Algeria Country
Algeria
Delegations from Amnesty International, the ICRC, Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, the FIDH, and Reporters Without Borders visited the country in 2000 at the Government's invitation. Amnesty International visited in May 2000 and again in October 2000, and, after its May visit, claimed that the delegation had been "able to move around the country freely" and that "no restrictions were imposed" on its activities. Amnesty International did not seek meetings with members of the FIS in prison or under house arrest. The organization stated that there had been "a significant drop in the level of violence and killings, and the reports of arbitrary arrests, prolonged incommunicado detention, torture, disappearances, and unfair trials have also diminished significantly." However, Amnesty International maintained that many serious concerns had not been addressed, including resolving past abuses such as disappearances and extrajudicial killings. Moreover, during its October visit, Amnesty Intern ... [Read More]
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U.S. Embassy Kabul’s Acting Deputy Chief of Mission and USAID Country Director Patrick Fine, Afghanistan Minister of Agriculture Obidullah Ramin, and other high-ranking officials representing the Afghan Government and the U.S. Embassy joined more than 3000 farmers and hundreds of school students to inaugurate the new program. ... • Afghanistan: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2004 ... [Read More]
Algeria
The country's 11-year civil conflict has pitted self- proclaimed radical Muslims against the general Islamic population. Self-proclaimed "Islamists," or religious extremists issued public threats against all "infidels" in the country, both foreigners and citizens, and killed both Muslims and non-Muslims, including missionaries. The majority of the country's terrorist groups did not, as a rule, differentiate between religious and political killings. ... The Government allowed visits by international NGOs since loosening its ban on such visits prior to 2000. Monitoring trips have occurred at the invitation of the Government and the majority of groups were allowed to move about freely. During the year, Human Rights Watch (HRW), International Red Cross/Red Crescent (ICRC), and Reporters without Borders have all been allowed to visit the country. Although an Amnesty Algeria office was established in Algiers in 1999, AI was not permitted access to the country since November of 2000. The organization also claimed that the Government was staging demonstrations opposing 2000 AI visit. Freedom House, after criticizing the Government in late December for continued human rights abuses, also incurred visa difficulties. In 2001 the Rights Consortium, a combined effort of Freedom House, the International Center for Journalists, and the American Bar Association, visited the country in January, February, and May. ... [Read More]
Algeria
COUNTRY DESCRIPTION: Algeria is the second largest country in Africa, with over four-fifths of its territory covered by the Sahara desert. The country has a population of 33 million people mainly located on the northern coast. Algeria is a multi-party, constitutional republic. Facilities for travelers are available in populated areas, but sometimes limited in quality and quantity. Read the Department of State Background Notes on Algeria at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/8005.htm for additional information. ... [Read More]
Algeria
... Country Study (Library of Congress) ... [Read More]
Algeria
January 19, 2005 This Travel Warning is being updated to alert Americans to ongoing security concerns in Algeria. This Travel Warning is being reissued without change following a periodic review. The overall security environment remains dangerous, especially in the Sahara regions. However, the situation has improved and the Embassy is gradually lifting the restrictions it has placed on its employees. This supersedes the Travel Warning of July 15, 2004. [Read More]
V. Country Narratives -- Countries A through G
Cote d’Ivoire is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Available information indicates that the overall magnitude of trafficking in Cote d’Ivoire has diminished in the past few years. Ivoirian girls are trafficked within the country for exploitation as domestic servants, street vendors, and prostitutes, and occasionally are lured to Europe where they are forced into commercial sexual exploitation after being deceived by false marriage proposals. Children from Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, and Benin are trafficked to Cote d’Ivoire for agricultural and domestic labor exploitation. Nigerian and Ghanaian women and children, as well as some females from Algeria, Morocco, China, and the Philippines, are trafficked to Abidjan and other large towns for sexual exploitation. Some of these women also transit Cote d’Iv ... [Read More]
Algeria
Four journalists were imprisoned for the first time, unlike in previous years when only fines were imposed. The most prominent case was against Mohamed Benchicou, the managing editor of the opposition paper Le Matin and author of a book critical of the president, "Bouteflika--An Algerian Imposter." In February, plainclothes policemen instructed several bookstores not to display Benchicou's book or attempt to sell it; otherwise their copies would be seized. According to the independent press, Minister of the Interior Zerhouni ordered the police to conduct an investigation to determine the publisher of the book and to take all measures to prevent the book from being marketed. Police searched vehicles and the headquarters of Le Matin for copies of the book. Others were detained for questioning by plainclothes policemen in Algiers: Saida Azzouz, a journalist for Le Matin; Ali Dilem, the cartoonist for Liberte; and Hamou L'hadj Azouaou, a chauffeur for Le Matin. While no official reason ... [Read More]
Algeria (12/04)
Algeria, the second-largest state in Africa, has a Mediterranean coastline of about 998 kilometers (620 mi.). The Tellian and Saharan Atlas mountain ranges cross the country from east to west, dividing it into three zones. Between the northern zone, Tellian Atlas, and the Mediterranean is a narrow, fertile coastal plain--the Tell (Arabic for hill)--with a moderate climate year round and rainfall adequate for agriculture. A high plateau region, averaging 914 meters (3,000 ft.) above sea level, with limited rainfall and great rocky plains and desert, lies between the two mountain ranges. It is generally barren except for scattered clumps of trees and intermittent bush and pastureland. The third and largest zone, south of the Saharan Atlas range of mountains, is mostly desert. About 80% of the country is desert, steppes, wasteland, and mountains. ... [Read More]
Algeria
Voter turnout of 46 percent was the lowest since the country's independence. Problems were reported by credible sources at some polling stations, notably ballot envelopes filled with positive votes for the FLN. The Kabylie region launched a sometimes violently enforced boycott to protest the lack of transparency, increased corruption, and overt discrimination against Amazigh parties and candidates, successfully limiting the vote to 15 percent in some regions and 7 percent in Tizi Ouzou. Residents in the Kabylie region boycotted local elections in October 2002, with many protests leading to violent confrontations with the police, who used excessive force to quell protests. In December, indirect elections for one-third of the Council of the Nation (upper house) were held. According to the Constitution, the Council is comprised of 144 seats; two-thirds of the members are indirectly elected by members of their regional assemblies - the Popular Communal Assemblies and the ... [Read More]
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