On Tuesday, October 11th, 2022 in New York, during the 17th plenary session of the United Nations (UN) GeneralAssembly, there was the process of renewing 14 seats on the United Nations Human Rights Council, composed of 47 Member States elected by the majority of the members of the United Nations General Assembly, and pursuant to United Nations General Assembly resolution 60/251, which established the Human Rights Council. UN member states should take into account “the contribution of candidates to the promotion and protection of human rights” and that elected members of the Council “must have the highest standards of promotion and protection of human rights and cooperate fully with the Council”.
Algeria was easily granted “council membership” status because seats are distributed geographically and the African Group put forward four candidates, one of whom was Algeria, for four vacant seats that were allocated to it automatically; Thus Algeria has simply guaranteed its seat for a mandate that begins at the beginning of 2023 and ends at the end of 2025. It should be noted that Algeria was elected and obtained 178 votes without any assessment of its shameful human rights record, despite its documented and continuous violations of human rights to this day, and despite its continued repression against all forms of other opinions, where there are more than 300 prisoners of conscience, six of whom are women. Arrest campaigns have targeted activists, human rights defenders, academics, journalists, bloggers, and political opponents, denied them a fair trial, banned peaceful protests, restricted associations, and dissolved independent organizations. Algeria has also used the anti-terrorism law under article 87 bis against all peaceful activists, using long-term pre-trial detention and imposing unjust sentences. The human rights situation in Algeria has recently deterioratedmarkedly and dangerously as a result of the systematic and daily repression of the authorities since Abdelmadjid Tebboune assumed the presidency of the State.
When Algeria stood for election to the Human Rights Council, it did not publish its voluntary commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights in accordance with article 08 of General Assembly resolution 60/251. Also, it should be noted that Algeria’s participation in the work of the Human Rights Council and other UN human rights mechanisms examined in the framework of the last UPR in 2017 is still not being implemented. To the same extent, Algeria continues to postpone the visits of special rapporteurs to the Human Rights Council; The most recent was the postponement to 2023 of the visit of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of assembly and association after it was scheduled for 12 to 22 September 2022.
The UN General Assembly was supposed to take into account the contribution of its candidate countries to the promotion and protection of human rights, as well as their voluntary commitments in that regard. However, all this was not taken into account during Algeria’s election to this Council, and the UN Member States did not take it into account when considering the choice they were making. Thus, Algeria’s accession to the Human Rights Council is contrary to the basic standards established by the Human Rights Council since 2006 and constitutes a threat to its credibility and ability to hold perpetrators of violations accountable.
UN member states should raise the level of membership in the Human Rights Council and end closed lists. If the Council is to be a credible tool for detecting and ending human rights violations around the world, regional groups should ensure adequate competition and provide qualified candidates for each seat, rather than making agreements behind the scenes.
Algeria’s human rights record and membership undermines the “Human Rights Council” and threatens its ability to expose and hold perpetrators accountable; because Algeria is one of the countries that uses it to thwart attempts to denounce its abuses and transgressions. The members of the Council must be genuinely committed to the improvement of human rights, but Algeria does not respect the ideals on which the Council is founded.
States members of the Human Rights Council should remind Algeria of its limited human rights record, address situations of human rights violations in Algeria, and make recommendations to:
– Immediate and unconditional release of all peaceful activists and human rights defenders and journalists detained for their opinions.
– Ensure the right to freedom of expression and association, and to ensure that peaceful political opponents are not threatened or ill-treated.
– End the arbitrary arrests, prosecutions, and judicial harassment of all human rights defenders.
– Remove all unjustified restrictions on the ability to form civil society organizations in accordance with best practices.
