Algeria: HRW Denounces Lack of Freedom, Persecution of Ahmadiyyas

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Algerian authorities used the association law to deny registration to a charitable organization formed by members of Algeria’s tiny Ahmadiyya religious minority

Times of Ahmad | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: The Human Rights Watch
By HRW Statement (Excerpts) | January 18, 2018

Human Rights Watch has denounced the systematic violations of freedom of speech, assembly & association despite constitutional amendments guaranteeing these rights.

Algerian authorities continued to resort in 2017 to criminal prosecutions for peaceful speech. They have also continued to ban demonstrations in Algiers, says HRW in its report 2018.

The document says Algerian authorities routinely violate the right to freedom of assembly, using the penal code, which punishes organizing or participating in an unauthorized demonstration in a public place with up to one year in prison.
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Moreover, members of an association that is “non-accredited, suspended, or dissolved” risk prison sentences of up to six months for conducting activities in its name.

According to HRW, Algerian authorities used the association law to deny registration to a charitable organization formed by members of Algeria’s tiny Ahmadiyya religious minority, basing its refusal on language in the law that gives authorities broad leeway to deny authorization if they deem that the content and objectives of a group’s activities violate Algeria’s “fundamental principles (constantes nationales) and values, public order, public morals, and the applicable laws and regulations.”

In 2017, authorities prosecuted a number of Algerians for critical speech, says the HRW report, citing in this regard many cases.


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