COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS STARTS REVIEW OF REPORT OF ALGERIA

CESCR
27th session
15 November 2001
Morning




Delegation Queried on Terrorist Attacks,
the State of Emergency, Berbers,
and Teaching of the Amazigh Language



The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights this morning started its consideration of a second periodic report from Algeria, questioning a Government delegation, among other things, on terrorist acts, the state of emergency, Berbers, and the teaching of the Amazigh language in Kabylia.

The Algerian report was introduced by Mohamed-Salah Dembri, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Algeria to the United Nations Office at Geneva, who said that since independence, the actions of the public authorities in Algeria had been permanently directed to strategic objectives towards creating welfare conditions and the emancipation of Algerians. All citizens without distinction enjoyed the social and economic progress achieved since independence, he said.

Mr. Dembri said that for the last three decades, Algeria had promoted a vast policy of free distribution of medicine for all in order to implement the right to health of citizens. However, the health sector that had put Algeria on the first rank among African States had undergone changes because of the implementation of the programme of structural adjustment.

Following the introduction of the report, a number of Committee Experts raised questions pertaining to the ongoing terrorist attacks in Algeria, the situation of Berbers, the Amazigh language and the position of Algeria on the Western Sahara. An Expert said the terrorist acts had been going on for years and the State had enough authority and power to stop the blood-bath, which had victimized many people.

The delegation was also asked for Algeria's response to the new Moroccan proposal to give limited autonomy to the territory of the Western Sahara.

Responding to some of the questions, the delegation said that Algeria, guided by the principle of self-determination, was opposed to the partition of the Western Sahara between Mauritania and Morocco after the former colonialist, Spain, left the territory; the settlement today involved United Nations proposals, which included a referendum for self-determination; Algeria still believed that the referendum should go ahead as planned; and the new proposal of limited autonomy under the sovereignty of Morocco was not acceptable.

The Algerian delegation is also composed of Wahid Laraba, Secretary General at the Ministry of Social Action and National Solidarity; Mohamed Berrah, Minister-Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Algeria in Geneva; Brahim Lakrouf, of the Ministry of Interior and Local Collectivity; Mouloud Megrerouche, of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security; Fadela Ladjel, of the Ministry of Habitat and Urbanization; Abdelaziz Boudiaf, of the Ministry of Professional Training; Leila Boumeghar, of the Ministry of Justice; Samira Hadjdillali, of the Ministry of Communication and Culture; Fatma Zohra Chaieb, of the Ministry of Health; Mohamed El Amine Bencherif and Nadia Lamrani, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As one of the 145 States parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Algeria has to submit periodic reports to the Committee on how it is implementing the provisions of the treaty.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will conclude its consideration of the second periodic report of Algeria.


Report of Algeria

The second periodic report enumerates the achievements of the State in implementing the provisions of the International Covenant. It says that since the beginning of the decade, Algeria has been in a period of transition at the level of a pluralistic democracy and a market economy. There were some complications in the course of this difficult transition, owning primarily to the state of the Algerian economy and the unfavourable international economic situation. These economic problems provided fertile ground for political dissent prompting the Algerian authorities to declare a state of emergency in February 1992.

The report also says that while the state of emergency did not impose some restrictions on the exercise of public rights and freedoms, it did not relieve the State of its obligations to guarantee the right to exercise the fundamental civil rights provided for in the existing internal constitutional system and in the international agreements ratified by Algeria. Action to preserve public order and protect individuals and property threatened by terrorism has always been carried out in accordance with the law and on the basis of respect for the undertakings deriving from various international instruments.

The principle of non-discrimination among citizens has been scrupulously respected by legislation since the independence of Algeria, the report notes. This rule is made easier because practices involving racial discrimination are traditionally unknown in Algerian society. The Constitution prohibits all discrimination based on race, language or religion. Since independence, Algeria has repealed discriminatory legislation and regulations. The principle that all citizens are equal in terms of rights and duties and equal access to legal protection is embodied in the Constitution.

Algerian citizens have continued to exercise in full the rights recognized in the Covenant despite the havoc wrought and the crimes committed by terrorist criminals. In every respect, terrorism has been one of the main factors impeding the implementation of the Covenant. The education and training sector recorded 914 acts of destruction or sabotage against primary schools, especially in rural areas, lower-level and higher-level secondary schools and vocational training centres. However, all these facilities were repaired relatively quickly, at a cost of 3 billion Algerian dinars, so that the pupils and students could return.

In order to meet the difficulties created by the structural adjustment programme, the Government adopted a number of measures aimed at cushioning the adverse impact of reform on employment.


Presentation of Report

MOHAMED-SALAH DEMBRI, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Algeria to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that since independence, the actions of the public authorities had been permanently directed to strategic objectives towards creating welfare conditions and the emancipation of Algerians. All citizens without distinction enjoyed the social and economic progress achieved since independence.

Mr. Dembri said the simultaneous ratification by Algeria of the two International Covenants relating to human rights emanated from its attachment to the principle of the universality, indivisibility, interdependence and the non-selectivity of human rights. That balanced conception of human rights was translated by the construction of economic, social and cultural rights within the context of the people's sovereignty. In addition, teaching had been democratized to include all children within the school system. Since 1962, the State has devoted much of its national budget to education.

