Ksentini calls on MP's to ask the government to examine the possibility of lifting the 20-year old state of emergency
The chairman of the national commission in charge of the protection and promotion of human rights, Farouk Ksentini, has urged the Algerian parliamentarians to ask the government to study the possibility of an early lifting of the state of emergency in order to allow the Algerian citizens to express their views and to voice their pressing concerns with no constraints and in a peaceful atmosphere.
- With regard to the protest march for change planned for February 12th in Algiers, Farouk Ksentini called on both the marchers and the government to avoid any confrontation and to shun any use of force from both sides.
- Asked by Echorouk about the possibility of seeing the Tunisia and Egypt events happening in Algeria itself, Farouk Ksentini said that Algeria had paid a big price with 2 hundred thousand deaths during the “black decade” stressing that now is time for the government to usher in a genuine dialogue in order to preclude the specter of violence and anarchy in the country.