Morocco: Imminent risk of forced return of three Algerians to their country of origin
20 Oct 2009
Sidi Mohamed Bourouis, Sadji Ouassini and Khaled Al Laidaoui, all Algerian nationals, have served a sentence of 14 years in Morocco and have just been released. The Algerian authorities have asked that they be returned to Algeria, where they were sentenced in absentia. Morocco has signed the Convention against Torture, which stipulates that no person may be extradited to a country that practices torture. The Committee against Torture found that torture continues to be practiced in Algeria.
Alkarama has submitted the case of three Algerians threatened with deportation from Morocco to Algeria to the Special Rapporteur on torture, asking him to urgently intervene in the case. The three individuals fear that they will be arrested by the Department for Security Intelligence Department and tortured.
1 - Sidi Mohamed Bourouis, born in 1969, businessman, residing in Tlemcen, Algeria,
2 - Sadji Al-Ouassini, born 1966, businessman, residing in Maghnia, Algeria,
3 - Khaled Laidaoui, born in 1950, residing in Tlemcen, Algeria.
The three militants for the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) had fled Algeria after the army's cancellation of the general elections which resulted in the election of the FIS in January 1992. To escape the campaign of repression unleashed by the army, they fled to Morocco.
They were arrested during September 1995, and accused by the Moroccan security services of supporting terrorism and sentenced by military court in Rabat 10 January 1996. Following an unfair trial, they were sentenced to 14 years imprisonment. They were never given the opportunity to appeal their conviction.
After serving their whole prison sentence, they were released on 15 October, 2009.
The Algerian authorities have asked their Moroccan counterparts to return them because they are sought in Algeria.
The three men were informed that they had been convicted in absentia by the exceptional Algerian courts which were introduced following the military coup of 12 January 1992.They had been sentenced to death and life imprisonment. That is why the Algerian authorities are asking that they be returned.
They are especially worried because torture remains a common practice in Algeria, and many people who have been forcibly returned to Algeria have been arrested, held incommunicado for a long period by the Office of DRS (Department for Intelligence and Security under the Ministry of Defense) and tortured.
The United Nations Committee against Torture, which examined the third periodic report of Algeria on 2 and 5 May 2008, had shown concern about the continuing state of emergency and reports that the agents of the DRS had carried out torture on various occasions.
Furthermore, Morocco has ratified the Convention against Torture which states that "no State Party shall expel, return or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that the individual is at risk of being subjected to torture."
Given this, Alkarama informed the Special Rapporteur on Torture UN the same day, asking him to intervene urgently with the Moroccan authorities to ensure that MM. Sidi Mohamed Bourouis, Sadji Ouassini and Khaled Al Laidaoui are not forcibly returned to Algeria, irrespective of the circumstances or any assurances given by Algeria.