Mustapha Bendjamaa
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2024-009-001
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2024
- From Country
- Country Geolocation
Latitude: 33.93911
Longitude: 67.709953
- Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
- Afghanistan
- From Region
- UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report
- OHCHR: OHCHR - General
- Dates of prior UN action
- unclear
- Type of record
- Named individual
- Gender
- Male
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- No
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Individual's/organization's activity
the chief editor of “Le Provincial”, a regional newspaper in Algeria, and a representative of La Ligue Algérienne des Droits de l’Homme (LADH)
- Type of rights defended
- Unclear in SG Report
- Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- No
- Reported trigger of reprisal
OHCHR conducted a technical cooperation mission to Algeria and met with civil society representatives
- Engagement with UN body
- OHCHR: OHCHR - General
- Dates of engagement
- November 2022
- Type of attempted engagement
- Meeting with UN officials during country visit / with locally present UN officials
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- February 2023, 20 July 2023, 22 August 2023, 29 August 2023
- Location of mentioned reprisals
- Algeria
- Reprisal information
In February 2023, Mr. Bendjamaa was detained and, on 20 July 2023, he was charged with “receiving funding from foreign or domestic institutions in order to commit public order offenses,” under article 95 bis of the Penal Code, and with “publishing on electronic networks or via technological media tools information that is partly or entirely classified as secret,” under article 38/2 of Ordinance 21-09 on data and administrative documents protection. In the indictment, Mr. Bendjamaa was accused based on several elements including his engagement with international civil society organizations and OHCHR. 11. According to information received by OHCHR, on 22 August 2023 the Prosecutor questioned Mr. Bendjamaa about the reason for and content of his meeting with OHCHR. On 29 August 2023, the Misdemeanor Court of Constantine accepted all points of the indictment and issued a verdict of two years of imprisonment and a 200,000 DA (1,469 USD) fine. 12. On 26 October 2023 Mr. Bendjamaa’s sentence was reduced to eight months but, although he had effectively served this sentence by that date, he was not released and remained detained under charges related to another case. He was released from prison on 18 April 2024. OHCHR is closely following the case of Mr. Bendjamaa and is in contact with relevant authorities.
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Charge/Investigation/Prosecution: Charge/Investigation/Prosecution - General
- Charge/Investigation/Prosecution: Conviction
- Charge/Investigation/Prosecution: Trial
- Detention/Imprisonment: Detention/Imprisonment - General
- Other
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- State actors
- Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
- No
- Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
- No
- Further case development
He was released from prison on 18 April 2024. OHCHR is closely following the case of Mr. Bendjamaa and is in contact with relevant authorities.
- Was the case raised by a State at the UN?
- No
- Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
- No
- Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
- No
- Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
- No
- How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
- 1
- In which SG report was this case followed up on? 0
- 2025
- Follow up information provided in SG report 0
- The case of Mr. Mustapha Bendjamaa was included in the 2024 report of the Secretary-General7 on allegations of arbitrary detention and criminal charges brought against him in connection to his cooperation with OHCHR. Mr. Bendjamaa is the chief editor of the Algerian regional newspaper “Le Provincial”, and a representative of La Ligue Algérienne des Droits de l’Homme (LADH). Reportedly, Mr. Bendjamaa was detained in February 2023, three months after he had met with OHCHR during its technical cooperation mission in November 2022. On 22 August 2023, the Prosecutor questioned Mr. Bendjamaa about the reason for and content of the said meeting with OHCHR. In August 2023, he was reportedly sentenced to a DA 200,000 (USD 1,469) fine and two years of imprisonment, later on reduced to 8 months, and remained detained under other charges until his release on 18 April 2024. OHCHR is closely following the case of Mr. Bendjamaa and is in contact with relevant authorities.
- On 10 January 2024, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found the detention of Mr. Bendjamaa to be arbitrary (A/HRC/WGAD/2024/24, para 111, 116, 125). The decision included a reference from the source to a question by the judge on whether Mr. Bendjamaa had contacts with international organizations, to which he responded, among other things, that he was in contact with OHCHR (A/HRC/WGAD/2024/24, para 19).
- On 27 February 2025, mandate holders addressed the re-arrest of Mr. Bendjamaa on 30 December 2024 and expressed serious concerns about the national security related charges brought against him on 2 January 2025. These charges, reportedly based on Articles 79, 96 and 196 bis of the Algerian Penal Code, were allegedly linked to his social media publications on human rights, in retaliation for the complaint he had filled against the national gendarmerie for the acts of torture he was reportedly subjected to during his first police custody in February 2023 (DZA 1/2025). The Government responded to mandate holders, noting that Mr. Bendjamaa has been under judicial supervision since 2 January 2025 for allegedly disseminating false information and inciting unauthorized protests, and that the investigation is still ongoing.
- Followup Trends 0
- Deterioration/further reprisals
- Date of follow up 0
- 10 January 2024
- Did the government respond? 0
- Yes
- Was this case followed up by a UN body? 0
- UN Special Procedures: Thematic