Algeria
24.01.00
Urgent Interventions
Algeria: Conditions of detention of Nadhira Mesbah
URGENT APPEAL- THE OBSERVATORY
DZA 001 / 0001 / OBS 002
Conditions of detention
Algeria
24th January 2000
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the FIDH and the OMCT, requests you to intervene with the Algerian authorities with utmost urgency in connection with the following situation.
Brief description of the facts
The Observatory is greatly concerned by the fate of the lawyer, Ms. Nadhira Mesbah, at the Algiers Court. Ms Mesbah was arrested on December 19th 1999 on a charge of fraud, and has been imprisoned since at the Blida prison.
Ms. Mesbah is about eight months pregnant and suffers from diabetes. According to the information, she does not receive appropriate medical care and the authorities have refused to transfer her to the nearest hospital. Her doctors consider that her life, as well as that of her baby, is in danger.
On Tuesday January 18th the civil tribunal of Blida refused to release her on bail and her trial was fixed for January 25th 2000. According to information received, the charge against her rests exclusively on the testimony of a client with a criminal record who had recently been condemned in a court of law.
Ms .Mesbah has been a lawyer since 1991 and the clients she has defended before the special court of Algiers,--a court set up between 1992 and 1995 in total contradiction with constitutional provisions in order to deal with matters of terrorism -- have included victims of torture.
Action requested:
Please write to the Algerian authorities urging them to:
i.- provide Ms. Nahira Mesbah with utmost urgency with the medical care she needs and order her immediate release on bail;
ii.- guarantee Ms. Nadhira Mesbah's right to a fair trial;
iii.- abide by the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9th 1999 ("Declaration on the Rights and Responsibility of individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ") and more particularly article 1 which provides that "Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels."
iv.- more generally to abide by the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the regional and international covenants ratified by Algeria.
Addresses :
M. Bouteflika, Président de la République, Fax + 213 259 25 79
M. Yazid Zerhouli, Ministre de l’intérieur, Fax + 213 273 61 06
M. Ahmed Ouyahia, Ministre de la justice, Fax + 213 292 55 57
Geneva - Paris, 24th January 2000
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a joint FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
To contact the Observatory, call the Emergency line : Fax : 33 (0) 1 55 80 83 92
Tel FIDH 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 OMCT + 4122 809 49 39
E-mail : observatoire@iprolink.ch
DZA 001 / 0001 / OBS 002
Conditions of detention
Algeria
24th January 2000
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the FIDH and the OMCT, requests you to intervene with the Algerian authorities with utmost urgency in connection with the following situation.
Brief description of the facts
The Observatory is greatly concerned by the fate of the lawyer, Ms. Nadhira Mesbah, at the Algiers Court. Ms Mesbah was arrested on December 19th 1999 on a charge of fraud, and has been imprisoned since at the Blida prison.
Ms. Mesbah is about eight months pregnant and suffers from diabetes. According to the information, she does not receive appropriate medical care and the authorities have refused to transfer her to the nearest hospital. Her doctors consider that her life, as well as that of her baby, is in danger.
On Tuesday January 18th the civil tribunal of Blida refused to release her on bail and her trial was fixed for January 25th 2000. According to information received, the charge against her rests exclusively on the testimony of a client with a criminal record who had recently been condemned in a court of law.
Ms .Mesbah has been a lawyer since 1991 and the clients she has defended before the special court of Algiers,--a court set up between 1992 and 1995 in total contradiction with constitutional provisions in order to deal with matters of terrorism -- have included victims of torture.
Action requested:
Please write to the Algerian authorities urging them to:
i.- provide Ms. Nahira Mesbah with utmost urgency with the medical care she needs and order her immediate release on bail;
ii.- guarantee Ms. Nadhira Mesbah's right to a fair trial;
iii.- abide by the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9th 1999 ("Declaration on the Rights and Responsibility of individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ") and more particularly article 1 which provides that "Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels."
iv.- more generally to abide by the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the regional and international covenants ratified by Algeria.
Addresses :
M. Bouteflika, Président de la République, Fax + 213 259 25 79
M. Yazid Zerhouli, Ministre de l’intérieur, Fax + 213 273 61 06
M. Ahmed Ouyahia, Ministre de la justice, Fax + 213 292 55 57
Geneva - Paris, 24th January 2000
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a joint FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
To contact the Observatory, call the Emergency line : Fax : 33 (0) 1 55 80 83 92
Tel FIDH 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 OMCT + 4122 809 49 39
E-mail : observatoire@iprolink.ch