the security forces during the 1990s internal conflict. They have been holding peaceful protests in front of the CNCPPDH, and its predecessor the National Observatory for Human Rights (Observatoire national des droits de l’Homme), nearly every Wednesday since 1998.

Following the Algerian authorities’ refusal for families to hold a similar protest on the previous Wednesday, as has been their norm for about 12 years, a number of activists participated in the protest on 11 August in solidarity. They included at least four human rights defenders from the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights (Ligue Algerienne for la Defense des Droits de l’Homme - LADDH) including its head Moustafa Bouchachi, as well as human rights lawyer Amine Sidhoum.

Amnesty International, the EMHRN and the Observatory are deeply concerned that Algerian law enforcement officials violently dispersed the protestors pushing and hitting them at random according to accounts of eyewitnesses. Reports received by the organisations indicate that Algerian officials did not spare the aging mothers and even grandmothers of victims of enforced disappearance. Algerian officials also hit several human rights defenders and lawyers, who attempted to intervene to protect the relatives of the disappeared from being injured. As a result of the violent breakup of the protest, Fatma Lakhal, wife of a victim of enforced disappearance, and Hassan Farhati, member of the association SOS-Disappeared ( SOS-Disparus), the organizers of the protest, fell on the ground and fainted. Members of the police called an ambulance, and both were hospitalized for several hours. After having broken-up the gathering, Algerian officials forced the remaining protestors into a bus that drove them away.

Amnesty International, the EMHRN and the Observatory also regret that the Algerian judicial police arrested and briefly detained four of the protestors in an apparent attempt to intimidate them and deter them from holding similar demonstrations. Among those arrested were two members of the LADDH, and the 82 year-old father of a victim of enforced disappearance. They were all released within several hours without being formally charged.

Instead of penalizing families for calling for the truth about their disappeared relatives, the Algerian authorities should:

Ensure that human right defenders, families of the victims of enforced disappearance and others can conduct their human rights work and express views and opinions on human rights issues without fear of intimidation, harassment or prosecution by respecting the United Nations Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders);
Immediately conduct a full, independent and impartial investigation into allegations of violent conduct by security forces against peaceful protestors;
Ensure that the rights to freedom of expression and assembly, as set out by Articles 19 and 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Algeria is a state party, are respected in practice and that no undue restrictions are placed on the exercise of these rights; and
Conduct full, impartial and independent investigations into the enforced disappearance of thousands of individuals during the 1990s internal conflict and bring those responsible to justice in proceedings meeting international standards of fair trial.
Background
To date, the Algerian authorities failed to address the legacy of the 1990s internal conflict, when governmental forces fought armed groups following the cancellation of the 1992 legislative elections, which were set to be won by the Islamic Salvation Front. The conflict was marred by grave human rights abuses committed by both the security forces and armed groups. During the conflict, thousands of individuals were subjected to enforced disappearances at the hands of the Algerian security forces. No proper investigations have been carried out by the Algerian authorities into theses disappearances and perpetrators are yet to be brought to justice.

In September 2005, a Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation was approved by referendum. The framework document denied that the security forces had been responsible for thousands of enforced disappearances, although it promised families of the disappeared compensation and recognition as “victims of the national tragedy”. The Decree Implementing the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation of February 2006 grants immunity from prosecution to security forces and state-armed militias and threatens with up to five years of imprisonment victims and their families, human rights defenders, journalists, and any other Algerians who document, protest, or comment critically on the conduct of security forces during the years of the internal conflict.

The Algerian authorities deny legal registration to associations representing families of victims of enforced disappearance, impeding their ability to conduct their human rights work and exposing them to risks of prosecution, intimidation and harassment.

For more information, please contact:
• Amnesty International: Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui: +442074135643
• EMHRN: Shaimaa Aboul Khir +45 32 64 17 16
• OMCT : Delphine Reculeau: + 41 22 809 49 39
• FIDH: Karine Appy: + 33 1 43 55 25 18