§ Lord Moynihanasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether human rights issues were raised with the Algerian authorities by the European Union mission during their recent visit to Algeria and whether the mission raised the following issues: the use of force against demonstrators by the Algerian security forces; the deaths of civilians in the context of armed conflict; the disappearance of an estimated 4,000 people since 1993 following their arrest by the security forces; the intimidation of human rights defenders; and the lack of access for international observers. [HL5114]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Amos)The UK and our EU partners regularly raise with the Algerian Government our concerns about human rights violations in Algeria. The then FCO Minister, my honourable friend the Member for Exeter, did so during his visit to Algiers in September 2001. We continue to urge Algeria to comply fully with all its obligations under international human rights law, including the investigation of human rights violations, the intimidation of human rights defenders and to allow visits by special rapporteurs.
The European Union mission pressed the Algerian authorities for a response on the "disappeared". This was to follow up the list that had been sent by the Presidency in April 2001 and was also raised by the Presidency in December 2001.