Arrest and detention of Alkarama executive director, Dr Mourad Dhina

M. François Fillon

Prime Minister

Hôtel de Matignon
57, rue de Varenne
75700 Paris

FRANCE

Re: Arrest and detention of Alkarama executive director,Dr Mourad Dhina

Mr Prime Minister,

We, the undersigned international and national humanrights organizations, call on you not to extradite Dr Mourad Dhina, executivedirector of Alkarama – a Swiss foundation working on human rights in the Arabworld. French police arrested Dr Dhina on Monday 16 January 2012, at the request of the Algerian authorities.

In addition to being Alkarama’s executivedirector, Dr Dhina is also a founding member of Rachad, a peaceful political association that is legally registered in France andthat seeks democratic change in Algeria.

Dr Dhina had been attending a meeting of Rachadin Paris when police arrested him at Paris-Orly airport as he was about to flyback to Geneva, where he resides. Since then, French authorities have stated that theyare detaining Dr Dhina at the request of the Algerian authorities, who areseeking his extradition to Algeriafor prosecution on charges that he belonged to an armed terrorist group in Switzerlandin the 1990s.

On Tuesday 17 January, the President of theParis Court of Appeal confirmed Dr Dhina’s detention in view of his potentialextradition to Algeria, and that Algerian authorities would have 30 days to present the casefor his extradition.

Dr Dhina has played a key role in exposinghuman rights violations in the Arab world through his work at Alkarama. Inaddition, his political activities have been carried out in lawful exercise ofhis freedom of expression and association, as guaranteed under internationallaw. Dr Dhina had travelled freely to Franceon numerous past occasions. We therefore fear that the request by the Algerianauthorities may be motivated by a desire to muzzle him because of his politicalactivities with Rachad and his activities as a human rights defender withAlkarama.

We further fear that Dr Dhina would be at riskof torture and ill-treatment if he were sent back to Algeria,given the documented use of torture by the Algerian authorities – most recentlyreferred to by the Committee against Torture during its review of Algeriain 2008. This would be contrary to France’sobligations under articles 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights and theUnited Nations Convention against Torture. We also are concerned that Algeria’srecord of convicting suspects in manifestly unfair trials in cases involvingallegations of terrorism would put Dr Dhina at risk of a conviction and aprison term on the basis of a trial that falls far short of international normsfor a fair trial violating the prohibition of non-refoulement.

Given the key role France has played in theestablishment of an international system for the promotion and protection ofhuman rights, and the emphasis it places on the respect of human rightsdomestically, we hope that you will be able to assist us in protecting DrDhina’s rights by ensuring that he is not extradited. Furthermore, if there isno credible evidence that he has committed any crimes that are recognized assuch under international standards, we urge French authorities to release himimmediately. France must uphold its international obligations with respect to human rightsand avoid possible complicity in efforts by Algerian authorities to stifleopposition and human rights activities by Algerians in exile.

Yours sincerely,

ACAT-France

Algeria-Watch

Alkarama

Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies(CIHRS)

Centre Libanais pour les Droits de l’Homme (CLDH)

Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network(EUROMED)

International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

Front Line Defenders

International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)

Ligue des droits de l’Homme

World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)