Media advisories Special Procedures

UN expert on human rights defenders to visit Algeria

24 November 2023

GENEVA (24 November 2023) – The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, will conduct an official visit to Algeria from 26 November to 5 December 2023.

The Special Rapporteur will meet with government authorities, the National Human Rights Council, members of civil society organisations, human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists and other media workers, academia and other relevant stakeholders. The Special Rapporteur will also hold meetings with the UN country team and the diplomatic corps.

During her visit, Lawlor will assess the environment for the defence of human rights in the country and consider how civil society organisations and individuals are able to carry out their human rights work. She will hear from human rights defenders about any challenges they face in their day-to-day work and make recommendations to the Government as to how some of these challenges may be reduced.

In additions to meetings in Algiers, the expert will travel to Tizi Ouzou and Oran to meet government officials, human rights defenders, and other stakeholders. The visit is taking place at the invitation of the Government.

The Special Rapporteur will hold a press conference on Tuesday 5 December at 09:30 local time. Access will be limited to journalists.

The expert will present her report to the Human Rights Council in March 2025.

The expert: Ms. Mary Lawlor (Ireland) is the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders. She is currently an Adjunct Professor of Business and Human Rights in Trinity College Dublin. She was the founder of Front Line Defenders - the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders. As Executive Director from 2001-2016, she represented Front Line Defenders and had a key role in its development. Ms. Lawlor was previously Director of the Irish Office of Amnesty International from 1988 to 2000, after becoming a member of the Board of Directors 1975 and being elected its President from 1983 to 1987.

The UN Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent of any government or organisation and serve in their individual capacity.

UN Human Rights, Country Page - Algeria

For further information and media requests, please contact: Sophie Helle (+41 22 917 56 69 or Sophie.helle@un.org.)

For media enquiries regarding other UN independent experts, please contact Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org).

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UN expert on human rights defenders to visit Algeria

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