CCPR/C/112/D/2026/2011
1.2
On 18 February 2011, the Committee, through its Special Rapporteur on new
communications and interim measures, decided not to grant the author’s request for interim
measures of protection asking the State party to refrain from taking any criminal or other
measure to punish or intimidate the author or members of her family on the grounds of the
present communication. On 9 May 2011, the Committee, through its Special Rapporteur on
new communications and interim measures, decided not to examine the admissibility of the
communication separately from the merits.
The facts as submitted by the author
2.1
The author is Bariza Zaier, born on 17 July 1964, in Skikda, Algeria. She is the wife
of Rachid Sassene, father of five children and a welder by occupation, who was born on 25
November 1948 in Skikda. On 18 May 1996, a group of more than 20 uniformed and
plainclothes policemen burst into the Sassene family’s home in Constantine. Acting in a
violent manner, they arrested Rachid Sassene, who was suspected of involvement with the
Front Islamique du Salut (Islamic Salvation Front) (FIS). At the time, the Sassene family
was in the process of moving, and the author was at the new house. Immediately after
arresting Rachid Sassene, the group of policemen made their way to the new house in order
to arrest the author. She states that she was subjected to ill-treatment by the security officers,
who hurled insults at her, bound her hands, blindfolded her, shaved her head and proceeded
to drag her barefoot down the stairs. Some neighbours claim to have seen Rachid Sassene,
who was blindfolded and kept standing outside a police car, at the site of the author’s arrest.
The author also maintains that the home from which they were in the process of moving
was looted and ransacked during the security forces’ action.
2.2
The author was held for two weeks in the same prison as her husband but in a
separate cell. She maintains that she was able to speak with him during her detention and
had been able to do so until 3 June 1996, at which point she was released. Since her release
from prison, the author has never had any further contact with, or news of, her husband.
2.3
Following her release, the author went to the Constantine Prefecture to report to the
Public Prosecutor that her husband was missing. On 27 April 1997, the author received an
official report from the Criminal Investigation Department of the Constantine Prefecture
notifying her that the results of its search were negative and that Mr. Sassene “had never
been summoned by the Department”.
2.4
On 21 December 1997, the author was convicted by the criminal division of the
Constantine Court of Justice and given a suspended sentence of 6 months’ imprisonment
for “supporting a terrorist group”. Contrary to the official report issued on 27 April 1997,
the judgement stated that her husband had indeed been “arrested”.
2.5
The author then contacted the National Observatory for Human Rights, from which
she received a reply dated 2 March 2001 to the effect that her husband had never been
sought or arrested by the security services. Given the conflicting replies of the authorities
concerning her husband’s arrest, the author once again contacted the Public Prosecutor in
order to obtain information regarding her husband’s fate. On 11 March 2001, the Criminal
Investigation Department of the Constantine Prefecture issued a new official report, in
which it stated for the first time that Mr. Sassene had been “eliminated by the security
forces […] on 19 May 1996”, which was the day following his arrest, and in spite of the
fact that the author claims to have conversed with him in the course of her detention, which
lasted until 3 June 1996.
2.6
The author notes that her father-in-law had also initiated procedures with the
Constantine Prefecture, which had resulted in a brief letter from the Ministry of the Interior,
dated 5 February 2000, informing him that the “investigations had not succeeded in
ascertaining the whereabouts” of Rachid Sassene.
GE.14-24387
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