CCPR/C/112/D/2098/2011
Covenant. He is represented by Nassira Dutour of the Collectif des Familles de Disparus en
Algérie (Coalition of Families of Disappeared Persons in Algeria).
1.2
On 26 October 2011, the Committee, through its Special Rapporteur on new
communications and interim measures, decided not to consider the admissibility and the
merits of the communication separately.
The facts as submitted by the author
2.1
Toufik Ammari, born on 20 November 1966 in Bordj Bou Arréridj wilaya, was
married with one child and taught at the secondary school in Hasnaoua commune. On
Sunday, 27 August 1995, at about 8.30 a.m., he left his home and has not been seen by his
family since. A few hours later, uniformed officers of the criminal investigation department
for Bordj Bou Arréridj wilaya entered the Ammari family home. After searching all the
rooms, the officers seized Toufik Ammari’s certificate of employment, some photographs
and other documents belonging to him, as well as his family civil-status book, which was
returned to his wife four months later. The officers did not attempt to justify their actions,
nor did they have a search warrant. This illegal search took place while the author was
working at the covered market in the town centre. At this time, two armed officers of the
criminal investigation department approached the author and escorted him back to his home,
where the search was in progress. He could see that a group of some 20 officers had
surrounded the family home. Before they left, one of the officers asked the author to sign
the search report, which was marked: “Search unsuccessful: nothing found”.
2.2
The following day, the author went to Bordj Bou Arréridj police station to try to
discover his son’s whereabouts but obtained no information. On 11 December 1995, the
author was summoned to the premises of the security authorities’ criminal investigation
department for Bordj Bou Arréridj wilaya, where he requested, in vain, to know what had
become of his son. Since Toufik Ammari’s disappearance, his family has attempted
numerous times to find out what occurred on 27 August 1995. Several years later, rumours
circulated to the effect that he had been detained and incarcerated in Sétif wilaya in around
September 1998.
2.3
The author took several steps: on 1 September 1999 he lodged an initial complaint
with the Public Prosecutor at Aïn Oulmene Court in Sétif wilaya. Subsequently, he filed
another 10 complaints with the prosecutors of every wilaya in the surrounding region.
Some authorities acknowledged receipt of these complaints, but only the prosecutor’s
offices at Bordj Bou Arréridj Court and Bordj Zemmourah Court conducted investigations,
to no avail. The author was summoned and questioned by the Mansourah Prosecutor, who
decided not to proceed with the case, as well as by the Bordj Bou Arréridj gendarmerie,
which told him that inquiries would be carried out but did nothing. In addition, between
1998 and 2001, the author wrote to the Bordj Bou Arréridj wilaya authorities and to the
highest authorities of the State party, namely the President of the Republic, the Prime
Minister and the Ministry of Justice. 1 In these letters, the author sought access to
information that could shed light on his son’s fate, in particular whether he had been
detained and, if so, where. The author also requested the opening of an investigation. He
never received any reply.
2.4
The case of Toufik Ammari was submitted to the Working Group on Enforced or
Involuntary Disappearances in September 2007.
1
GE.14-24393
He wrote to the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister on 9 May 1999, and he renewed his
complaint to the President of the Republic on 29 August 1999 and on 15 May 2000. He wrote to the
Ministry of Justice on 9 July 2001 and on 28 September 2001.
3