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Abbassi v Algeria
(2007) AHRLR 3 (HRC 2007)
7
which prescribes house arrest as an additional penalty, 6 is applied
together with article 11, which obliges a person convicted to remain
within a geographical area specified in a judgment. 7 House arrest
may thus only be handed down as an additional penalty in the
sentence imposing the main penalty. In the case of Abbassi Madani,
there is no mention of any decision to place him under house arrest
in the sentence handed down by the Blida military tribunal. At any
rate, article 11 of the aforementioned Act lays down five years as the
maximum duration for house arrest from the moment of the release
of the convicted person. Since at the time the communication was
submitted Abbassi Madani had been under house arrest for
considerably more than five years, it constitutes a violation of the Act
itself, which the Algerian government is invoking to justify the
imposition of that penalty.
3.5. The grounds for placing Abbassi Madani under house arrest are
the same as those for his arrest and conviction by the military
tribunal, namely the free exercise of his political rights enshrined in
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Covenant. This
measure therefore constitutes a violation of articles 9, 12 and 19 of
the Covenant.
State party’s observations on admissibility and on the
merits
4.1. On 27 June 2003, the state party pointed out that there is no
indication in the communication that Abbassi Madani had given
anyone the authority to act on his behalf, as provided for in the rules
for submitting communications to the Committee. Mr Salim Abbassi
who claims to be acting on his father’s behalf has not submitted any
documentary evidence of his authority to so act. The power of
attorney given by Salim Abbassi to Rachid Mesli was not authenticated
and should not therefore be taken into consideration. Furthermore,
Rachid Mesli submitted the petition in his capacity as a lawyer, when
he no longer practises as a lawyer in Algeria, having been disbarred
by the disciplinary board of the Bar Association of the Tizi-Ouzou
region on 3 October 2002. He is not a member of the Bar Association
of the Canton of Geneva either, from where the communication was
6
Art 9 Act 89-05 of 25 April 1989: ‘Additional penalties are: (1) house arrest; (2)
banishment order; (3) forfeiture of certain rights; (4) partial confiscation of property;
(5) dissolution of a legal person; (6) publication of the sentence.’
7 Art 11 Act 89-05 of 25 April 1989: ‘House arrest is the obligation on a convicted
person to remain in a particular geographical area, specified in a judgment. Its
duration may not exceed five years. House arrest shall take effect from the day
the prisoner completes his or her main sentence or upon his or her release. The
conviction shall be communicated to the Ministry of the Interior, which may issue
temporary permits for travel within the country.’
Ordinance 69-74 of 16 September 1969: ‘A person placed under house arrest who
contravenes or avoids such a measure shall be liable to a term of imprisonment
from three months to three years.’
United Nations Human Rights Committee