Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The Human Rights Committee and Military Trials of Civilians: Madani v Algeria

2008; Oxford University Press; Volume: 8; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1093/hrlr/ngm047

1744-1021

Sardar Ali Shah,

International Law and Human Rights

The issue of military trials of civilians arose before the Human Rights Committee in the case of Madani v Algeria (1172/03). 1 This note will examine the decision and its substantial contribution to the Committee's jurisprudence on the right to a fair trial as set out in Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966 (ICCPR). The note begins with a brief outline of the complaints made and an analysis of the Committee's decision, before moving on to consider the Committee's approach to the trial of civilians by military courts. The victim, Abassi Madani, was the leader of an opposition political party, Front Islamique du Salut (‘Islamic Salvation Front’), approved by the government following the introduction of political pluralism in Algeria in 1989. In 1991, the Algerian government introduced a new electoral law which met universal condemnation from all political parties within the State. In protest, the Islamic Salvation Front organised a general strike accompanied by demonstrations 2 which resulted in an agreement that the electoral law would be reviewed in the near future. Despite this agreement, on 30 June 1991, Madani was arrested at his party headquarters and two days later brought before an investigating judge of the Blida military court accused of ‘jeopardizing State security and the smooth operation of the national economy’ in relation to his participation in the organisation of the general strike and other demonstrations. 3 The Islamic Salvation Front won the first round of general elections in December 1991, but in January 1992 the President of the Republic resigned and a state of emergency was declared. The Islamic Salvation Front was banned. On 15 July 1992, Madani was sentenced in absentia to 12 years’ ‘rigorous imprisonment’ by the Blida military court. 4 A subsequent appeal for judicial review of the decision was rejected.