CCPR/C/130/D/2843/2016
implemented precautionary measures and informed the United Nations Secretariat of its
declaration of a state of emergency, in accordance with article 4 (3) of the Covenant.
4.3
The State party provides explanations of the context surrounding the period from 1993
to 1998, during which the events occurred. These explanations are repeated systematically
by the State party in all communications concerning cases of enforced disappearance.9
Author’s comments on the State party’s observations
5.1 On 11 October 2018, the author submitted comments on the State party’s observations.
She emphasizes that the observations are inappropriate, since they refer to a standard
document dated July 2009 and addressed to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary
Disappearances, not to the Committee. The State party’s observations make no mention of
the specifics of the present case and provide no response with regard to the particular
circumstances of Sadek Rsiwi’s disappearance.
5.2
According to the author, the State party’s response calls into question its obligation to
cooperate in good faith with the Committee, a duty which arises – as the Committee reiterated
in paragraph 15 of its general comment No. 33 (2008) – from an application of the principle
of good faith to the observance of all treaty obligations. The author recalls that, in its
concluding observations on the fourth periodic report of Algeria, the Committee
recommended that the State party cooperate with the Committee in good faith under the
individual communications procedure by ceasing to refer to the “aide-memoire” and by
responding individually and with specifics to the claims made by authors of
communications.10 The Committee also expressed its concern about the State party’s practice
of systematically referring to the “aide-memoire”, which does not offer a substantive
response to the claims made by authors concerning events related to the period from 1993 to
1998 and, in some instances, outside that period.11
5.3
According to the Committee’s established jurisprudence, the State party may not
invoke the provisions of the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation against persons
who invoke provisions of the Covenant or who have submitted or may submit
communications to the Committee. 12 The author considers that neither the State party’s
adoption of the Charter nor its adoption of a “comprehensive domestic settlement mechanism”
constitute measures that adequately fulfil its treaty obligations to investigate, prosecute and
provide reparation, and that such measures cannot be validly invoked before the Committee
or constitute grounds for the inadmissibility of a communication.
5.4
In its concluding observations on the fourth periodic report of Algeria, the Committee
reiterated its deep concern – already expressed several times in the past, in particular in its
Views – with regard to article 45 of Ordinance No. 06-01, as that article precluded any kind
of effective remedy for victims of violations of the Covenant’s provisions committed by law
enforcement personnel, including the armed forces and security services, and fostered
impunity. Thus, the Committee once again voiced its concern at the numerous and serious
violations that had been reported but had not yet been prosecuted or punished.13
5.5
The author considers that the State party’s challenge to the Committee’s competence
on the grounds that it would be necessary to consider the cases of enforced disappearance
dating from 1993 to 1998 through a comprehensive, non-individualized approach is devoid
of any relevance, as the State party has ratified the Covenant and its Optional Protocol and
has thus recognized the competence of the Committee to receive communications by
individual victims of violations of the rights set forth in the Covenant. She further stresses
that the declaration of the state of emergency, as provided for under article 4 of the Covenant,
has no effect on the prohibition of enforced disappearance or on the exercise of the rights
stemming from the Optional Protocol. She adds that it is implicit in article 4 (2) of the
9
10
11
12
13
6
See, inter alia, El Boathi v. Algeria (CCPR/C/119/D/2259/2013), para. 4.3 ff.; and Boudjema v.
Algeria (CCPR/C/121/D/2283/2013), para. 5.3 ff.
CCPR/C/DZA/CO/4, para. 8.
Ibid., para. 7.
Fedsi v. Algeria (CCPR/C/111/D/1964/2010), para. 7.2.
CCPR/C/DZA/CO/4, para. 11.
GE.21-03102