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At UN, Algeria Seeks Ouster of "Terrorist" NGO, Secret
Complaint Withheld by UN
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of
Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
January 25 -- A secret complaint was
lodged at the UN by Algeria on January 19 against the non-governmental
organization the Arab Commission for Human Rights.
While the
complaint, set to
be ruled on in a closed-down meeting on January 26 has yet to be
publicly
released, it appears to allege that the group allowed its spot before
the UN
Human Rights Council in Geneva on June 11, 2008 to be taken by another
NGO, Alkarama,
which is critical of Algeria's and others' records with regard to
political
prisoners, freedom of the press and related issues.
The
complaint gets more
explosive with the statement that NGO representative, Mr. Rachid Mesli,
has
been charged in and by Algeria with terrorism, and is on the UN
Security
Council's Resolution 1267 terrorism list.
While
invocation of terrorism has become the ultimate trump card in such
debates, the
UN's Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions has previously had to
consider whether
"Rachid Mesli is a prisoner of conscience, who
was detained
solely because of his activities as a human rights advocate." See, U.N.
Doc. E/CN.4/2000/4/Add.1 at 82, available here.
Amnesty International said that
those proceedings against Mesli "clearly violated international
standards
for fair trial."
Neither Algeria nor the UN Committee have been
willing for the past week to
release to the Press any of the documents or evidence that make up the
case.
Rachid Mesli, at right with Guantanamo sign,
Algeria's complaint not shown
But Mesli's
prepared remarks for June 11, 2008 remain online on Alkarama's web
site, here,
and state of Algeria that
"nothing should justify
maintaining the state of emergency and the exorbitant powers granted to
military intelligence services (DRS). This is the situation which
resulted from
the cancelling of the electoral process of 1992, causing 200,000 deaths
and
more than 10,000 disappearances. The mechanism of UPR should not be a
false
door to reality and be consistent with the findings of Treaty
monitoring bodies
and special procedures. This is not just for the Human Rights Council's
credibility but also for the entire system of protection of human
rights in the
United Nations."
Algeria's
complaint was discussed on January 19 and January 23 in the NGO
Committee of
the Economic and Social Council, with a decision on whether to suspend
or withdraw
the group's UN accreditation now scheduled for Monday, January 26, in
closed-down "informal" consultations. Inner City Press, which first
reported the controversy, then asked the chief of the UN's NGO Section,
Hanifa
Mezoui, for a copy of the written complaint that Algeria filed.
Ms. Mezoui
answered, "Not yet, because we are not even dealing with the case.
You will have all the paper you need on Friday."
Inner City
Press reiterated that it would like to see the complain, if only to
prepare to
report further on it on Friday. Again
Ms. Mezoui said no, "because today it will be only confusing, scaring
people."
Thanking
Ms. Mezoui for her advice on how to report, Inner City Press reminded
her that
when a country files a letter with the Security Council, for example,
it
becomes a public document available to the press, whether or not it
might be
frightening or confusing.
Ms. Mezoui
said, "we're not going to give you the document now, because you heard
what happened. It is still under review with no decision. Whatever you
write
would be...". Her voice trailed off.
This is why the UN needs a Freedom of
Information rule, to require the release of documents.
Inner City
Press asked the Algerian representative for a copy, but none was given.
She
did, however, provide Inner City Press with an explanation on the night
of
January 23 during a reception commemorating Sudan taking over the Group
of 77
and China. Notably, Sudan also chairs the ECOSOC Committee on NGOs, and
its
Deputy Permanent Representative pushed Algeria's complaint, Agenda Item
8,
forward throughout the week. His boss, the Permanent Representative, on
January
23 told Inner City Press with some mirth that the two NGOs will be
thrown out. We'll see.
Some wonder
if the complaint, and some other countries' support for the complaint,
doesn't
spring from human rights testimony delivered by the groups. Cuba spoke
in favor
of the complaint, noting that it too has faced NGOs who try only to
undermine
the nation. [Twice last week the U.S. representative on the Committee
refused
to provide the Press with a copy of the Complaint, saying both times
that he
doesn't have "instructions" yet from Washington. The UK
representative suggested the Monday proceeding, which will be closed to
the
Press. It should be noted that both the US and UK governments deploy
the
terrorism moniker to their advantage.]
The UN is
run and owned by member states, a number of speakers on January 23
argued, and
these governments should not be subject in the UN to critiques that are
"unsubstantiated." But what if they are substantiated?
The
Algerian
representative told Inner City Press that Mr. Mesli has been charged
with
"providing communications equipment" to a terrorist group, Al Qaeda
in the Islamic Maghreb.
Mesli is identified as a member an organization which seeks
the overthrow of Algerian President Bouteflika, Rachad, along with Mourad
Dhina, who after "the dissolution of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS)
[the main Algerian Islamist party] in 1992, fled to Saint Genis Pouilly
[in France nearby the Swiss border and who]admits that he has 'almost
constant' contacts with Abbas Madani, the historical FIS leader and
Madani’s right hand Ali Belhadj. Both were jailed in Algeria for 12
years, both always refused to condemn the terrorist acts of the GSPC
(Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat) now called Al Qaeda in the
Islamic Maghreb."
The Algerian representative twice asked Inner
City Press if it has an interest in the group, Alkarama. There were no
other media organizations seated in the ECOSOC Committee on NGO
meetings on January 19 and January 23.
There
is
the question of whether or not Mr. Mesli is a terrorist, although
Algeria is
sure to claim that since their courts say so, it is so. There is the
question
of whether it is in fact without precedent for accredited NGOs to allow
other
to speak. But there is also the question of why the UN feels it can
without
basic documents like this complaint, and then seek to deliberate and
rule on it
in secret. Watch this site.
Click here for Inner City Press' Jan.
16, 2009 debate about Gaza
Click here for Inner City Press'
review-of-2008 UN Top Ten debate
Click here for Inner
City Press' December 24 debate on UN budget, Niger
Click here from Inner City Press'
December 12 debate on UN double standards
Click here for Inner
City Press' November 25 debate on Somalia, politics
Click here for Inner City
Press Nov. 7 debate on the war in Congo
Watch this site, and this Oct. 2 debate, on
UN, bailout, MDGs
and this October 17 debate, on
Security Council and Obama and the UN.
* * *
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Click
here
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AlertNet piece by this correspondent
about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click
here
for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali
National
Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an
undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis here
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