FOR THE TERMINATION OF THE EU-ALGERIA AGREEMENT

By the Executive Bureau of Human Rights Defense in Kabylia

(Paris, France)–This call is initiated by the NGO Human Rights Defense in Kabylia (HRDK), based in Paris, which acts to defend human rights wherever they are in danger and particularly in Kabylia. The alarming acceleration of the deterioration of the human rights situation in Algeria and Kabylia motivates this appeal.

Reminding that the Association Agreement between the European Union and Algeria, signed on April 22, 2002 and implemented on September 1, 2005, was designed on fundamental principles of respect for human rights and democratic principles, clearly expressed in its Article 2, which states: “Respect for democratic principles and fundamental human rights as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, inspires the internal and international policies of the parties and constitutes an essential element of this agreement”.

This fundamental clause of the agreement stipulates that respect for human rights and democratic principles is an obligation for the parties and constitutes an essential element of their cooperation, non-compliance with which may lead to measures such as the suspension of the agreement in accordance with its Article 107 which states: “… Each party may denounce the agreement by notifying its intention to the other party. The agreement ceases to be applicable six months after this notification”.

Despite the European Commission’s multiple warnings about Algeria’s violations of the Agreement, it persists in its unfair practices that call into question the renegotiation of the agreement. Algeria’s imports of European Union products have fallen drastically since 2020 while Algeria increases its imports from countries outside the European Union, puts in place protectionist measures, restrictions on European exports and investments, up to attempts at economic sanctions, in total contradiction with the rules of the agreement.

On the human rights side, the abuses of the Algerian regime are much more dramatic and go so far as to cause crimes against humanity. As a result, HRDK strongly denounces this agreement and calls for its outright dissolution. We explain in the points below the extent of these violations.

1- The Algerian authorities are accused by several non-governmental organizations of crimes against humanity and genocide in Kabylia (which awaits international recognition) where mass imprisonment, torture, rape and sexual abuse in police departments and prisons have become common.

2- In order to destroy any political opposition, the regime does not hesitate to commit assassinations of activists and leaders of the Kabylian community, up to the point of putting in place a diabolical plan to eradicate Kabylian identity, the “Zero-Kabylian” plan launched in August 2019. The years 2021 and 2022 were marked by gigantic criminal fires that ravaged two-thirds of Kabylia, causing massive destruction and hundreds of human losses. This scorched earth policy aims to destabilize the region, terrorize and traumatize the population, which has pushed tens of thousands of Kabylians into forced exile. The economic sabotage and impoverishment of Kabylia were deliberately organized by the Algerian authorities.

3- The rights of the Kabylian people who have their own identity, culture, language and territory are flouted by the Algerian regime, which denies them the right to self-determination while defending it to other peoples foreign to Algeria (Western Sahara and Palestine).

4- Not satisfied with having made Algeria an open-air prison by illegally proceeding to the ban on leaving the national territory (ISTN), which affects tens of thousands of people, and by imprisoning hundreds of prisoners of conscience, the Algerian regime attacks its opponents, mainly Kabylians, living abroad. The consulates are teeming with agents in charge of tracking down and threatening peaceful opponents with death, up to the point of organizing kidnappings, hostage-taking and assassination attempts.

5- All Protestant churches in Algeria have been closed and sealed, while the Algerian Protestant Community has more than 100,000 followers. The ordinance of February 28, 2006 establishing the conditions and rules for the exercise of non-Muslim worship is based on religious discrimination and allows prison sentences for non-Muslim proselytism. Protestants are persecuted and leaders of the Protestant Church imprisoned and tortured. Mr. Slimane Bouhafs, a Kabylian Christian, who suffers an abominable relentlessness of the Algerian regime is the emblematic victim of this abject ordeal.

Algeria cynically tramples on its commitments to the rule of law and the promotion of fundamental rights that it has nevertheless adopted and renewed in the reassessment of the Agreement in 2017 among the priority topics.

On strategic dialogue, regional security and the fight against terrorism, Algeria, far from respecting its commitments, plays a destabilizing role in several regions of the world. It has a warlike attitude towards neighboring countries and is currently in an open diplomatic crisis with several countries including France, Morocco, Spain, Kabylia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Israel, the Arab Emirates and Libya. Algeria is registered by the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) on the list of countries under enhanced surveillance for its financing of the terrorist groups of Polisario, Hamas and Hezbollah.

France, which hosts the strongest Algerian diaspora, is particularly targeted by the Algerian regime, which tries, through its consular services and influencers recruited from the underworld, to create unrest in French society at the risk of leading to a general destabilization of the region.

Algeria displays unbridled contempt for the many warnings and recommendations of NGOs such as, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and United Nations Rapporteurs who have repeatedly called for the release of prisoners of conscience and the revision of the scoundrel article 87-bis purposely introduced into the penal code in 2021 and directed mainly against the Kabylian to criminalize any activity or political opinion.

Algeria’s ratification of the main international treaties and charters relating to human rights is only a lure to deceive international bodies and opinion.

HRDK considers that it is imperative that the European Union take concrete measures to put an end to undemocratic actions and human rights violations in Algeria. The termination of the Association Agreement with Algeria would be a strong message and an effective lever to force the Algerian regime to respect its commitments to human rights and democracy. It is about the fundamental values of the European Union and the regional stability of the Mediterranean.