Algeria Watch

Mali has taken consistent and active steps to combat terrorism and has been particularly responsive on terrorist financing issues. The Government, for example, regularly distributes terrorist finance watch lists to the banking systems. ... [Read More]

United States Libraries in South Africa: Topics--Human Rights

One of the Commission’s chief responsibilities under IRFA is to draw attention to those countries whose governments have engaged in or tolerated systematic and egregious violations of religious freedom and recommend that they be designated as Countries of Particular Concern (CPCs). In compliance with IRFA, the Commission has assessed the facts and circumstances, including those in the State Department’s 2004 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, regarding violations of religious freedom around the world. As a result of this review process, and in furtherance of the Commission’s statutory responsibility, the Commission wrote to the Secretary of State in April 2005 recommending that she designate as CPCs the following 11 countries: Burma, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), Eritrea, Iran, Pakistan, People’s Republic of China, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. In addition, the Commission has placed the following countries on its Wa ... [Read More]

Erdman, Richard W.

His other postings include: Deputy Director for Northern Europe (1991-1993), with policy management responsibilities for 10 countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Benelux, and Scandinavia; Senior Area Adviser to the U.S. delegation to the 1989 UN General Assembly; Acting Political Counselor and Political-Military Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Lisbon, Portugal (1985-1989); Senior Watch Officer in the State Department Operations Center (1982-83); Spain Desk Officer (1983-1985); Political Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (1978-1981); Political Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus (1975-1977); Cyprus Desk Officer (1973-1975); and Consular Officer in Izmir, Turkey (1971-1973). From 1967-1969 Mr. Erdman served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Turkey. ... [Read More]

Algeria

A delegation from Human Rights Watch met with government officials in May 2000. The delegation stated that it was "allowed to travel freely and meet with officials, lawyers, nongovernmental organizations, and victims and families of victims of abuses by the Government and armed groups." ...

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]

III. Tier Placements

TIER 1         AUSTRALIA DENMARK LUXEMBOURG POLAND AUSTRIA FRANCE MOROCCO PORTUGAL BELGIUM GERMANY [Read More]

Algeria

Algeria is a multiparty republic based upon a constitution and a presidential form of government. The head of state is elected by popular, secret vote to a 5-year term. The president has the constitutional authority to appoint and dismiss cabinet members, as well as the Prime minister who acts as the head of government. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was last elected in 1999, running unopposed after the other candidates withdrew on the eve of the election citing voting fraud. Bouteflika is not formally affiliated with any political party. The next presidential elections are scheduled for April 2004. The country has a bicameral parliament consisting of the National People's Assembly (lower house) and the Council of the Nation (upper house). All members of the Assembly are elected by popular vote, while two-thirds of the Council is elected by the local (state) assemblies and the remaining one-third are appointed by the President. Elections were h ... [Read More]

Algeria

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]

Press Briefing With Algerian Foreign Minister Belkhadem

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, we seem to understand that you are establishing a link between economic cooperation and cooperation of the United States and improvement in human rights in these various countries. Is this due to the fact that you are receiving more pressure coming from non-governmental organizations, such as the recent letter that was sent to you by Human Rights Watch, asking you to apply greater pressures on Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco in the issue of human rights? ... [Read More]

Algeria

Algeria is a multi-party republic based on a constitution and a presidential form of government. The head of state is elected by popular vote to a 5-year term. The President has the constitutional authority to appoint and dismiss cabinet members, as well as the prime minister, who acts as the head of the Government. The president also serves as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. President Bouteflika, elected in 1999 in an uncontested election, completed a full term in office, the first president to do so since the adoption of the multi-party system in 1989. In Algeria's first democratic, contested presidential elections, he was re-elected in April from among five other candidates while the military remained neutral. The security apparatus comprises the army, consisting of ground, naval, and air defense forces; the national gendarmerie; the national police; communal guards; and local self-defense forces. All of these elements ... [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]