Ahmed Manseri
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2024-013-001
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2024
- From Country
- Country Geolocation
Latitude: 28.033886
Longitude: 1.659626
- Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
- Algeria
- From Region
- UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report
- UN Special Procedures: Thematic
- Dates of prior UN action
- 30 October 2023
- 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
Mr. Manseri is the head of the Tiaret section of the now dissolved Ligue Algérienne pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme (LADDH) and a member of the Syndicat national autonome du personnel de l’administration publique (SNAPAP).
- 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
On 17 September 2023, Mr. Manseri met with the Special Rapporteur and the following days shared information about the meeting and the visit on his Facebook account and on a TV channel
- Engagement with UN body
- UN Special Procedures: thematic
- Dates of engagement
- 17 September 2023
- Type of attempted engagement
- Meeting with UN officials during country visit / with locally present UN officials
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- 8 October 2023, 11 October 2023,
- Location of mentioned reprisals
- Algeria
- Reprisal information
On 8 October 2023, Mr. Manseri was detained and questioned about his meeting with the Special Rapporteur. On 11 October 2023, the public prosecutor charged him with “publication of information prejudicial to national unity” under Article 97 of the Penal Code and “membership of a terrorist group” under Article 87 bis of the Penal Code, in connection with his contacts with international organisations or organisations likely to prejudice national security. On the same day, he was remanded into custody (DZA 5/2023). 16. On 2 December 2023, during her official visit to Algeria, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders met with Mr. Manseri in prison. She noted that she had received information that a picture of him meeting the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Association and Peaceful Assembly had been included in his case file and expressed concern that such a meeting could be used to build a terrorism case against a human rights defender.7
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Charge/Investigation/Prosecution: Charge/Investigation/Prosecution - General
- Charge/Investigation/Prosecution: Conviction
- Charge/Investigation/Prosecution: Trial
- Detention/Imprisonment: Detention/Imprisonment - General
- 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
According to information received by OHCHR, on 17 January 2024, Mr. Manseri appealed the Court decision. The appeal hearing was scheduled for 27 March but was postponed to 15 June 2024.
- Government response dates
- 28 January 2024; 17 July 2024
- Government response content
On 28 January 2024, the Government responded8 to mandate holders noting that security services had detected social media activity by Mr. Manseri with links to a terrorist organisation. The Government informed that the facts had been reclassified under articles 79, 100 and 196 bis (par. 1) of the Penal Code regarding national integrity, security, and public order. The Government further informed that on 14 January 2024, Mr. Manseri had been released after a criminal court found him guilty of the charges and sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment, including three months’ suspended sentence, and a fine of 50,000 Algerian dinars.
17 July 2024: The Government also clarified that the trial of Mr. Manesri Mohamed was ongoing before the criminal chamber of the Tiaret Court of Justice and that the hearing had been postponed until 10 July 2024.
- 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
- According to information received by OHCHR, during the reporting period Mr. Manseri left the country in June 2024 due to fear for his safety, was granted refugee status on 25 October 2024, and his trial is ongoing.
- Followup Trends 0
- Deterioration/further reprisals
- Date of follow up 0
- October 2023
- Did the government respond? 0
- Yes
- Was this case followed up by a UN body? 0
- UN Special Procedures: UN Special Procedures - General