Stop the Harassment Campaign against Union Activists!
ALGERIA: Stop the Harassment Campaign against Union Activists!
Copenhagen,Paris, Geneva, Algiers, September 30, 2011 – On the eve of the first meeting of the European Union-Algeria Subcommitteeon ‘political dialogue, security, and human rights’, to be held in Algiers onOctober 3, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN), the Observatoryfor the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of theInternational Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT), the Action Group of Families of the Disappeared inAlgeria (Collectif des Familles de Disparus en Algérie, CFDA), and the Algerian Human Rights League(Ligue Algérienne pour la défense des droits de l’Homme,LADDH) strongly condemn the intensifying harassment campaign against tradeunionists and human rights defenders in Algeria.
On theevening of September 25, a police officer from the General Intelligence Service(Renseignements généraux) came to the residence of theowners of the building, housing the Maison des Syndicats also nationalheadquarters of the National Independent Union of Civil Servants (Syndicatnational autonome des personnels de l’administration publique,SNAPAP), located in Dar El Beida (east of Algiers), in anattempt to convince them to evict the union from the premises.
Severalpeople, including SNAPAP Secretary General, Nacera Ghozlane, witnessedthis incident and identified the police officer as Akroune Belgacem. Eyewitnesses also reported that the officer made slanderous statements against themain leaders of SNAPAP, characterising them as ‘depraved’ and ‘hoodlums’.The officer also accused SNAPAP with maintaining relations with foreign entitiesproviding it with illegal funding. He added that the police had been giveninstructions ‘from the office of thePresident of the Republic’ to put an end to SNAPAP’s activities and ransackits offices in search of important documents.
The officeropenly uttered a death threat against SNAPAP President, Rachid Malaoui. Already, on 15 July of this year, an attempt was madeto sabotage Rachid Malaoui’s car. Acomplaint was made at the time and our organisations call upon the Algerianjudicial authorities to follow up on that complaint without delay.
The sameday, Mourad Tchiko, also a SNAPAP member, was summoned to the Hadjout policestation (in Tipaza, west of Algiers), where he was questioned about his trade unionactivities. Mr Tchiko has been the target of uninterrupted judicial harassmentsince 2004 and has been deprived of his passport since August 2010, a measureintended to punish him for his union activities.
Inaddition, on September 20, Malika Fallil,Chair of the National Workers’ Committee on Precarious and Pre-employment (Comiténational des travailleurs du pré-emploi et filet social – travail précaire),was arrested at a sit-in held in front of the Labour Ministry building. MsFallil was the target of intimidation attempts by the police, aimed at endingher activities as a union militant, and in particular her relationship withSNAPAP. She was released a few hours later.
Our organisations call upon the Algerian Government to:
- Put an end to all harassment directed against human rights defenders,including union leaders and to suspend all judicial procedures launched againstthem;
- Allow the judicial authorities toconduct exhaustive, independent, and impartial investigations into the attemptto sabotage of Rachid Malaoui’s car and on the litigations involving theassociations’ centre (Maisondes Associations)and the independent unions’ centre (Maison des Syndicats autonomes) in Dar El Beida;
- Guarantee the physical andpsychological integrity of all human rights defenders including union members inAlgeria at all times, along with the security of headquarters and offices ofunions and organisations of human rights defenders;
- Implement the provisions of theUnited Nations’ Declaration on human rights defenders (1998).
Our organisations also request that, at the first meeting of the Subcommitteeon ‘political dialogue, security, and human rights’, the European Union firmly callupon the Algerian government to implement its human rights commitments, and inparticular to stop harassing human rights defenders, in particular unionleaders. Our organisations also call upon the European Union effectively toimplement the EU’s Guidelines on human rights defenders.
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Despite theemergency rule was lifted on 24 February 2011, freedom of association andassembly, in Algeria are constantly violated. Union Activists and Human RightsDefenders are the target of harassment, intimidation and even death threats.
Attacksagainst union freedoms have multiplied since the beginning of 2011. The SNAPAPoffices were broken into during the night of May 8, 2011. Computers were stolen,but valuable objects were left on the scene. There has been no police follow-upof the complaint filed in the wake of this break-in.
As to thelitigations surrounding the closure by administrative order of the Maisondes Associations (Oran, 2002) and the Maison des Syndicats(Algiers, 2010), they are still pending. In the case of the Maisondes Associations, the matter has been lying with the StateCouncil for several years.[1]
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As part of the Association Agreement in effect since 2005, Algeria andthe EU have recently established a Subcommittee on ‘political dialogue,security, and human rights’. Its members meet at least once a year, alternatingbetween Algeria and the European Union. Senior officials from the two partiesalternatively chair the meetings.
Contacts:
EMHRN: +4532 64 17 00
FIDH:Karine Appy / Arthur Manet - + 33 1 43 55 25 18
OMCT:Delphine Reculeau : + 41 22 809 49 39
CFDA: + 33 143 44 87 82
LADDH: +213 21 23 80 86
[1] See joint Press Release (in French)by EMHRN-OBS (joint programme of FIDH-OMCT) on May 14, 2010 : http://www.euromedrights.org/fr/dernieres-nouvelles/emhrn-releases/communiques-du-remdh-2010/5855.html