Contents:
Intelligence activities fall under three intelligence directorates reporting to a presidential national security counselor and performing functions related specifically to internal, external, and technical security. Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the security forces. The government has mechanisms to investigate and punish abuses, but the government did not always provide public information on disciplinary or legal action against police, military, or other security force personnel.
The government suspended six of investigated security officers for abuse. During the year the DGSN conducted nine training sessions on human rights, including for all new cadets. With this summons, police may hold a suspect for no more than 48 hours. Authorities also use summonses to notify and require the accused and the victim to attend a court proceeding or hearing. Police may make arrests without a warrant if they witness the offense. Lawyers reported that authorities usually carried out procedures for warrants and summonses properly.
The law stipulates that detainees should immediately be able to contact a family member and receive a visit, or to contact an attorney. The law provides detainees the right to see an attorney for 30 minutes if the time in detention has been extended beyond the initial hour period.
In these cases, authorities permit the arrested person to contact a lawyer after half of the extended time has expired. Prosecutors may apply to a judge to extend the period before arrested individuals can have access to an attorney. The court appearance of suspects in terrorism cases is public. At the end of the period of detention, the detainee has the right to request a medical examination by a physician of choice within the jurisdiction of the court.
Otherwise, the judicial police appoint a doctor. Under provisional liberty status, authorities subjected suspects to requirements such as reporting periodically to the police station in their district, stopping professional activities related to the alleged offense committed, surrendering all travel documents, and, in some terrorism-related cases, residing at an agreed-upon address. The law provides that foreigners may be required to furnish bail as a condition of release on provisional liberty status, while Algerian citizens may be released on provisional liberty without posting bail.
Judges rarely refused requests to extend pretrial detention, which by law may be appealed. Should the detention be overturned, the defendant has the right to request compensation. Most detainees had prompt access to a lawyer of their choice as accorded by law, and the government provided legal counsel to indigent detainees.
There were reports that authorities held some detainees without access to their lawyers and reportedly abused them physically and mentally. Amnesty International and other human rights organizations criticized the law prohibiting unauthorized gatherings and called for its amendment to require only notification as opposed to application for authorization.
These observers, among others, pointed to the law as a significant source of arbitrary arrests intended to suppress political activism. Police arrested protesters throughout the year for violating the law against unregistered public gatherings. On August 12, about 30 members of the Mouwatana movement held a sit-in in Algiers to denounce the fifth term of President Bouteflika. Police arrested and interrogated some of the demonstrators and released them after about an hour. Several members were arrested on September 13 in Bejaia, including the leader of political party Jil Jadid, Soufiane Djilali.
Pretrial Detention : Prolonged pretrial detention remained a problem. Nongovernmental observers believed pretrial detainees comprised a significant portion of the total detainee and prisoner population but did not have specific statistics. According to the Ministry of Justice, approximately 12 percent of the prison population was in pretrial detention.
Other organizations reported they never received any written response to their application request even after calling the ministry and trying to register at local police stations. Civil Partnerships since []. Links to external websites are provided as a convenience and should not be construed as an endorsement by the U. A CNDH representative said the organization viewed the most serious human rights concerns as limits on socioeconomic rights, as well as limits on free speech. Sexual orientation and gender identity hate crime laws. Police arrested blogger Merzoug Touati in January on charges stemming from his online publication of an interview with a former Israeli diplomat.
The law limits the grounds for pretrial detention and stipulates that before it can be imposed, a judge must assess the gravity of a crime and whether the accused is a threat to society or a flight risk. Judges rarely refused prosecutorial requests to extend pretrial detention.
Human rights activists and attorneys, however, asserted that some detainees were held without access to lawyers. In all other criminal cases, pretrial detention may not exceed four months. Amnesty International alleged that authorities sometimes detained individuals on security-related charges for longer than the day prescribed period. Authorities have been holding journalist, Said Chitour, in pretrial detention since June without trial.
The appeal must be filed within three days of the order. The person must submit an application for compensation within six months of the dismissal or acquittal. Judges found to have ordered an unlawful detention could be subject to penalties or prosecution.
The constitution grants the president authority to appoint all prosecutors and judges. These presidential appointments are not subject to legislative oversight but are reviewed by the High Judicial Council, which consists of the president, minister of justice, chief prosecutor of the Supreme Court, 10 judges, and six individuals outside the judiciary chosen by the president.
The president serves as the president of the High Judicial Council, which is responsible for the appointment, transfer, promotion, and discipline of judges. The judiciary was not impartial and was perceived by some observers to be subject to influence and corruption.
On July 13, the Ministry of Justice removed a public prosecutor and his deputy from a court in Boudouaou for their alleged involvement in the legal proceedings following the discovery of kilograms of cocaine in the port of Oran on May The law presumes defendants are innocent and have the right to be present and to consult with an attorney provided at public expense if necessary.