The right to education had been strengthened by the State actions to include all children within the educational system, Mr. Dembri said, adding that the National Centre for Distance Teaching had been establish to prepare students for national examinations. In addition, programmes for literacy campaigns had been implemented throughout the national territory with the involvement of 160 associations.

Mr. Dembri said that during the last three decades, Algeria had promoted a vast policy of free distribution of medicine for all in order to implement the right to health of citizens. However, the health sector that had put Algeria on the first rank among African States had undergone changes because of the implementation of the programme of structural adjustment.

Algeria continued to develop its vast cultural richness and diversity through the promotion of its regional languages, Mr. Dembri said. In order to rehabilitate the different components of the Algerian identity, it had created in 1995 a High Commission for the Amazigh language. However, Algerian regional languages were oral; and efforts were being made to elaborate scientific methods to teach the languages.


Discussion

Following the introduction of the report, a number of Committee Experts raised questions pertaining to the ongoing terrorist activities in Algeria, the situation of Berbers, the Amazigh language, and the position of Algeria on the Western Sahara. An Expert said the terrorists acts had been going on for years and the State had enough authority and power to stop the blood-bath which had victimized many people. The delegation was also asked about Algeria's response to the new Moroccan proposal to give limited autonomy to the territory of the Western Sahara. The issue of recognition of the Berber language for official purposes was also raised by an Expert who requested the delegation to comment on it.

Responding to the questions, the delegation said that the Algerian Government had achieved a number of achievements in the fields of education, health and housing in application of its policy to develop the country. It had also created a safety net in the field of employment so that those who lost their jobs could have access to financial resources.

Concerning the issue of international terrorism, the delegation said that it had affected the perception of Arabs and Islam. In the past, Algeria, in connection to Afghans and some Algerian elements, had appealed to the United Nations to seek a means to stop cross boarder terrorism. At that time, the international terrorism would have been resolved easily. On the local level, Algeria was fighting the terrorist elements alone. Although the intensity of terrorism had dropped in the country, there were still some terrorists operating because of the wide territory of Algeria. The terrorists were operating under the cover of religion. However, international solidarity was still needed to deal with terrorism.

With regard to the state of emergency, the fundamental rights enshrined in the Covenant were not affected by the state of emergency legislation, the delegation said. No restrictions were imposed on individual rights; and elections took place throughout the emergency period. The state of emergency had been terminated two years ago. The UN Secretary-General had been informed about the start and the end of the state of emergency.

The delegation said that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund had not imposed conditions on the structural adjustment designed by Algeria. Land had been returned to the original owners; and non-subsidized sectors of the industry had been privatized. The provisions of the International Covenant on education, health, housing and employment had been observed during the structural adjustment period.

Algeria, guided by the principle of self-determination, had been opposed to the partition of the Western Sahara between Mauritania and Morocco after the former colonialist, Spain, left the territory, the delegation said. Algeria shared 40 kilometres of common border with the Western Sahara. The settlement today involved United Nations proposals, which included a referendum for self-determination. Algeria still believed that the referendum should go ahead as planned. The new proposal of limited autonomy under the sovereignty of Morocco was not acceptable. The settlement plan designed by the United Nations should be maintained.

As regards to Berbers and the Amazigh language, the delegation said that the word Berber was alien to the Arabic language, while Amazigh referred to all Algerians and meant "free men". The High Commission for the Amazigh language was attempting to constitute an original written language proper to the region where the Amazigh language was spoken. There was also an attempt to rehabilitate the language to serve as a written one, which was not the case now.

Committee Experts continued to raise questions on issues relating to the general provisions of the Covenant and issues relating to specific provisions. An Expert said that women in Algeria were not treated on equal footing as men; they were obliged to obey their husbands; they could be unilaterally repudiated by their husbands; and they could not enter into marriage without a guardian. What was the Government doing to solve these problems? Was it intending to change the family code?

Other Experts also asked the delegation, among other things, whether the provisions of the International Covenant was justiciable and could be invoked before the courts; if the Amazigh language was envisaged to be an official language; why the Kabylia region was less economically developed than the rest of the Algerian regions; and why the Constitution negated the Amazigh language through its recognition of Arabic as the official language of the country.

Responding to the questions raised by Committee Experts, the members of the Algerian delegation said women in Algerian were equal with men and had the right to manage their own businesses and to dispose of their financial resources. Although not all elements of the Sharia were integrated into the family code of Algeria, a guardian could not compel a woman to enter into marriage. It was, however, envisaged that the family code could be reformed within the context of overall judicial restructuring. With regard to repudiation -- divorce with the unilateral will of the husband -- according to current legislation, divorce could be settled by mutual agreement.

Work had began on the teaching of the Amazigh language with the establishment of High Commission on the Amazigh language, the delegation said. On a pilot basis, a teaching curriculum had been drafted and classrooms were being constructed. Although Amazigh was an oral-spoken language, a written form was being created to implement the teaching programme. The use and choice of the script to teach the Amazigh language was left to the region where the language was spoken.




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