Ksentini called upon the government to open dialogue with Islamists

Algiers (21/12/211) – Chairman of the Advisory Committee for the Promotion of Human Rights, Mustafa Farouk Ksentini in its annual report, called upon the Algerian authorities to open dialogue with activists of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), following the decision of the draft law on parties to ban them from establishing a political party.

Ksentini said that dialogue is the only way to address this confusion once and for all. He showed dissatisfaction over the content of the fourth article of the bill, which stated explicitly that the FIS activists are banned from establishing a political party, arguing that it is inconsistent with the inclusive reconciliation.

Ksentini urged the Algerian authorities to open dialogue with FIS activists, noting that the draft law on political parties allowed them to adhere in political parties without participating in leadership positions, adding that this measure includes a legal problematic, because preventing FIS leaders from political and civil rights is incompatible with the content of the Penal Code which sets out the sentence period, as this is inconsistent with human rights as well.

The spokesman expected, in the context of an annual report to be submitted soon to the President Abdelaziz Bouteflika by the year’s end, the new election law would succeed in ensuring the integrity and transparency of the coming benefits, thanks to its new measures, including the involvement of judges in controlling the process.

“The new law on elections will promote democracy, despite some negatives, especially in the draft law on media. However; we know that it is impossible to change all aspect in a short time”, he asserted.

The report concluded to an improvement in the social rights of individuals, due to the progress of social housing completion, and thanks to the increases in the wages in the benefit of several sectors.

“We are concerned over the deterioration of the purchasing power, despite the efforts by government. Protests by social fronts are legitimate and institutional”.

The annual report of the Advisory Committee on Human Rights showed a bleak image on the justice sector telling Echorouk that there is a lack of quality in the judicial decisions “but much of them are unfair”, estimating them to about 50% of the total judgments, and putting them below the level which satisfied the litigants.

Ksentini refused the idea of linking the deterioration of quality to the daily pressure on judges, saying that there is a lack of training and formation, as 5000 judges across the country is not enough and cannot realize a better quality.

With regard to the education sector, Ksentini’s reprot criticized the Ministry of National Education saying “It fails to open doors of dialogue with its social partners. The sector is still living the same problems”.

“Health sector has not made any progress and is noticing the same deteriorating situation of the last year”.