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North Africa

Canary Islands | Western Sahara | Morocco | Algeria | Tunisia | Libya | Egypt 
 
Protesters at Amnesty's rally for the people of Egypt and the wider Middle East and North Africa region last Saturday © Reuben SteainsPopular uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya have raised hopes throughout the region of restoring human rights after many years of autocratic rule under emergency decrees. 
 
We are calling on the transitional authorities to ensure human rights are at the heart of all reforms, and that women are included in the process of change. As evidence of serious abuses is revealed, all sides are urged to protect the rights of citizens and ensure that detainees in their custody are not tortured or otherwise ill-treated. 

In Morocco harassment of human rights defenders and other civil society groups continues. Algeria continues to provide impunity to perpetrators of abuses committed during the troubles of the 1990s, including extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances.

ACTION UPDATE

Tunisia: No justice for Manal Boualagi
On 28 January the military court issued its verdict on the killing of Manal Boualagi and four others during the uprising in Central Tunisia. One of the defendants, Mourad Jouini, a commandant in the security forces, who had been detained during the trial, was sentenced to ten years in prison on the counts of murder and attempted murder. The other defendant, Bassem Akremi, a lieutenant in the security forces considered a fugitive by the court, was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison. Chadia, Manal Boualagi's mother, expressed to Amnesty her disappointment at the sentence. One of the lawyers for the families has said that they plan to appeal the court verdict, but this is not confirmed yet.  Thank you to everyone who took action.

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