Algeria Is Firmly Combating Prostitution, Criminalizing Rape, US State Department’s Report says

Algeria is making great efforts in combating human trafficking, the US State Department’s report said.

“Algerian government has shown firmness by increasing the number of investigations and prosecutions of suspects and increasing the training of judges. It has also established resources for a national committee to combat human trafficking at the level of the Prime Ministry”.

According to the US State Department’s annual report on human trafficking, Algeria has increased its efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking criminals and has criminalized the sexual abuse on workers. The penalties provided for a prison term of three to twenty years are strict enough, and regarding the crime of exploiting human beings in prostitution, the penalty is commensurate with those provided for in other serious crimes, such as rape.

On the protection that is provided by Algeria, the report said Thursday that Algeria identified 33 victims of human trafficking, including 19 males and 14 females.

It quoted the government as saying that “the victims that were identified had access to care and protection services, and government needed an official mechanism to identify the potential victims or to refer them to the protection services in general.”

“Government remained without measures to examine the trafficking of victims among vulnerable groups, including migrants and persons who are engaged in prostitution. Police also provided investigators with indicators of trafficking in persons and established a hotline and a web site for victims of crime, including trafficking”.

According to the US State Department’s report, which was based on official statistics, the hotline received more than 1 million calls, and the website received 2264 tips on human trafficking, however, the government – according to the report – did not report any calls or SOS that led to criminal investigations, with the registration of recognition of the difficulty of distinguishing between trafficking victims from illegal immigrants and identifying victims of trafficking among ethnically intolerant immigrant communities.

The report explained that some of the drawbacks, and that – according to it – the victims, especially immigrants did not usually reported possible crimes to security services for fear of arrest and deportation.

“Trafficking victims have a law to file civil suits against offenders, but the government has not reported cases in which victims have done so. The government acknowledged that foreign victims did not come forward to bring trafficking cases to the police attention. The government’s repeated operations to deport illegal immigrants may have fueled the smuggling industry and increases the fears of foreign trafficking victims from making their presence known.”

It made a number of recommendations to the Government; “To carry out rigorous investigations, prosecute and convict perpetrators of trafficking and trafficking offenses, punish them with sufficiently severe penalties, provide adequate medical, psychological and social care, legal assistance and assistance in the return to all victims of trafficking and ensure that victims do not face arrest, deportation or other procedures after they committed these acts as a direct result of their exposure to trafficking, ensure the safe and voluntary return of foreign victims”.