wr2014_web_0

WORLD REPORT 2014AlgeriaDespite the lifting of the state of emergency in April 2011 and the adoption ofnew laws on association, media, and political parties, Algeria has made littleprogress on the protection of human rights. Authorities continued to restrictfreedom of assembly and association, prohibiting meetings and protests. Theyclamped down on union rights, frequently resorting to arrests and prosecutionsof union leaders and activists.Security forces and armed groups continued to enjoy impunity for atrocitiesthey committed during the civil war of the 1990s. Armed militants committed asignificant number of attacks against government officials, members of securityforces, and civilians, culminating in the attack against the gas facility of InAmenas. After lifting the state of emergency back in 2011, authorities adoptednew legislation authorizing the long-established practice of holding alleged terroristsin assigned secret residences for up to nine months.Freedom of AssemblyAlgerian authorities continue to restrict freedom of assembly, relying on preemptivetechniques, including blocking access to sites of planned demonstrationsand arresting organizers in advance to prevent public protests from evenbeginning. During peaceful demonstrations in the south of the country organizedby associations of the unemployed, police arrested protesters. Courts latersentenced several of them to fines or suspended prison terms. Police arrestedTaher Belabès, a coordinator for the National Committee for the Defense of theRights of the Unemployed, in the southern town of Ouargla on January 2, afterpolice dispersed peaceful protesters demanding jobs and the sacking of localofficials for failing to tackle unemployment. Prosecutors charged Belabès with“obstructing the flow of traffic” and “inciting a gathering” and sentenced himon February 3 to one month in prison and a fine of 50,000 Algerian dinars(US$614).Freedom of AssociationOn February 20, 2013, police arrested and expelled 10 non-Algerian members ofassociations of unemployed workers in other Maghreb countries who had trav-522