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Doha – Human Rights Watch (HRW) and MENA Rights Group revealed today that Algerian authorities are “increasingly” using arbitrary travel bans to target critics and dissidents, often without official notification or legal justification.
The organizations denounce these restrictions as part of a broader campaign to silence opposition voices in the country.
In the detailed report, the rights groups documented 23 cases of Algerians subjected to travel restrictions, a practice that has intensified since 2022.
These bans systematically target civil society activists, opposition party leaders, journalists, trade unionists, and other individuals perceived as critical of the government.
“These travel bans are part of a broader campaign of continued harassment of critics of the government, aimed at silencing dissent and eradicating civic space,” said Bassam Khawaja, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa division at HRW.
He added that “even those who have been unjustly convicted of charges and served their terms, or who have been acquitted, continue to face punitive measures that rob them of their right to freedom of movement.”
Most travel bans were either arbitrarily imposed by security forces or ordered by public prosecutors.
Even when issued by prosecutors, these bans often violate both Algerian law and international standards on freedom of movement.
The restrictions are frequently imposed without official notification, have no time limit, and are nearly impossible to challenge in court.
Many individuals only discover they are banned from travel when attempting to leave the country.
“The extensive and arbitrary use of travel bans against critics in Algeria is alarming, with the cases we have documented representing only the tip of the iceberg,” said Alexis Thiry, legal advisor at MENA Rights Group.
He asserted that “this practice violates international obligations and has devastating effects on individuals’ rights.”
The report features several prominent cases, including that of Mustapha Bendjama, a journalist and former regional newspaper editor, who has been repeatedly prevented from leaving the country since October 2022, despite being told he wasn’t under an official ban.
Another case involves Kaddour Chouicha, former vice-president of the Algerian League for Human Rights, who was arbitrarily banned from travel for almost two years (2022-2024) without any written notification or legal justification.
These practices directly contradict Article 49 of the Algerian Constitution, which guarantees citizens the right to freedom of movement and the right to enter and exit the national territory.
Under Algerian law, travel bans should be limited to three months, and renewable once, except for terrorism or corruption cases.
However, the investigation found numerous cases where authorities imposed arbitrary travel bans without respecting these legal time limits.
The rights organizations sent an inquiry to the Algerian Ministry of Justice in December 2024 requesting information about the use of travel bans but received no response.
The report also details that these practices violate Algeria’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, both ratified by Algeria.
These treaties guarantee the right to freedom of movement, including the right to leave any country, including one’s own.
The UN Human Rights Committee has established that states can only restrict freedom of movement to protect national security, public order, public health or morals, or the rights and freedoms of others, and such restrictions must be provided by law and necessary in a democratic society.
Read also: Anger, Denial, and Headlong Rush: Algeria in the Eye of the Diplomatic Storm
