CCPR/C/118/D/2157/2012
1.1
The author of the present communication is Rafik Belamrania, born on 22 July 1979
in Taher, in Jijel Province (Algeria), and residing in the Aljazeera housing estate in the
municipality of El Kennar Nouchfi in Jijel Province. He is represented by the Alkarama
Foundation.
1.2
The author submits the present communication on behalf of his father, Mohammed
Belamrania, born in 1951, who was arrested at his home by the special forces of the
Algerian army on 13 July 1995 and summarily executed some days later, on an unspecified
date.
1.3
On 11 June 2012, referring to rule 92 of the Committee’s rules of procedure, the
Committee reminded the State party that the right to submit communications could not be
called into question under national law and that the State party should, therefore, refrain
from invoking national legislation, including Order No. 06-01 on the implementation of the
Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation, against the author and members of his
family.1, 2
The facts as submitted by the author
2.1
The author states that, like many cities and rural areas in Algeria, Jijel Province has
seen systematic mass violations of human rights. Jijel is a mountainous region in the eastern
part of the country. During the 1990s, thousands of people were victims of summary
execution, arbitrary arrest and enforced disappearance. The author adds that, during the
years of conflict, a climate of widespread terror prevailed in this remote region, where there
was a strong military presence, which undoubtedly explains why, despite the large number
of summary executions performed there, so few cases were reported. In most cases, the fear
of reprisals by the authorities prevented families from taking steps to find their missing
family members.
2.2
According to evidence provided by members of the victim’s family, some 30 armed
and uniformed paratroopers from the Fifth Airborne Battalion of the Algerian People’s
National Army raided Mohammed Belamrania’s house on the night of 13 to 14 July 1995 at
around 9.30 p.m. and arrested him. They were accompanied by two hooded persons,
probably informants from the village acting as guides.
2.3
The soldiers ordered Mohammed Belamrania to take his Peugeot 404 commercial
vehicle out of the garage. Two of the soldiers then climbed in next to the victim and
ordered him to drive to the barracks. The other soldiers left on foot for the barracks located
in the middle of the village in a shopping centre requisitioned by the Algerian army, a mere
100 metres from the victim’s house.
2.4
The victim’s wife asked the officer in charge of the operation why her husband had
been arrested and where he would be taken; the officer replied that he was just being
questioned at the barracks in the village and would then quickly be released. However,
Mohammed Belamrania’s screams and pleas for mercy could be heard all night throughout
the village and as far as the family home, conveying a clear sense of the torture he was
undergoing.
2.5
The following afternoon, Mohammed Belamrania was taken to an unknown location
in a military convoy along with other civilians, who had also been detained in the shopping
centre.
2.6
A few days later, several persons who had been arrested at the same time as the
victim and who lived in the same village, were released upon the intervention of a highranking army officer, Colonel B.B., who was a relative of theirs. 3 The persons informed
Mohammed Belamrania’s family that until their release they had been detained at the El
Milia barracks, some 50 km from the village. They also stated that Mohammed Belamrania
1
2
3
2
See the author’s request to that effect in paragraphs 3.4 and 3.5 below.
The Covenant and the Optional Protocol thereto entered into effect for the State party on 12
December 1989.
The author gives the names of the released prisoners.
GE.17-04240