On 26 August 2025, Alkarama submitted an individual complaint to the United Nations Human Rights Committee (CCPR) in Geneva on behalf of Ms. Nawal Kara Bouslama, a Franco-Algerian businesswoman. This approach aims to denounce serious and repeated violations of her fundamental rights in Algeria, directly linked to state-level corruption practices.
Victim of reprisals for refusing corruption
Ms. Kara Bouslama was targeted after she refused to pay 2 million euros to the person in charge of a real estate project of the Ministry of National Defence, a payment demanded as a condition for the awarding of a real estate contract that had been legally obtained.
Her refusal led to the arbitrary suspension of her contracts, the freezing of her assets, repeated threats and, according to several medical reports, an attempted assassination by poisoning. These attacks seriously affected her physical and mental integrity as well as her freedom to pursue her professional activities.
Despite numerous complaints and alerts, Algerian authorities have opened no investigation nor taken any protective measures. This lack of action has enabled the continuation of the violations, leading in particular to the premature dissolution of her company and extensive harm to her relatives, including her husband, falsely accused in a baseless case.
Alkarama brings the case before the Human Rights Committee
Acting on behalf of Ms. Kara Bouslama, Alkarama submitted an individual communication to the UN Human Rights Committee. In this complaint, Alkarama stressed that the violations suffered by Ms. Kara Bouslama infringe upon the rights guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
The complaint details the grave breaches of Ms. Kara Bouslama’s fundamental rights, including, among others, the right to life and personal security, physical and mental integrity, freedom of expression and professional participation, as well as the right to an effective remedy against abuses and corruption.
Alkarama particularly emphasized the impact of corruption on the exercise of these rights and pointed out that, despite Algeria’s international obligations, the protection of fundamental rights remains systematically deficient. These violations were analyzed in light of Algeria’s obligations to combat corruption under the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). As a State Party to UNCAC, Algeria is required to prevent, detect and sanction corruption, while protecting the fundamental rights of victims of corruption-related abuses.
Ms. Kara Bouslama’s case brought before the Conference of States Parties to the Convention
In this context, Ms. Kara Bouslama’s case will be brought to the attention of the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention against Corruption through a written submission that Alkarama will present at the Conference of States Parties to the Convention (CoSP), to be held in Doha from 14 to 19 December 2025 (11th session).
This conference, convened every two years, aims to monitor and assess States Parties’ implementation of their obligations under the Convention, particularly regarding the prevention and repression of corruption.
In this framework, Ms. Bouslama’s case will serve as an example to document Algeria’s deficiencies in implementing the Convention and to call for enhanced scrutiny of the State’s fulfillment of its obligations under the Convention.