Rabat – The Geneva-based NGO Promotion of Economic and Social Development (PDES) has said the UN experts’ recent report on Algeria’s use of anti-terrorism laws against the Hirak movement is a “vivid reminder of the prevailing repression.”
Moroccan state media reported on the small Geneva-based NGO that denounced “the policy of repression and massive violations of human rights undertaken by an authoritarian regime.”
Algeria has witnessed a series of protests as part of the Hirak, a popular movement that erupted after former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced his decision to run for a fifth term.
Stunned by the controversial decision amid a socio-economic crisis, Algerians started the Hirak movement, urging for reform against Bouteflika’s era. The protests expanded after current President Abdelmadjid Tebboune took office as he was seen as an extension of the previous regime.
Many of the protests were forcibly ended with arbitrary arrests.
Moroccan state media quoted PDES recalling that several UN experts condemned Algeria’s repression against the peaceful Hirak movement in Algeria.
A group of UN experts released a report on December 27, 2021, calling for the international community to intervene to end the repressive use of anti-terrorism laws against protesters.
The experts condemned the use and “misappropriation of anti-terrorism laws” to prosecute human rights defenders and journalists in Algeria.
“Based on the information we received and since 2019, a growing number of activists, journalists, and human rights deferences who played a role in the protests movement have been arrested under accusations linked to terrorism.”
The report argued that the High Council of National Security also classified some groups that participated in the Hirak as terrorist groups.
The UN experts’ document emphasized that many of their human rights experts have condemned the use of anti-terrorism laws against people practicing their right to express opinions.
