Religious Freedom: U.S. Decries Algeria’s Continuing Harassment, Persecution and Violations

The United States has denounced the continuing violations of religious freedom in Algeria wherein non-Muslim minority groups and Shiites suffer unabated harassment, persecution and growing restrictions.
In its 2022 International Religious Freedom Report, the State Department says the Algerian authorities continued in 2022 to arrest, jail, and fine Christians on charges of proselytizing, citing in this regard several cases such as the case of Christian convert Slimane Bouhafs who was charged with a variety of offenses, including blasphemy and terrorism related crimes.
On December 16, a court in Algiers sentenced Bouhafs to three years in prison and a fine of $733 for “belonging to a terrorist organization,” alleging he was a member of the Self-Determination of Kabylie (MAK) group, which the government designated a terrorist organization in 2021.
Several human rights organizations reported Bouhafs had been forcibly returned from Tunisia in 2021 where he had refugee status. At year’s end, Bouhafs remained in prison and faced additional charges, including of committing offenses against the Prophet Muhammad.
In June, the Algeria government charged a group of Shiite Muslims with “participating in an unauthorized group” and “denigrating Islam”. A group member said authorities had been “intimidating and harassing” the group since April, interrogating them about their religious beliefs, and confiscating their passports, cell phones, and laptops.
In October, Ahmadi Muslim community leaders said several members of their group were charged with blasphemy, holding unauthorized gatherings, and illegal fundraising.
In March, a court sentenced the president of the Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA), Pastor Salaheddine Chalah, to 18 months in prison for proselytizing on social media, practicing non-Muslim religious rites without authorization, and “inciting an unarmed gathering,” the charge for unauthorized protests.
Several religious groups, including the Ahmadi Muslim community and the EPA, said the government had yet to accept their registration applications. Both groups have made several attempts to register since 2012.
Furthermore, Catholic, Anglican, and Methodist groups said the Algeria authorities did not respond to their requests for foreign religious workers’ visas, resulting in de facto visa refusals.
Some Christian leaders and congregants said non-Muslims faced social pressure for practicing a non-Muslim faith. Local media outlets criticize Ahmadi Islam and Shia Islam as “sects” or “deviations” from Islam or as “foreign” and demonstrate a bias against these groups.
The U.S. report voiced serious concern over the violations of religious freedom in Algeria, calling on the Algerian regime to accept registration applications of minority religious communities, reopen closed churches and release all those imprisoned for practicing their faith.
For these reasons, the State Department continues to place Algeria on its Special Watch List (SWL) on recommendation by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for ongoing repression of religious minorities.
The USCIRF says the Algerian government has systematically cracked down on the Evangelical Protestant community, in particular, through a string of church closures and raids, including two on the largest Protestant churches in the country.
The U.S. Independent and bipartisan body deplores the deteriorating religious freedom conditions in Algeria with the government increasingly enforcing blasphemy laws and restricting worship. These laws particularly impact religious minorities, such as Protestant Christians and Ahmadiyya Muslims.
The imprisonment of Algerians on charges of blasphemy and proselytization and the discriminatory implementation of legal provisions regulating worship constitute violations of the freedom of religion or belief as protected under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).