CCPR/C/118/D/2157/2012 Consideration of the merits 6.1 The Committee has considered the present communication in the light of all the information made available to it, as required under article 5 (1) of the Optional Protocol. It notes that the State party has not replied to the author’s allegations, to which, in the circumstances, due weight must be given insofar as they have been sufficiently substantiated. 6.2 The Committee notes the author’s statement to the effect that, on the night of 13 to 14 July 1995, around 9.30 p.m., some 30 armed and uniformed paratroopers of the Fifth Airborne Battalion of the Algerian People’s National Army, raided Mohammed Belamrania’s house and proceeded to arrest him; that the following afternoon the victim was taken by military convoy to an unknown destination; that a few days later, several individuals who had been arrested at the same time as Mohammed Belamrania were released and informed his family that he was being detained at the military barracks of El Milia; that despite the steps taken by the family to ascertain the victim’s fate, the authorities took no action; that on 24 July 1995, that is, 11 days after the victim’s arrest, his brother, Youssef Belamrania, was informed that several persons had been executed in Tenfdour by paratroopers of the Fifth Airborne Battalion stationed at the El Milia barracks and that one of the victims might be Mohammed Belamrania; and that Youssef Belamrania then went to the location and recognized the mutilated, bullet-ridden body of his brother Mohammed Belamrania, whose hands were bound with metal wire and who showed unmistakable signs of torture and had been abandoned by the side of the national highway. 6.3 The Committee also notes the author’s allegation that the authorities demanded that the family pay 120,000 dinars and provide a written admission that Mohammed Belamrania belonged to a terrorist group, in exchange for the return of his body, which was in a coffin sealed by police with a ban on opening it, and a burial permit issued by the public prosecutor of El Milia without an autopsy or investigation having been conducted, despite the fact that, according to the author, witnesses had seen the soldiers line up many persons by the side of the road in Tenfdour and summarily execute them with automatic weapons, and despite the family’s many attempts to have the central police station and the court of El Milia open an investigation into Mohammed Belamrania’s death. The Committee further notes that, even though it was obviously not a case of enforced disappearance but rather one of an extrajudicial execution by military personnel, the family was issued with a missing person report by the Gendarmerie unit in El Kennar. 6.4 The Committee further takes note of the author’s and his family’s fear of being subjected to reprisals by the authorities for having sought to verify the circumstances of Mohammed Belamrania’s death, pursuant to articles 45 and 46 of Order No. 06-01 on the implementation of the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation, which criminalize all complaints about the Algerian defence and security forces. Referring to its jurisprudence, 15 the Committee recalls that the State party cannot apply the provisions of the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation to persons who invoke the provisions of the Covenant or who have submitted or may submit communications to the Committee. The Covenant requires the State party to show concern for the fate of every person and to treat everyone in a manner that respects the inherent dignity of the human person. Given that the amendments recommended by the Committee have not been introduced, Order No. 06-01 contributes, in the present case, to impunity and cannot be considered compatible with the provisions of the Covenant. 6.5 The Committee further recalls that, according to its jurisprudence, the burden of proof cannot rest solely with the authors of a communication, especially when the authors and the State party do not have equal access to the evidence and when the State party is often in sole possession of the relevant information, such as information related to the arrest 15 8 See inter alia communications No. 1779/2008, Mezine v. Algeria, Views adopted on 25 October 2012, para. 8.2; No. 1781/2008, Djebrouni v. Algeria, Views adopted on 31 October 2011, para. 8.2; and Boudjemai v. Algeria, para. 8.2. GE.17-04240