Farid Faraoun

Date of arrest: 1997-02-11

Forces responsible: Members of the criminal investigation officers from the security forces of the wilaya of Sidi Bel Abbès

Summary

Farid Faraoun, a farmer who raised cattle in the region of Sidi Bel Abbès, had sent an appeal and request for a hearing to the security chief of the wilaya of Sidi Bel Abbès in January 1996 to challenge the refusal by the authorities to recognise his election as Chair of the milk producers’ association. In his view, their refusal was a politically motivated act based on his support for the Front Islamique du Salut (FIS) at a time when this was a legal organisation.

On February 11, 1997, four criminal investigation officers from the security forces of the wilaya of Sidi Bel Abbès, dressed in plain clothes, armed and travelling in official vehicles, searched the Faraoun family home without a warrant. The officers forced the victim to follow them to the police station in his own vehicle. No reasons were given for his arrest. On the evening of his arrest, his wife, Mouni Aouali, learned that the family farm had been completely destroyed in the presence of a gendarmerie brigade and with the help of equipment belonging to the municipality of Sidi Bel Abbès.

The next day, on February 12, 1997, criminal investigation officers dressed in plain clothes and travelling in police vehicles arrived at the family home and asked Farid Faraoun’s wife and her four children to leave the house. One of the officers told her to take her papers, money and jewellery. A neighbour and some cousins of the family were then allowed to go into the house to take whatever was strictly necessary. In the presence of the police commissioner of the wilaya of Sidi Bel Abbès, they then proceeded to demolish the family home, where the family had lived for more than 17 years.

The demolition, using bulldozers belonging to the municipality, was carried out without a court order and took several hours. The family had only their neighbours and friends to rely on for accommodation. With the destruction of Farid Faraoun’s farm, the loan the family had taken out could not be repaid and they were left with no financial resources.

During the night of February 12, 1997, Farid Faraoun’s wife managed to secretly meet with a soldier who told her that her husband had been tortured on the night of his arrest but was still alive. He advised her to do nothing that might make the situation worse.

In the following months, the family received information from various sources claiming that the victim had been injured in the leg and left eye and that he had been seen in the military hospital of Sidi Bel Abbès and then taken to the military hospital in Oran.

Since then, Farid Faraoun’s family has tried in vain to get information from the authorities and to have an investigation launched.

Steps taken

February 13, 1997: Farid Faraoun’s mother goes to the police station, where she is told that her son had been transferred to Sidi Bel Abbès’ military sector.

July 13, 1997: Farid Faraoun’s family asks the President of the National Human Rights Observatory to intervene to find him, to no avail.

August 8, 1999: Farid Faraoun’s mother goes to the wilaya of Sidi Bel Abbès to report her son’s disappearance, but nothing was done in response.

August 4, 2005 and January 8, 2006: Farid Faraoun’s wife writes to the Minister of Justice, the Minister of the Interior and the President of the Republic to ask for an investigation into what happened to him.

August 8, 2005: The Faraoun family tries unsuccessfully to bring the case before the National Advisory Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.

August 12, 2006: Farid Faraoun’s mother denounces her son’s disappearance to the gendarmerie brigade of Alger Plage. As a result, she is given a “certificate of disappearance following unsuccessful inquiries and searches”, which she refuses to accept. She lodges an appeal with the chief of the brigade, asking for a thorough investigation into her son’s place of detention.

July 7, 2008: Having exhausted all the domestic remedies, Farid Faraoun’s family seizes the UN Human Rights Committee.

Decision of the Human Rights Committee

Communication number: 1884/2009
Date adopted: 2013-10-18
Source/Author: Mouni Aouali, Feryale Faraoun and Fatiha Bouregba, represented by Track Impunity Always (TRIAL).
Violations found:

Right to life; prohibition of torture and cruel and inhuman treatment (including in relation to the author); right to liberty and security of person; respect for the inherent dignity of the human person; recognition as a person before the law; right to privacy; right to protection of the family; and right to an effective remedy (including in relation to the author).

Recommendations:

The State party must provide the authors with an effective remedy, including by: (a) conducting a thorough and effective investigation into the disappearance of Farid Faraoun; (b) providing the authors with detailed information about the results of its investigation; (c) releasing Farid Faraoun immediately if he is still being detained incommunicado; (d) in the event that Farid Faraoun is deceased, handing over his remains to his family; (e) prosecuting, trying and punishing those responsible for the violations committed; and (f) providing adequate compensation to the authors for the violations suffered, and also to Farid Faraoun if he is still alive. Notwithstanding the terms of Ordinance No. 06-01, the State party should ensure that it does not impede enjoyment of the right to an effective remedy for the victims of crimes such as torture, extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances. The State party is also under an obligation to take steps to prevent similar violations in the future.

Implemented by the Algerian authorities?: No