Defendants have the right to be present during their trial but may be tried in absentia if they do not respond to a summons ordering their appearance. In July authorities freed Kamel Eddine Fekhar, a human rights activist. Authorities arrested Fekhar in and held him for 22 months without a trial. In May Fekhar was sentenced to five years imprisonment but in July a court in Medea reduced that sentence to two years.
Fekhar was released shortly thereafter, two years after his initial arrest. Defendants may confront or question witnesses against them and present witnesses and evidence on their behalf.
Defendants have the right not to be compelled to testify or confess guilt, and they have the right to appeal. The testimony of men and women has equal weight under the law. International and local observers alleged that authorities occasionally used antiterrorism laws and restrictive laws on freedom of expression and public assembly to detain political activists and outspoken critics of the government. Intelligence services arrested journalist Said Chitour in June and accused him of sharing intelligence with a foreign power.
Chitour has been detained in El Harrach prison since then without trial and faces life imprisonment if convicted. According to his lawyers, authorities have not provided any evidence to support the charges. Several human rights NGOs condemned his arrest as an example of harassment and threats to pressure journalists. The judiciary was not always independent or impartial in civil matters and lacked independence in some human rights cases.
Family connections and status of the parties involved influenced decisions. Individuals may bring lawsuits, and administrative processes related to amnesty may provide damages to the victims or their families for human rights violations and compensation for alleged wrongs. Individuals may appeal adverse decisions to international human rights bodies, but their decisions would not have the force of law. According to human rights activists, citizens widely believed the government conducted frequent electronic surveillance of a range of citizens, including political opponents, journalists, human rights groups, and suspected terrorists.
Security officials reportedly searched homes without a warrant. Security forces conducted unannounced home visits. In the government established an anticybercrime agency charged with coordinating anticybercrime efforts and engaging in preventive surveillance of electronic communications in the interests of national security. Falling under the purview of the Ministry of Justice, the agency has exclusive authority for monitoring all electronic surveillance activities, but the decree did not provide details regarding the limits of surveillance authority or corresponding protections for persons subject to surveillance.
The Ministry of Justice said the agency was subject to all existing judicial controls that apply to law enforcement agencies. The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, and independent media outlets regularly criticized and satirized government officials and policies, but the government on some occasions restricted these rights. Some media figures alleged the government used its control over most printing houses and large amounts of public sector advertising preferentially, and that the lack of clear regulations over these practices permitted it to exert undue influence on press outlets.
The law criminalizing speech about security force conduct during the internal conflict of the s remained in place, although the government said there had never been an arrest or prosecution under the law. Government officials monitored political meetings.
They also report that owners of public gathering spaces have been told not to rent their locations to certain NGOs. According to the NGO Reporters without Borders, private advertising existed but frequently came from businesses with close links to the ruling political party. Although ANEP said in September that it represented only 19 percent of the total advertising market, nongovernmental sources assessed the majority of daily newspapers depended on ANEP-authorized advertising to finance their operations.
ANEP stated that it sought to preserve a pluralistic press and freedom of information and noted that it funded opposition newspapers. Police arrested blogger Merzoug Touati in January on charges stemming from his online publication of an interview with a former Israeli diplomat. In May a court sentenced him to 10 years in prison.
Many civil society organizations, government opponents, and political parties had access to independent print and broadcast media and used them to express their views. Opposition parties also disseminated information via the internet and published communiques but stated they did not have access to the national television and radio. Journalists from independent print and broadcast media expressed frustration over the difficulty of receiving information from public officials. With the exception of several daily newspapers, the majority of print media outlets relied on the government for physical printing materials and operations.
Organizations wishing to initiate regular publications must obtain authorization from the government. The law requires the director of the publication to hold Algerian citizenship. The law additionally prohibits local periodicals from receiving direct or indirect material support from foreign sources. In September the Ministry of Communication stated there were accredited written publications. Of the daily printed publications, the ministry stated six were state-operated.
Although this accreditation is required to operate legally, the vast majority of foreign media were not accredited. While the government tolerated their operations in the past, the Ministry of Communication said in it would limit the number of private satellite channels to 13 and foreign-based unaccredited television outlets would be shut down. The ministry also issues and renews accreditation of foreign correspondents reporting in the country.
According to the ministry, there were 14 accredited foreign press agencies reported during the year. In addition, six private domestic television channels, 12 foreign broadcasting channels, and one foreign radio station—the BBC—operated throughout the year. The law mandates that online news outlets must inform the government of their activities but does not require them to request authorization to operate.
Censorship or Content Restrictions : Some major news outlets faced direct and indirect retaliation for criticism of the government. Press outlets report taking extra caution before publishing articles critical of the government or government officials for fear of losing revenue from ANEP. According to Belhouchet, the government has a monopoly on advertising that it uses to punish those who criticize the government and thus, weakens freedom of expression.