“The repression of extreme violence which targeted almost all the wilayas where citizens came out to demonstrate peacefully as they have been doing for two years, is intolerable,” the party denounced in a statement.
He specified that “the arrest of hundreds of citizens, including journalists and political leaders, consecrates and institutionalizes the criminalization and judicialization of political practice and the exercise of the profession of journalist.”
The PT called for the immediate release of all those arrested for participating in the marches or because of their political positions.
For the Workers’ Party, the pretexts put forward by the government “to justify this repressive escalation are unacceptable because they legalise the confiscation of the freedom to demonstrate taken away in October 1988 at the cost of 500 human lives”.
He recalled that the Algerian Interior Ministry had published a statement this week to impose conditions on the demonstrations.
“This frightening march towards the -Burmanization- of Algeria is a mortal danger for our country, for its integrity and its sovereignty,” he warned.
He noted that this dangerous slide is “unworthy of our country because it pushes it into the zone of very high turbulence.”
“But which Algerian woman and which Algerian man can accept that our country, wounded by so many tragedies, can return to violence?” the party asked.
Last week, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reiterated its deep concern about the deterioration of the human rights situation and the continued repression against the Hirak in this Maghreb country, denouncing “the use of violence to disperse peaceful demonstrations” and “the arbitrary arrests and detention of people who have exercised their rights to freedom of opinion, expression and peaceful assembly”.
“We are increasingly concerned about the situation in Algeria where the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, peaceful assembly and participation in marches continue to be threatened,” denounced the spokesperson for the High Commission, Rupert Colville.
For its part, the European Union said it was “closely following” developments in Algeria and in particular the human rights situation.
According to the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, who was responding to a question from a MEP on the deterioration of the human rights situation in this country, he specified that respect for fundamental freedoms and human rights is an essential element in EU-Algeria relations.
The Hirak, the large-scale protest movement that ousted Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika from power after 20 years of unchallenged rule, resumed on February 22 after nearly a year of suspension due to the Covid-19 pandemic that is raging in Algeria and around the world.
2024-09-15 22:42:29