Rights group calls warns proposed Algeria bill further restricts association rights – JURIST
Human Rights Watch on Thursday called for Algerian authorities to put a halt to excessive control over civil society groups and urged them to enact new laws based on accepted international standards for freedom of association.
According to the group, a current proposed bill that seeks to update Law 12-06, enacted in 2012, does not amend its problematic provisions, among which are ambiguous definitions of “national constants and values,” “public order,” “morality,” “interference in the domestic affairs of the country” or “national sovereignty.” The new bill additionally does not remove or alter the nation’s burdensome registration requirements for civil groups.
Speaking on the proposed bill, Alexis Thiry, legal advisor at MENA Rights Group stated, “Rather than addressing shortcomings in Algeria’s associations law, the draft bill would make the situation even worse.”
The proposed bill includes an additional provision that would require founding members in civil society organizations to be Algerian citizens with no prior criminal convictions; however, the bill would treat conviction for serious crimes the same as minor crimes or politically motivated convictions. The bill also establishes that an association’s purpose should “support to public authorities…to implement public policies,” which, according to HRW, runs afoul of Article 53 of the Algerian Constitution.
HRW claimed that the draft bill is in direct contravention with Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 10 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the Guidelines on Freedom of Association and Assembly in Africa, which states that “past criminal conviction alone shall not prevent an individual from founding an association.”
Algeria’s current association laws were passed following the 2019 Hirak protest movement, which saw mass demonstrations throughout Algeria and protestors demand urgent political reforms and fundamental freedoms. Political demonstrations have since been banned, and authorities have cracked down on human rights organizations, dissolving prominent groups Rassemblement Actions Jeunesse (the Youth Action Rally or RAJ) and the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights.
Multiple international organizations have examined civil society in Algeria since the passage of the 2012 law, with many noting that the burdens placed on association rights have hampered anti-corruption, environmental, women’s rights, pro-democracy, and medical association causes. Many urge the nation to lift its rigid bureaucratic standards.
