A group of members of the European Parliament renewed their “most profound concern” about inaction to tackle Algeria’s violation of human rights and the freedom of peaceful assembly.
The MEPs signed on November 10 a letter, which they addressed to High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, urging the EU to intervene to end Algeria’s violation of human rights.
The letter comes in a context “in which a coalition of 15 human rights groups already called upon the Algerian authorities to cease their assault on civic freedom and grant independent organizations the ability to operate without undue constraints.”
The document took issue with the Algerian regime’s postponement of their invitation to the UN Special Rapporteur to visit the country and to meet with civil society organizations, trade unions, and human rights activists.
The postponement, which happened last year, is the eighth of its kind since 2011, the letter added, emphasizing that this comes in conjunction with an “escalation in their crackdown on fundamental freedoms, particularly the rights to association and peaceful assembly.”
“Finally, this important visit took place last September,” the letter added.
The letter is not the first of its kind from MEPs, who have in the past held Algeria’s regime responsible for obstructing protesters and detention of activists.
UN experts shared the same sentiment in February of this year, when Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Mary Lawlor commented on Algeria’s decision to dissolve the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights and the Youth Action Gathering.
The associations were some of the main human rights organizations in Algeria.
“Acts of intimidation, silencing and repression against the human rights movement must end,” she said, stressing that the decision to dissolve the human rights association reflects “an alarming crackdown on civil society organizations.”
She argued that such acts seriously undermine the space for human rights defenders to carry out their activities.
Source: Morocco World News
