To put an end to repression. A UN special rapporteur on Tuesday urged the Algerian government to “drop the prosecution” and “pardon” the activists and sympathizers of Hirak, this protest movement calling for democratization since 2019, accused or convicted by the courts.
Several dozen of these protesters, including a Montreal human rights activist and a Quebec researcher of Algerian origin, were arrested, tried and thrown in prison in recent months.
At the end of a 10-day visit to this North African country, the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association, Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, denounced the “climate of fear” put in place by the regime of Abdelmadjid Tebboune to silence the demands of a large part of the population for reform of the Constitution and the establishment of the rule of law. This repressive environment is fueled, among other things, by “a series of criminal charges against individuals, associations, unions and political parties under excessively restrictive laws, including an anti-terrorism law contrary to international obligations of Algeria in terms of human rights,” said the United Nations representative in a statement made public on Tuesday.
He believes in passing that the Hirak is far from deserving such a response, the demonstrators having demonstrated throughout the movement “a remarkable civic spirit, constituting an example to the world on the conduct of peaceful demonstrations”. A characteristic which should encourage the Algerian government to “relax the strict restrictions imposed on gatherings and associations”, but also to bring “its laws and practices into conformity with the national Constitution and with international law relating to human rights”, continues the independent expert.
Hirak began in February 2019 in opposition to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s attempt to run for a fifth term, while he was deeply reduced by illness. The popular movement, carried peacefully every Friday in the streets of the country’s major cities, then called for an end to military rule, an end to corruption in Algeria and a modernization of the country through, among other things, the establishment of a democratic regime and openness to the world. This call for modernization was relatively tolerated by those in power, before being harshly repressed, in the wake of several presidential and legislative elections, shunned and denigrated by the population.
For Mr. Voule, the trajectory of Hirak demonstrates that “Algeria is still struggling to create a space for civil society” and that, within the framework of “the construction of a new Algeria”, a project which likes to boast of the power in place, the end of the repression of activists of the democratization movement remains unavoidable. “This will reflect the recognition of Hirak as a turning point in Algeria’s commitment to moving forward,” he said.
The final report of the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation in Algeria must be submitted next June to the UN Human Rights Council.
Canadians victims of the regime
Clément Nyaletsossi Voule’s statement closely follows the sentencing, at the end of August, of Canadian geopolitical researcher Raouf Farrah to two years in prison by a court in Constantine. The man, a father, works for the NGO Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. His work focuses, among other things, on human trafficking in Libya. He was arrested earlier this year during a trip to Algeria to visit family.
Raouf Farrah coordinated this year the publication of a collective work entitled Algeria, the future at stake. Essay on the prospects of a country in suspense (Koukou editions). According to those close to him, he became the collateral victim of the investigations carried out by the Algerian regime on the journalist Mustapha Bendjama, whose work has sought for years to highlight the corruption of the political class in Algeria. Mr. Bendjama is one of 20 contributors to the collective trial led by Mr. Farrah.
Last November, Lazhar Zouaïmia, a provincial civil servant and human rights activist from the Montreal region, was sentenced to five years in prison in absentia by the Algerian regime because of his pro-democracy activism, which he has expressed since Montreal. He managed to leave Algeria almost a year ago, after being arrested and imprisoned, then conditionally released after a family visit to his country of origin.
According to the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, four Canadian nationals are currently imprisoned in Algeria and have requested support from the consular mission in Algiers.
Since the start of the repression of Hirak by the autocratic regime of Abdelmadjid Tebboune, many Canadian nationals with dual nationality have said they were victims of intimidation by the authorities because of their support for the movement, both here and then. recent trips to Algeria.