Amnesty seeks proof of good faith over Algerian human rights

Date: 06/06/02

By David Cronin

THE EU delegation that visited Algeria yesterday (5 June) should report whether it won any pledges that the country's human rights record would be improved, Amnesty International has urged.

Dick Oosting, director of the organisation's Brussels office, has complained that the EU's dealings with Algiers lack transparency. 'There is no way of knowing whether human rights issues are effectively brought up within the framework of these dialogues, although EU legislation and the human rights clauses in EU association agreements contain a clear commitment to do so,' he said.

A new accord with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was signed during April's EU-Mediterranean summit in Valencia. It commits both sides to removing trade barriers and to closer liaison in the fight against terrorism and organised crime.

Oosting believes the agreement has not yet brought tangible progress in reducing repression. In a letter to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten and the foreign ministers of Spain and Denmark, Josep Piqué and Per Stig Moller, he wrote: 'The fact that the human rights crisis in Algeria shows no signs of being resolved in spite of the recent signing of an association agreement suggests that the EU's secret efforts have failed to impress change on the Algerian authorities.'

Oosting asked the Union's team to seek information on whether any security force members have been prosecuted over the killing of more than 100 unarmed demonstrators since April 2001. He also wants to know if thorough investigations have been conducted into the 'disappearance' of about 4,000 people since 1993 and whether Algeria will cease denying UN representatives and international human rights groups access to the country.

The EU delegation that visited Algeria on 5 June 2002 should report whether it won any pledges that the country's human rights record would be improved, Amnesty International has urged.