WEA-RLC Research and Analysis Report

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*Spurt in Christian Persecution in Algeria Needs Attention*

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May 30, 2011
Three months after Algeria officially lifted its 19-year-old state of emergency
following public protests inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, President
Abdelaziz Bouteflika has made it clear his regime will continue to impose
restrictions. Last week, authorities in eastern B ƒ ©ja ƒ ¯a Province ordered closure
of all seven Protestant churches. And three days later, a court sentenced a
Christian man to five years in prison and a fine of   200,000 Algerian Dinars (US$2,280)
in western Oran Province.

Mustapha Krim, the president of Eglise Protestante d ¢â‚¬â„¢Alg ƒ ©rie or EPA (the
Protestant Church in Algeria) was served a notice sent by the police on the
instruction of the administrative head of B ƒ ©ja ƒ ¯a Province on May 22. The
communiqu ƒ ©  ¢â‚¬“ a copy of which WEA-RLC has obtained  ¢â‚¬“ stated that all places of
non-Muslim worship that have not been authorised by the government will be
permanently closed. Its language suggests that the government intends to close
 ¢â‚¬Å“unauthorised ¢â‚¬  places of worship  ¢â‚¬Å“throughout the national territory ¢â‚¬  under a
2006 law.
On May 25, a criminal court in Oran ¢â‚¬â„¢s Djamel District convicted an Algerian
Christian, Siagh Krimo, for sharing his faith with and giving a Christian CD to
his Muslim neighbour. Krimo, who was arrested on April 14 and is currently on
bail, was given a harsh sentence despite the prosecutor ¢â‚¬â„¢s failure to produce a
witness or any evidence. A local Christian leader told WEA-RLC that he suspected
pressure from high officials for Krimo ¢â‚¬â„¢s conviction. Krimo has time until the
end of this week to challenge his conviction.
In April, another Protestant church, in Makouda area in northern Tizi Ouzou
Province, was served a similar notice under the 2006 law, but the authorities
had not taken any action until the writing of this report.
Close to 99 percent of the 35.7 million people in Algeria are Muslim,
predominantly Sunni. It is estimated that there are around 50,000 Protestants
and roughly 45,000 Catholics.
According to the 2006 law  ¢â‚¬“ known as  ¢â‚¬Å“Ordinance 06-03 ¢â‚¬  and implemented in 2008  ¢â‚¬“
any religious activity not regulated by the state is a crime. The law requires
non-Muslim faiths to be practised only in state-approved places, and created a
national commission on religious faiths, empowered to regulate the registration
of religious associations.
The EPA, which has several churches under it, is registered with the government.
But the government apparently still requires all places of worship to be
 ¢â‚¬Å“approved ¢â‚¬  by the authorities under the vaguely worded law. It is also unclear
whether subordinate bodies under a registered religious organisation are also
deemed as illegal.
In a report in August 2010, Amnesty International noted,  ¢â‚¬Å“…Since the
promulgation of Ordinance 06-03, the authorities have consistently refused to
register Protestant churches, forcing Protestant communities in Algeria, wishing
to exercise their legitimate right to manifest their religion or belief, to
worship in places not approved by the state, thereby risking prosecution under
the law. ¢â‚¬  To delay registration of non-Muslim organisations, the government
typically uses the excuse that an amendment to the 1973 law on associations is
pending.
The constitution of Algeria protects religious freedom of non-Muslims. But it
also states that Islam is the state religion and prohibits institutions from
engaging in behaviour incompatible with Islamic morality  ¢â‚¬“ which paved the way
for the state to ban evangelistic efforts with Muslims.
The three incidents  ¢â‚¬“ the two separate orders for the closure of churches in the
provinces of B ƒ ©ja ƒ ¯a and Tizi Ouzou, and the conviction of a man for evangelism
in Oran  ¢â‚¬“ are part of  ¢â‚¬Å“a campaign against the Christian faith, ¢â‚¬  a Christian
leader told WEA-RLC.
WEA-RLC suspects that the crackdown on Christians and their organisations is an
attempt to prevent the church from growing in the absence of restrictions that
were supposed to follow the lifting of the state of emergency on February 24,
2011. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika ¢â‚¬â„¢s regime had been restricting freedom of
speech and assembly for two decades in the name of combating an Islamist insurgency.
A civil war between the military government and Islamist groups caused over
200,000 deaths and the disappearance of more than 7,000 people  ¢â‚¬“ many of them
civilians  ¢â‚¬“ in the 1990s, rights groups say. The insurgency greatly diminished
soon but Bouteflika refused to lift emergency as imposing restrictions helped
him to remain in power since 1999.
It appears that President Bouteflika  ¢â‚¬“ who has not been very popular thanks to
corruption and neglect of people ¢â‚¬â„¢s needs by his government  ¢â‚¬“ wants to continue
to infuse fear among the people lest they cause an uprising against his rule,
the way people did in other countries in the region. Though a multi-party system
of democracy, the Algerian government has been authoritarian and given little
political and civil rights to its people in the garb of fighting Islamist extremism.
Although the state of emergency has been lifted, the government is not likely to
respect human rights. However, the United States, as an ally, is in a position
to help the people of Algeria have the rights they deserve.
The US-Algeria relations have improved tremendously following the September 11,
2001 attacks. Algeria has, since then, been supportive of the international war
against terrorism and allowed the official US presence to expand.
Will Washington ask Bouteflika to show improvement in the country ¢â‚¬â„¢s human rights
record? Or will the US be lenient towards the Algerian government to continue to
solicit cooperation in fighting anti-US Islamists in that country? Rights groups
should press for the former.

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World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) Religious Liberty Commission (RLC) sponsors
this WEA-RLC Research & Analysis Report to help individuals and groups pray for
and act on religious liberty issues around the world. WEA has a consultative
status with the UN Economic and Social Council.

This report was researched and written by Fernando Perez, and moderated by the
WEA-RLC Executive Director, Godfrey Yogaraja. It can be used for distribution or
publication with attribution to WEA-RLC.