The United Nations (UN) has condemned an escalating crackdown on civil society organisations (CSOs) and human rights defenders by Algerian authorities.
Development Diaries reports that the crackdown began with the dissolution of two of the most important human rights associations in Algeria – la Ligue Algérienne pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme (LADDH) and le Rassemblement Actions Jeunesse (RAJ).
UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, in a statement, called for an end to acts of intimidation, silencing and repression against the human rights movement.
She said the decision to dissolve such respected human rights associations demonstrates an alarming crackdown on civil society.
Lawlor also noted that it seriously undermines the space for human rights defenders to carry out their legitimate human rights activities, and to freely associate and express themselves.
‘The decisions to dissolve those two renowned human rights organisations must be reversed’, she said.
The United States, in a 2020 report, noted human rights issues – including arbitrary detention, serious restrictions on freedom of expression and press, arrests of journalists and substantial interference with freedoms of peaceful assembly and association – in Algeria.
In May 2022, Human Rights Watch (HRW) joined 37 other organisations in announcing a ten-day campaign against the increasing government repression of individuals and groups defending human rights in Algeria.
Freedom House rated Algeria ‘not free’ in its 2022 Freedom in the World report of political rights and civil liberties, with the Maghreb country earning 32 points out of a possible 100.
Source: OHCHR
Photo source: AP/Toufik Doudou
