Salah Saker
Date of arrest: 1994-05-29
Forces responsible: Police and Department of Intelligence and Security (DRS)
Summary
Salah Saker, a teacher, was arrested without a warrant on May 29, 1994 at 18.45 at his home, as part of a police operation carried out by agents of the Wilaya of Constantine. At the time of his arrest, Saker was a member of the Front Islamique du Salut (Islamic Salvation Front), a prohibited political party for which he had been elected in the annulled legislative elections of 1991. He remains disappeared since.
Steps taken
July 1994: Salah Saker’s wife sends a letter to the Director of Public Prosecutions requesting to be informed about the reasons for her husband’s arrest and continued detention.
October 29, 1994: The author writes to the President of the Republic, the Minister of Justice, the Minister of the Interior, the Security Officer of the President of the Republic (Délégué à la Sécurité auprès du Président de la République), and the Head of Military Area No. 5.
January 20, 1996: The author lodges a complaint with the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Tribunal of Constantine.
January 25, 1996: The author alerts the Ombudsman of the Republic (Médiateur de la République).
January 28, 1996: The author requests information about her husband from the Director General of National Security.
September 27, 1996: The author writes to the President of the National Observatory for Human Rights (Observatoire National des Droits de l’Homme) to inform him of the difficulties which she was facing in obtaining information about her husband.
February 27, 1997: The author receives a letter from the judicial Police section of the Security of Constantine (Service de la Police judiciaire de la Sûreté de la Wilaya de Constantine), forwarding a copy of Decision No. 16536/96 of the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Tribunal of Constantine dated September 4, 1996. Director of Public Prosecutions informs her that her husband was wanted and had been arrested by the judicial police section of the Security of Constantine, then transferred to the Territorial Centre for Research and Investigation (Centre Territorial de Recherches et d’Investigation, the “Territorial Centre”) of Military Area No. 5 on July 3, 1994, as evidenced by a receipt of handover No. 848 of July 10, 1994.
December 27, 1998: The National Observatory for Human Rights informs the author that, according to information received from the security services, Saker had been kidnapped by a non-identified armed group while in the custody of the Territorial Centre, and that the authorities did not have any other information as to his whereabouts.
Decision of the Human Rights Committee
Communication number: 992/2001
Date adopted: 2006-03-30
Source/Author: Louisa Bousroual (represented by Me Sofiane Chouiter)
Violations found:
Right to liberty and security of person; arbitrary arrest and detention; right to be brought promptly before a judge; right to counsel; right to life; prohibition of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment; trial in absentia leading to the death penalty.
Recommendations:
The State party must provide the author with an effective remedy, including a thorough and effective investigation into the disappearance and fate of the author’s husband, his immediate release if he is still alive, adequate information resulting from its investigation transmitted to the author, and appropriate levels of compensation for the violations suffered by the author’s husband, the author and the family. The State party is also under a duty to prosecute criminally, try and punish those held responsible for such violations. The State party is also under an obligation to take measures to prevent similar violations in the future.
Implemented by the Algerian authorities?: No
