Algeria 'not doing enough' to protect human rights

A human rights organisation has accused the Algerian government of not doing enough to protect human rights and civil liberties in a report published on International Human Rights Day, Thursday.

The Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights said that the government is not living up to its international commitments regarding human rights and not implementing the human rights laws that currently exist in the country.

"The only right afforded to citizens by Algerian authorities is the right to vote," said the rights group.

"Algerian citizens have to endure great pains to secure any of their other rights," it added.

The group said that authorities have blocked numerous attempts to organise protests over the past year and those that did take place were met with police repression and mass arrests.

"One example is the arrest of activists and journalists who took part in protests against fracking for shale gas this year, many of whom remain detained such as Hassan Bouras," said the group.

The group also criticised the government's handling of the case of the 7400 people missing since the violence and instability of the 1990s, whose whereabouts remain unknown.

The League for the Defence of Human Rights called on the government to relieve the suffering of the families by announcing their whereabouts or releasing their bodies.

"The human rights situation in Algeria has deteriorated in recent years due to a return of repressive policies against civil society groups and journalists," said Haouri Qaddour, a member of the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights.

In its annual report on human rights released in February of this year, Amnesty International says "authorities restricted freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly".

"Impunity prevailed for perpetrators of gross human rights abuses during the 1990s and acts of torture committed in subsequent years," added the international rights organisation.

The Algerian government says it has made great effort to improve civil liberties and human rights and that it upholds all of its international human rights commitments.