Tactics and tools for the protection
of Human Rights Defenders

 11 July 2011

Copenhagen, July 11, 2011 – The EMHRN condemns the escalation of judicial harassment against Algerian union activists and human rights defenders in retaliation for their activities.

On Tuesday July 12, Omar Farouk Slimani, a student and an official of the Laghouat branch of the Ligue algérienne pour la défense des droits de l’Homme (LADDH) will appear before the court of first instance of Laghouat (350 km south of Algier) along with 20 other young demonstrators arrested during protest marches last January. The hearing has already been postponed three times .
These young activists are accused of “unlawful unarmed gathering” and “assault with violence against members of the police force” on the basis of articles 98 and 148 of the Criminal Code. Those offences are punishable by a 5-year jail term. These young people were arrested during a gendarmerie check at the time of the demonstrations that took place early January 2011 and detained for 48 hours before appearing before an examining judge. The hearing has been scheduled despite the fact that the President declared last February that legal proceedings against those arrested during peaceful demonstrations would be abandoned.

Several members of the LADDH

are facing legal proceedings, including Hassan Bouras, a journalist and member of the governing board of the LADDH, who has faced prosecution on several occasions since 2003, and Naamane Daghbouche, lawyer at the court of Oum el Bouaghi (eastern Algeria) and member of the national council of the LADDH, who has also been facing lengthy court proceedings since 2007.
Even if those trials often end up with acquittals, they interfere with the work of activists who have to devote time to the preparation of their defense. Last May 31, Kamel Eddine Fekhar, member of the national council of the LADDH and of its local branch in Ghardaïa (700 km south of Algier) was acquitted by the Criminal Court of that city of the charge of “inciting to set a police vehicle on fire” on the basis of articles 41, 396 and 396 bis of the Criminal Code, a charge punishable by life imprisonment. The acquittal came after witnesses retracted their statements that, they declared, they had been pressured to make.
Likewise, Yacine Zaid, union activist and chief official of the Laghouat branch of the LADDH based in Hassi Messaoud (southern Algeria) is being charged with “uttering slander and threats on the Internet” in the absence of any evidence to support the charge. He had previously been fired by his employer for having set up a local union branch.
The EMHRN has also been informed that abusive criminal proceeding were instituted against independent union activists belonging to the Syndicat National Autonome des Personnels de la Fonction Publique (SNAPAP) who had called for the right to strike or the formation of local branches, such as Mohamed Hadji, who was fired from his job with the commune of Chlef, that still refuses to abide by the court decision ordering his reinstatement, and Sadek Sadou, employee of the wilayas (provincial government) of Bejaia, who has been facing six court actions since 2007 for “slander and unlawfully claiming union membership”. By the same token, Mourad Tchiko, national secretary of SNAPAP, who was acquitted of a slander charge in 2011, is still facing charges in five separate cases for “inciting to take part in illegal gatherings and hindering the operations of the establishment” and “slander and unlawfully claiming union membership”. Because of those multiple charges, Mourad Tchiko has not been able to have his passport renewed since August 2010.

The EMHRN expresses its solidarity with the union activists and human rights defenders targeted by those legal proceedings, whose sole aim seems to attempt to silence critics. It calls upon the Algerian authorities to implement the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders (1998), in particular article 12 that states that “everyone has the right to participate in peaceful activities against violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms” and establishes that States must ensure the protection of defenders “against any violence, threats, retaliation, discrimination de facto or de jure, pressure and other arbitrary action”.

More specifically, the EMHRN calls upon the Algerian authorities to:

• put an end to acts of harassment against human rights defenders, independent union activists and peaceful demonstrators, including the immediate withdrawal of arbitrary legal proceedings instituted against them;
• respect the right of Algerian citizens to assemble and demonstrate peacefully;
• initiate a genuine participative, transparent and inclusive process of far-reaching democratic reforms with the broad participation of the independent organizations of civil society.

Furthermore, the EMHRN calls upon the European Union to:

• implement the EU Guidelines on human rights defenders in order to provide urgent and visible support to human rights defenders, in particular by sending observers to their trials;
• systematically consult with human rights NGOs and independent labour unions in order to set objectives regarding the promotion and the protection of human rights in the framework of EU-Algeria relations, and assess the human rights situation in Algeria.

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