Malcolm Smart, Director in charge of the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, said, in an interview with the MAP, "we want to find in Algeria the same spirit of openness that we see in Morocco ".
Amnesty representatives at the presentation of the 2012 report
The head of Amnesty says "the Algerian government informed us that because of our criticism on the situation in Algeria, we will not be allowed to visit this country to carry out investigative work."
Malcolm Smart hoped that Amnesty would have access to the whole of Algeria including the Tindouf camps to assess on the ground, the violations of human rights, including those affecting immigrants and other serious violations.
However, "our wish is hampered by the refusal of the Algerian authorities," he bitterly explained.
Malcolm Smart explained that Amnesty is not ready to "accept limited access to Algeria." It wants "to have access to all Algeria including Tindouf camps," he insisted, noting that the "small section" of Amnesty International in Algeria had "difficulty to work in this country."
"If we make a comparison between Morocco and Algeria, we can clearly define the points of difference, because the Moroccan approach has allowed the realization of many achievements," said the AI head, adding: "we made the remarks to Algerian authorities which have refused them".
In 2010, the humanitarian NGO suffered a blunt refusal wanting to travel to Algeria to investigate the case of the Polisario dissident Mustapha Salma. Former head of security of the Polisario, Mustapha Salma was arrested, tortured for months before being expelled for publicly supporting the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara.
Mr. Smart said that his organization would like to report similar cases, noting that Amnesty believes that "the peaceful support to the autonomy plan (proposed by Morocco) does not justify barriers against freedom of expression" in Tindouf camps.
Declarations on human rights in Morocco by AI officials
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