UN Experts Condemn Jail Sentence Against Algerian Journalist

Part of the demonstrations calling for the release of Algerian journalist Khaled Drareni (AFP)
Part of the demonstrations calling for the release of Algerian journalist Khaled Drareni (AFP)
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UN Experts Condemn Jail Sentence Against Algerian Journalist

Part of the demonstrations calling for the release of Algerian journalist Khaled Drareni (AFP)
Part of the demonstrations calling for the release of Algerian journalist Khaled Drareni (AFP)

International human rights experts and Algerian organizations have called for releasing journalist Khaled Drareni who received a two-year prison term at his appeal hearing on Tuesday.

The Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council published a report on Wednesday citing statements by independent experts demanding Algerian authorities to reverse the sentence against the correspondent at media watchdog Reporters without Borders (RSF).

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms this two-year prison sentence imposed on a journalist who was simply doing his job and call on the Algerian authorities to reverse it and set Drareni free,” the experts said.

They stressed that Drareni has become “a symbol of press freedom in the North African country.”

Drerano, 40, an editor at the Casbah Tribune news site and correspondent for French-language channel TV5 Monde, had been sentenced in August to three years in prison for covering coverage Algeria's anti-government protests.

The journalist was arrested on March 29 on charges of “inciting an unarmed gathering” and “endangering national unity” after covering demonstrations by the “Hirak” protest movement.

Although the reduced two-year sentence was confirmed on Sep.15, experts stressed that “it is still grossly inappropriate because the charges brought against him are a blatant violation of freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and of association.”

He had earlier been summoned by the country’s security apparatus, which warned him over posts published on his official Twitter account, in which he defended the Hirak’s demand for regime change.

They also rejected the opposition statements published on his Facebook account, as well as the reports submitted to the RSF on “harassment” of journalists and the shutdown of news websites due to their anti-regime rhetoric.

The eight signatories included that of Clement Nyaletsossi Voule, Special Rapporteur on the rights to peaceful assembly and of association Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of freedom of opinion and expression Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, along with members of the UN working group on arbitrary detention Leigh Toomey (Chair-Rapporteur), Elina Steinerte (Vice-Chair), Jose Guevara Bermúdez, Seong-Phil Hong and Setondji Adjovi.

They said they were alarmed that the Algerian authorities have been increasingly using national security laws to prosecute people who are exercising their rights.

“Drareni and all the others currently in prison or awaiting trial simply for doing their job and defending human rights must be immediately released and protected,” they stressed.



Food Piles Up at Gaza Crossing as Aid Agencies Say Unable to Work

Humanitarian aid for Gaza has piled up at a crucial border crossing - AFP
Humanitarian aid for Gaza has piled up at a crucial border crossing - AFP
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Food Piles Up at Gaza Crossing as Aid Agencies Say Unable to Work

Humanitarian aid for Gaza has piled up at a crucial border crossing - AFP
Humanitarian aid for Gaza has piled up at a crucial border crossing - AFP

Days after Israel announced a daily pause in fighting on a key route to allow more aid into Gaza, chaos in the besieged Palestinian territory has left vital supplies piled up and undistributed in the searing summer heat, AFP reported.

More than eight months of war, sparked by Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, have led to dire humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip and repeated UN warnings of famine.

Desperation among Gaza's 2.4 million population has increased as fighting rages, sparking warnings from agencies that they are unable to deliver aid.

Israel says it has let supplies in and called on agencies to step up deliveries.

"The breakdown of public order and safety is increasingly endangering humanitarian workers and operations in Gaza," the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, said in a briefing late Friday.

"Alongside the fighting, criminal activities and the risk of theft and robbery has effectively prevented humanitarian access to critical locations."

But Israel says it has allowed hundreds of trucks of aid into southern Gaza, trading blame with the United Nations over why the aid is stacking up.

It shared aerial footage of containers lined up on the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom crossing and more trucks arriving to add to the stockpile.

With civil order breaking down in Gaza, the UN says it has been unable to pick up any supplies from Kerem Shalom since Tuesday, leaving crucial aid in limbo.

A deputy UN spokesman this week said the crossing "is operating with limited functionality, including because of fighting in the area".

William Schomburg, International Committee of the Red Cross chief in Rafah, said arranging lorries from the Egyptian side in particular was complicated.

"It's not just a question of civil order, but also the fact that you often have to cross battlefields," he said in an online briefing, adding that the area near Kerem Shalom had been hostile.

"There were even rockets fired nearby. So this whole area is particularly complicated to navigate for reasons linked to the hostilities and for reasons linked to general security."

Israel's coordinator for civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories, known as COGAT, said Thursday "the content of 1,200 aid trucks awaits collection by UN aid agencies", saying a lack of distribution was responsible.

Earlier in the week, COGAT spokesman Shimon Freedman told reporters at the crossing the daily pause on a southern road into Gaza was designed to allow the UN "to collect and distribute more aid" alongside an Israeli military presence.

He said most of the aid had not moved because "organizations have not taken sufficient steps to improve their distribution capacity".

Aid agencies have instead pointed to Israel's offensive on the southern city of Rafah, which pushed out more than a million people and closed a border crossing with Egypt, as a deepening humanitarian crisis hampered relief efforts.

Schomburg described Rafah City as a "ghost town".

"It is a ghost town in the sense that you see very few people, high levels of destruction, and really just another symbol of the unfolding tragedy that has become Gaza over the last nine months," he said.

The UN food agency has said its aid convoys have been looted inside Gaza by "desperate people".

As both sides stall, it is the civilians in Gaza who are paying the price.

"We don't see any aid. Everything we get to eat comes from our own money and it's all very expensive," said Umm Mohammad Zamlat, 66, from northern Gaza but now living in Khan Yunis in the south.

"Even agencies specialized in aid deliveries are not able to provide anything to us," she added.