Although the constitution guarantees freedom of speech and the press, the government has restricted these rights. Government techniques included harassment of critics in the run-up to presidential elections, surveillance of. Violence and harassment: The government has not taken measures to protect the safety or independence of the media.
The law defines defamation as "any allegation or imputation of a fact that injures the honor or reputation of a person, or of the body to which the fact is charged." The law does not require that the alleged fact. The constitution provides for the right to assembly, but the government continued to restrict this right. The constitution provides for the right of association, but the government severely limited this right.
The constitution allows for freedom of movement, but the government restricted the exercise of this right. Neither the government nor the refugee management allowed UNHCR to register or complete a census of the Saharawi refugees.
Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government
The government has continued its practice of refusing to deport migrants who express a credible fear of return to their own country based on. The government has expressed concern about growing numbers of migrants seeking the protection of a non-refugee asylum application. On April 22, the president of the Constitutional Council, Mourad Medelci, announced that voter participation in the elections was just under 51 percent, a sharp drop from the slightly more than 74 percent voter turnout during the previous one.
Out of a population of approximately 37 million and 23 million registered voters, 12 million individuals voted in approximately 50,000 polling stations. Officials recorded a higher turnout of 82 percent in the western province of Relizane, while the Berber provinces of Tizi Ouzou and Bejaia recorded 20 and about 23 percent respectively. Political parties and political participation: Political parties must be approved by the Ministry of the Interior before they can operate legally.
According to the constitution, all parties must have a "national base". A party had to get 4 percent of the vote or at least 2,000 votes in 25 provinces in one of the last three legislative elections to participate in national elections, which makes it very difficult to create new political parties. The law also prohibits political party ties with non-political associations and regulates party financing and reporting requirements. According to the law, political parties may not receive direct or indirect financial or material support from any foreign parties.
In addition to possible state funding, the law also provides for the collection of funds from party members' contributions, donations and income from its activities. Participation of women and minorities: The law requires the government to promote women's political rights by encouraging greater representation of women in elected assemblies. Seven women sat in the cabinet with the portfolios of national education, telecommunications, culture, environment, national solidarity, tourism and crafts.
The ethnic Amazigh (Berber) population of about 10 million participated freely and actively in the political process and represented more than a third of the government.
Corruption and Lack of Transparency in Government
Individuals and groups officially trying to form new political parties, including the unrecognized Pole for Change movement founded by Ali Benflis, reported that as of December, the Interior Ministry was not issuing licenses to operate legally, despite the fact that all required papers were submitted. Individuals with disabilities reported barriers to voting due to the lack of accessible features of the voting centers. Corruption: While many organizations are involved in the fight against corruption, the Central Anti-Corruption Office is the government's main actor in this field.
The National Organization for the Prevention and Combating of Corruption, established in 2006, plays an advisory and preventive role regarding corruption. Media sources reported that in August 2013 authorities dropped charges against former energy minister Chekib Khelil due to a "procedural error". While the government has not publicly confirmed this information, Khelil no longer appeared in Interpol's "Wanted Persons" database as of December. Corruption throughout the government stemmed largely from the bloated nature of the bureaucracy and a lack of transparent oversight.
The report recommended that the law governing the fight against corruption be perfected because it was not effective in its existing form. The government refused the request of the independent Association for the Fight against Corruption to host an event to mark World Anti-Corruption Day on 9 December. Financial disclosure: The law requires civil servants to declare their assets the month they start their job, if there is a significant change in their wealth while in office, and at the end of their term.
Few government officials made their personal wealth public, and there was no enforcement of the law. On March 1, after confirming his candidacy in the presidential election, President Bouteflika publicly disclosed his net worth. Illegal trading of natural resources: Due to the low cost of subsidized gasoline, fuel smuggling was an ever-increasing problem.
Security and customs services also carried out motorized patrols, sometimes supported by helicopter operations that resulted in the seizure of large quantities of fuel.
Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
According to security services, networks of fuel smugglers often exploited young, unemployed men from poor border towns to smuggle fuel to Morocco, Mali, Niger, Libya and Tunisia. The United Nations or other international bodies: The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances has a detailed report to the. The country joined the Human Rights Council in January, but authorities have not agreed to visits by the UN special rapporteur on torture or the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, despite repeated requests.
The government continued to reject requests for visits by the UN Special Rapporteurs on extrajudicial killings (pending since 1998). Government Human Rights Agencies: The CNCPPDH, a government agency, plays an advisory and advisory role to the government. In August, a public report identified the commission's main concerns as discrimination against members of the private press, the inability of journalists to access information and protect their sources, and the legislature's delay in making public information available in 2013.
Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
According to the Wassila Network, a local NGO that promotes awareness of violence against women and children, family members were the aggressors in 80 percent of cases in which women were sexually assaulted. Discrimination: Although the constitution provides for gender equality, many aspects of the law and traditional social practices have discriminated against women. Women were more likely to keep the family home if they had custody of the children.
According to a survey released in May by the National Office of Statistics, women represented approximately 16 percent of the active workforce. Adberahmane Arrar, head of the Algerian Network for the Defense of Children's Rights, reported that the NGO's free helpline received more than 16,000 calls requesting assistance from June 2013 to May. The National Child Protection Office and Youth Crime at the Directorate of the Judicial Police stated during a seminar on family violence that the authorities registered 5,220 cases of violence against children and 173 cases of children.
In July, the Minister of Religious Affairs, Mohamed Aissa, declared the government's intention to reopen synagogues in Algiers. The government had closed all synagogues in the 1990s due to the killing of several prominent members of the Jewish community.). The law prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or the provision of other government services, although the government did not effectively enforce these provisions.
According to the Algerian Federation of Wheelchair Associations, however, there were three million disabled people living in the country. In April, a prominent member of the LGBT community was forced to quit his job and stayed in Europe for several months before returning home. Activists reported that members of the LGBT community refused to report cases of homophobic abuse and rape due to fear of retaliation from the authorities.
Abu Nawas, an Algiers-based LGBT advocacy group, continued cyber activism on behalf of the LGBT community. About half of the country's women, single and married, reportedly used condoms to prevent infection. Official estimates indicated that in December 2013 there were approx. 8,200 people living with HIV/AIDS, although the 2013 annual report of the United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimated that 25,000 people were living with HIV/AIDS, 1,000 of whom were under the age of 15.
Worker Rights
The law provides for the right to strike, and workers exercised this right, depending on the conditions. The law requires that a minimum level of essential public services must be maintained during public sector utility strikes. Many unions were not recognized because the government interfered with their efforts to register.
The government did not allow SNAPAP to register as a national confederation, making it impossible to do so. Anti-union harassment was rife, and several strikes were launched in response to the government's refusal to extend official recognition to incipient new unions and its practice of dealing only with the UGTA. Due to the diverging interests of the different types of workers, the government was unable to meet the requirements.
This came 24 hours after a police protest in the city of Ghardaia involving several hundred members of anti-riot units deployed there since February. While the government has not endorsed a police union, the authorities have responded that the government will ensure police representation at all levels of participatory commissions and bodies. There were conditions of forced labor for migrant workers, but the law did not fully protect them.
The law prohibits the participation of minors in dangerous, unhealthy or harmful work or in work considered inappropriate on social or religious grounds. Although specific data were not available, children reportedly worked in the construction and agricultural sectors, mechanic shops, and as domestic workers. The Act prohibits discrimination in employment or occupation based on race, sex, gender, disability, language, sexual orientation, gender identity, HIV-positive status, other infectious diseases or social status.
The labor minister announced that the government would not grant work permits to sub-Saharan migrants present in the country.
