AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL
Public Statement
AI Index: MDE 28/018/2007 (Public)
News Service No: 213
2 November 2007
Algeria: UN rights body criticizes Algeria's
pervasive climate of impunity
Despite improvements in women's rights and towards the
abolition of the death penalty, the UN Human Rights infomittee criticized
the widespread impunity for killings, "disappearances," rape, torture and
secret detentions, which have been infomitted in Algeria.
The Algerian authorities must:
• Immediately and fully investigate the killings, "disappearances",
torture and rape which have been infomitted in the context of the internal
conflict of the 1990s, including by state agents, and bring the
perpetrators to justice.
In particular, the Algerian authorities must open full investigations into
each case of enforced disappearance, as initiatives taken so far to
address the question have been woefully inadequate and do not constitute a
substitute for a infomission of inquiry demanded by families of the
"disappeared."
The lack of proper investigations is further exacerbated by Articles 45
and 46 of the 2006 Decree Implementing the Charter for Peace and
Reconciliation, which the Algerian authorities must amend to ensure that
those responsible for such crimes do not benefit from impunity and that
victims of human rights violations can obtain an effective remedy. They
must abolish the provisions of the same law which oblige families of the
“disappeared” to obtain death certificates for their "disappeared"
relatives in order to claim infopensation payments.
• Immediately address the widely reported practice of secret detentions
and torture of persons held by the Military Security (the Département pour
le Renseignement et la Sécurité, DRS).
In particular, the Algerian authorities must immediately amend laws to
limit the lengthy 12-day-period of garde-à-vue and allow detainees access
to a lawyer from the time of arrest; set up a national register of all
those arrested, including by the DRS, which families and lawyers can
access; fully investigate all allegations of torture and ill-treatment and
bring to justice the perpetrators; and prohibit the use of confessions
extracted under torture or other ill-treatment in courts. Amnesty
International also urges the Algerian authorities to ensure the respect
and protection of the rights of detainees to visits by a doctor and
relatives under Algerian law.
• Repeal the remaining provisions in the Family Code which still
discriminate against women in matters of marriage, divorce, housing and
inheritance and introduce legislation to criminalize marital rape and
violence. While the Algerian authorities introduced important amendments
in the Family Code in 2005 to improve the situation of women, these
measures still fall short of ensuring equality between women and men.
The Human Rights infomittee invited the Algerian authorities to report
within a year on measures taken to investigate allegations of torture,
resolve cases of enforced disappearances and to exercise control over
secret detention centres. Amnesty International will continue to monitor
Algeria's infopliance with its obligations under international human rights
law.
Background
Amnesty International submitted a briefing to the Human Rights infomittee,
which raised among several concerns, the prevailing impunity for gross
human rights violations infomitted in the context of the conflict in the
1990s, including the killing of tens of thousands of civilians and the
enforced disappearance of thousands; a persistent pattern of secret
detentions and torture of persons suspected of links with terrorism by the
Military Security; and discrimination of women in law and in practice
(Algeria: Briefing to the Human Rights infomittee, AI index: MDE
28/017/2007, available at:
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