US urges Algeria to halt using terrorism charges to quell peaceful dissent – The North Africa Post

The US delegation to UN Human Rights Council urged Algeria to repeal the amendments it had made to its penal code in 2021, under which many peaceful dissidents are currently in jail on bogus terrorist charges.

The algerians’ new military leadership has taken power after the pro-democracy mass protests in 2019. They have also introduced bogus terror charges to try to silence peaceful opposition.

The peaceful Rachad movement activists as well as the Kabyle independence activists were arrested on terrorist charges. Meanwhile, the leaders of both movements are free to continue operating in Europe.

Article 87, which considers peaceful calls of regime change as unconstitutional and assimilating them into terrorist acts, has resulted in the imprisonment of at least 260 Hirak activists.

The US delegation also called on the Algerian regime to “set free journalists and human rights defenders” arrested under article 87 of the penal code.