Algeria, which was added to Ireland’s list of “safe countries”, has a history of arrests and detentions of prominent activists.
Despite reforms introduced over the past four years, authorities continued to crack down on dissent, targeting human rights defenders, human rights groups, independent journalists, and other dissidents.
UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor, said on December 5 last year that a number of human rights defenders and organizations are working with governments to promote the rights of women and children, health care, poverty relief and political participation. It was reported that there is a consultative body that has been established. .
But Lawlor said the broad-based laws adopted to combat terrorism instill “fear in human rights defenders” and that they are being used to intimidate and prosecute human rights defenders. I warned you.
This assessment is supported by the National Commission for the Release of Detainees (NCLD), which monitors the arrest, detention, and treatment of political prisoners.
Al Jazeera reported last November that veteran activist Zaki Hannash said there were 228 prisoners of conscience in Algeria, most of them held under terrorism laws. Authorities have repeatedly arrested, detained, and then released prominent activists.
NCLD was formed in 2019 after demonstrators belonging to the pro-democracy Hirak movement took to the streets to protest the inauguration of aging President Abdelaziz Bouteflika into a fifth term. A hero of the Algerian independence movement, he was elected in a landslide in 1999 and led the end of the 1992-2002 civil war that pitted Islamic fundamentalists against the ruling secular National Liberation Front.
Bouteflika also weathered the turmoil during the 2011 Arab Spring protests that toppled long-serving presidents in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen. To quell protests in Algeria, authorities used arbitrary arrest, detention, and torture, and imposed restrictions on media and nongovernmental organizations.
By 2019, Algerians had become disillusioned with Bouteflika and his inner circle due to misgovernment and allegations of corruption. Largely peaceful protests forced the military to demand Bouteflika’s resignation, but Hirak remained on the streets after the election of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in January 2020. He served Bouteflika’s government and retained discredited ministers from the previous government. He said he was ready to start dialogue with Hirak and promised to “strengthen democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights.”
Nevertheless, authorities continue to arrest and prosecute prominent protesters.
In an advisory posted on its website, Ireland’s Foreign Office advises people to avoid non-essential travel to some parts of Algeria and to remain on high alert in other parts of the country.
The advisory said terrorism remains a threat outside the capital Algiers, around other cities, in border areas and in the south, where al-Qaeda, Islamic State and other fundamentalist groups in the Islamic Maghreb carry out shootings, bombings and kidnappings. states that it exists. Robbery is also a threat facing tourists in some areas of Algiers.
On Tuesday, Ireland added Algeria to its list of “safe countries” of origin as part of a wider plan to make more international protection applicants eligible for faster processing times.
A “safe country” is generally considered a place free of persecution, torture, inhumane treatment, and conflict.
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