Articles for Algeria

Algeria: Abdelaziz Nadji, released from Guantanamo to be imprisoned at El-Harrach

Mr. Abdelaziz Nadji is a 37-year-old Algerian citizen from Batna who is handicapped after having lost a leg. He had been arrested in 2002 in Pakistan by the intelligence services and turned over to the American intelligence services. He was then transferred to Guantanamo where he was detained for eight years. He has testified that he was tortured in a continuous fashion.

Despite his refusal to be sent back to Algeria, where he feared being the object of further persecution and ill treatment, he was finally released by the United States to the Algerian authorities on 19 July 2010.

25 Jan 2012

Algeria: Human rights activist arrested in Algiers

Update: Nassima Guettal was released on 25 November 2011 at 13:00

Nassima Guettal, a human rights activist and a founding member of the National Front for Change (FCN), was arrested this morning by the police. She had undertaken a hunger strike in Algiers in the Place 1st May.

25 Nov 2011

Algeria: M. Abdelkader Hamdaoui, a victim of enforced disappearance since 27 September 2011

M. Abdelkader HAMDAOUI Abdelkader, 24, was abducted on 27 September 2011 at 15:00 at the home of his grandmother in Rouissat, in the state of Ouargla, by several agents in civilian dress that presented themselves as the police but provided no identification. They gave no motive for the arrest and did not bring with them an arrest warrant.

12 Nov 2011

Algeria: Malik Medjnoune, 12 years in "pre-trial" detention

Accused without evidence of killing the singer Lounès Matoub, Malik Medjnoune has been arbitrarily detained since 1999 and still has not been tried to date.

02 Jun 2011

Algeria: Kidnapped Rachid Kebli reappears in El-Harrach prison

On 18 October 2010, Rachid Kebli was kidnapped by intelligence officers and taken to an unknown destination. He was recently transferred to El-Harrach prison in Algiers.

On 4 November 2010 Alkarama sent his case to the Working group on enforced and involuntary disappearances (WGEID), requesting its urgent intervention with the Algerian authorities.

Rachid Kebli, 30, is a manual worker from Wilaya de Tlemcen. He was disappeared by four plain clothed intelligence officers, as he was working on a construction-site in Maghnia, Wilaya de Tlemcen at 11:00am on 18 October 2010.

25 Nov 2010

Algeria: Abdellahoum reappears after torture in secret detention

Othmane Abdessamed Abdellahoum, 32, who lives in Ain Al Hadjel, Wilaya de Msila, was abducted 16 October 2010 by intelligence officers while leaving his home.

On 5 November 2010 Alkarama sent an urgent appeal to the Working Group on Enforced or involuntary Disappearances (WGEID), requesting it to intervene with the Algerian authorities on behalf of Mr Abdellahoum.

15 Nov 2010

Algeria: Torture victim kidnapped again

Othmane Abdellahoum was kidnapped by security officers in Ain Al Hadjel, Wilaya de Msila, after leaving his home at around 7pm on 16 October 2010. He is nowhere to be found.

On 5 November 2010 Alkarama sent an urgent appeal to the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances asking for them to intervene with Algerian authorities so that Mr Abdellahoum can be released or placed under legal protection.

Mr Abdellahoum, 32, is a married father of two from Ain Al Hadjel in Wilaya de Msila.

08 Nov 2010

Algeria: Case of Executed Brothers Sent to Human Rights Committee

On 19 April 1997 at 6am, security forces raided the Fedsi family home and arrested Nasreddine Fesdsi. Fifteen minutes later, at a nearby coffee shop, they arrested his brother Massaoud Fedsi. Both men were taken to a nearby forest and murdered.

On 1 July 2010, Alkarama contacted the Human Rights Committee regarding the murder of the Fedsi brothers by the Algerian authorities. The Fedsi family contacted the authorities on various occasions, however without results since the promulgation on February 2006 of the "Charter for Peace and Reconciliation".

13 Jul 2010

Algeria: After 12 Years Imprisonment, Malik Medjnoun Begins Hunger Strike

On 25 June 1998, Lounès Matoub, one of Algeria's most famous singers was shot dead by a group of unidentified gunmen. Malik Medjnoune, one of those accused of complicity in Matoub's murder, has been in custody since September 1999 without trial. He has always continued to deny any involvement in the murder.

25 Jun 2010

Algeria: Medjnoun Malik begins hunger strike in hopes of being tried after 10 years preventative detention

After more than 10 years since his abduction by Algerian secret services from the Department of Research and Security (DRS), Malik Medjoun remains abducted awaiting trial. On 25 February 2010, he began an indefinite hunger strike in order that he finally be brought to justice.

Malik Medjnoun is accused of involvement in the June 1998 assassination of Matoub Lounes, which he has always denied. He was abducted near his home on 28 September 1999 by the DRS and held incommunicado at DRS barracks near "Antar", Ben Aknoun (Algiers).

26 Feb 2010