Efforts continue in favor of Algerian victims!

Alkarama, the Collective of families of disappeared persons in Algeria (CFDA) and TRIAL keep up their efforts for victims of grave human rights violations in Algeria.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee will meet on Monday, March 25, 2013 in order to monitor the implementation of its decisions in cases of human rights violations. In preparation for this meeting, the three afore-mentioned organizations draws the attention of the Committee on Algeria by denouncing the complete lack of implementation of sixteen decisions issued by the Committee condemning the Algerian government. Speaking with one voice, the three organizations call for the adoption of stringent measures of follow-up to ensure that Algerian authorities finally initiate effective investigations into crimes of forced disappearance and summary execution committed during the “black decade” in order to shed light on what happened and identify, prosecute and punish the perpetrators. The victims and their families, who keep living in pain and looking for answers, must have access to an effective remedy and appropriate reparation without delay.

For Rachid Mesli, “the families of the disappeared have placed their trust in the Human Rights Committee when submitting the cases of serious human rights violations they had been victims of. They now expect that the Committee’s decisions, that recognize their suffering and establish the responsibility of the Algerian state, will be finally implemented effectively.”

Nassera Dutour notes that “families have been waiting twenty years for the return of their children and still face the silence of the authorities. The refusal of the Algerian government to implement the Committee’s decisions is even more painful as it tarnishes the memory of the victims. It is high time for the Algerian authorities to seriously deal with the suffering of the families of the disappeared and to take appropriate and concrete steps to uphold their rights.”

Philip Grant recalls that “the United Nations Human Rights Committee ruled in favor of the victims in these sixteen cases after a thorough and impartial review of their complaints. Algerian authorities must therefore comply with the Committee’s findings and uphold their international obligations urgently. Impunity for serious human rights violations must end, and victims and their families must be fully restored in their rights. They have suffered enough!”