ALGIERS- The Mediator of the Republic Office and the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) inked on Tuesday in Algiers a framework agreement of cooperation, aiming at strengthening the means of cooperation between the two bodies.
The agreement was signed by Mediator of the Republic, Karim Younes and Chairman of the CNDH Bouzid Lazhari during a meeting on “the definition of proficiency rules for requests examination and the cooperation mechanism between the two bodies.”
Karim Younes said that the agreement is intended to be “an operational mechanism of cooperation between the two institutions, which will facilitate the right sorting out of requests made by citizens.”
In certain cases, there have been difficulties to define the competences able to handle the requests relating to rights or freedoms.”
Under this cooperation agreement, “a single window will be created in each province. A common commission to serve as a watch mechanism for the implementation of the agreement clauses will be formed as well.”
Chairman of the National Human Rights Council Bouzid Lazhari said that building a Rule-of-Law State is only possible by allowing the citizens to express themselves when they feel their rights and dignity are assaulted,”
The President of the Republic places human rights “at the center of his policy and his attention,” he said.
Lazhari said that in the single window, to be created as part of the cooperation mechanism, “the citizens’ complaints will be sorted out before their submission to one of the two institutions (the Mediator of the Republic Office or the National Human Rights Council).”
The cooperation between the two bodies in handling the citizens’ concerns has been imposed by “the difficult conditions the country is going through due to the political exploitation of the economic situation through maneuvers aimed at escalation in order to tarnish the country’s image,” he continued.
Noting that Algeria was the victim of a “conspiracy”, the head of the CNDH said “some people abroad are spreading lies (…) through a speech targeting young people in difficult socio-economic situations, in order to mobilize them against State institutions.”
On the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day, Lazhari said that “there is no absolute freedom,” referring to red lines like “public order, national defense, the reputation of individuals, health and morals”.
“Journalists and professionals, being public opinion makers, must enjoy total freedom in this context,” he said.
