Algeria - Solidar

efusal and hold their event anyway, the
protest is often brutally repressed and the
organisers are prosecuted.
With regard to the right of assembly, article
2 of Law 91-19 states that gatherings must
take place ‘away from public streets in a
closed space’. In addition, article 5 states
that the notification of a public meeting
must be made only to the wali, under
the direct control of the Interior Ministry.
In most cases, the decision is announced
too late and no explanation is given for
refusals.
As a result, many public debates, meetings
and training seminars have been blocked.
Examples include a training seminar
for journalists organised by LADDH in
May 2009, and a workshop-forum on
the subject of remembering victims in
rebuilding society, organised on 16 July
2009 by several associations of families of
the disappeared and victims of terrorism,
including Djazaïrouna, Somoud, CFDA
and SOS Disparus. The wali of Algiers had
prohibited the meeting without providing
a written notification, and a Moroccan
human rights activist, Mohammed
Errahoui, who had formerly been a
‘disappeared person’ in Morocco, who was
to take part in the workshop, was stopped
at the airport and sent back without any
explanation.
A study session organised in 2010 by a
group of 16 women’s organisations was
banned.
Peaceful demonstrations have been
banned or forced to disperse, as occurred
in 2010 with an Amazigh march held
to commemorate the 30th anniversary
of the ‘Berber spring’ and a rally held in
May 2010 in front of the state television
headquarters in favour of press freedom.
The demonstrations held every week by
mothers of the disappeared have often
been blocked by a strong police presence
and participants have been roughed up, as
in April and November 2009, and during
the summer of 2010.
In May 2010, the Algiers wilaya ordered the
closure of the trade union centre (Maison
des Syndicats), one of the last meeting
venues still available, which is managed by
SNAPAP, the National Independent Union
of Public Servants, claiming that it was
being used for unauthorised meetings.
Human rights defenders, union leaders
and political activists have also been
targeted by bureaucratic and judicial
harassment. Several of them have been
convicted on appeal for their involvement
in protest marches or have been pressured
and threatened in their work. 12
The activities of some foreign organisations
have also been curtailed, as in the case of
the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, which
has had to reduce its meetings with NGO
and trade union leaders. Activists and
representatives of foreign human rights
NGOs seeking to conduct missions in
Algeria or attend meetings are regularly
denied entry into the country. Examples
include the EMHRN’s executive director, in
July and September 2009, and the Tunisian
journalist and activist Sihem Bensedrine,
also in 2009.
Steps were also taken to restrict freedom
of expression, opinion and information.
Articles 144 to 148 of the Criminal Code
were amended in 2000, making it a crime
12 See the chapters on Algeria in the EMHRN’s annual reports on
freedom of association in the Euro-Mediterranean region for 2009
and 2010.
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EMHRN - The Exercise of the Freedoms of Association, Assembly and Demonstration in Algeria - 2011