CCPR/C/128/D/2819/2016 3.10 The author requests the Committee to find that the State party has violated articles 2 (3), 6, 7, 9, 10 and 16 of the Covenant in respect of Abdelhakim Houari, and article 2 (2) and (3), article 7 read in conjunction with article 2 (3), and article 14 of the Covenant in respect of the author and her family. She also requests that it urge the State party to respect its international commitments, to give effect to the rights recognized in the Covenant, as well as the rights recognized in all the international human rights conventions ratified by Algeria, and to take appropriate measures to ensure that such violations do not reoccur in the future. The author further requests that the Committee call upon the State party to order independent and impartial investigations with the aim of: (a) finding Abdelhakim Houari and fulfilling its commitment under article 2 (3) of the Covenant; (b) bringing the perpetrators of this enforced disappearance before the competent civilian authorities for prosecution in line with article 2 (3) of the Covenant; and (c) providing Abdelhakim Houari, if he is still alive, and his family with adequate, effective and prompt reparation for the harm suffered, in accordance with articles 2 (3) and 9 of the Covenant, including compensation that is appropriate and proportional to the gravity of the violation and full rehabilitation. Lastly, she requests that the Committee urge the Algerian authorities to repeal articles 27–39, 45 and 46 of Ordinance No. 06-01, as well as article 2 of Presidential Decree No. 06-94. State party’s observations 4. On 3 April 2017, the State party invited the Committee to refer to the background memorandum of the Algerian Government on handling the issue of disappearances in the light of the implementation of the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation, without attaching a copy of the memorandum to its submission, and requested that the admissibility of the communication be considered separately from the merits and that the communication be declared inadmissible. After the Committee refused to grant this request for separate consideration, the State party, on 4 October 2018, once again invited the Committee to refer to the said background memorandum and, consequently, not to consider the merits of the case. Author’s comments on the State party’s observations 5.1 On 16 March 2018, the author submitted her comments on the State party’s observations on admissibility. She emphasizes that these observations are inappropriate and obsolete, given that they are addressed to another body concerned with the promotion and protection of human rights – the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances – and are dated July 2009. Moreover, they do not deal at all with the admissibility of the communication, the particulars of the case or the remedies sought by the victim’s family and therefore demonstrate the Algerian authorities’ disregard and disdain for this procedure. 5.2 Recalling that none of the remedies sought have led to a thorough investigation or criminal proceedings and that the Algerian authorities have failed to provide tangible evidence of any real efforts to locate Abdelhakim Houari and identify those responsible for his disappearance, the author concludes that domestic remedies have been exhausted and that the Committee should find the communication admissible. 5.3 Referring to the Committee’s jurisprudence to the effect that the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation cannot be used against persons who submit individual communications, the author recalls that the provisions of the Charter are certainly not a satisfactory response to the problem of disappearances, which calls for an approach based on respect for the right to the truth, justice and full redress. Lack of cooperation by the State party 6. The Committee recalls that, on 3 April 2017 and 4 October 2018, the State party contested the admissibility of the communication by referring to the 2009 background memorandum of the Algerian Government on handling the issue of disappearances in the light of the implementation of the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation. On 6 January 2017, and again on 18 September and 12 December 2018, the State party was invited to submit its observations on the merits of the communication. The Committee notes that it has not received any response and regrets the refusal of the State party to provide any information in this regard. Under article 4 (2) of the Optional Protocol, the State party has 6 GE.20-12768