Chairwoman Hautala addressed the Inter-Parliamentary Meeting of European Parliament and Algeria on 7th of October. The discussion concerned human rights situation in Algeria and EU and the EU-Algeria cooperation on the matter.[:]

In her intervention Chairwoman Hautala underlined that while the European Parliament makes calls for Algeria to improve its human rights situation, the Parliament similarly strives to ensure that human rights are respected within the European borders. The EU has taken concrete steps to improve human rights at home, for instance, by way of ensuring that human rights provisions in the Treaty of Lisbon are particularly strong and making steady headway towards joining the European Convention on Human Rights. Furthermore, the new Fundamental Rights Agency of the EU is now fully up and running.

While EU makes great efforts to improve its own human rights record, we expect our partners to do the same, Chairwoman stressed.

She expressed her dismay over the failure for the EU and Algeria to agree on a National Action Plan to improve human rights in Algeria. She stressed that such a plan is a commonplace element in EU’s cooperation with all our southern neighbours.

In particular, Chairwoman called for more efforts to strengthen the rights of women and to bring down of social and cultural barriers that women continue to face in Algeria. She furthermore stressed that guaranteeing the rights of detainees and ensuring appropriate legal safety guards in detention policy are vitally important in any country. In this context she welcomed the commitment of Algeria to implement the recommendations it received in the UN Universal Periodic Review to protect detainees from torture.

In her intervention Chairwoman underlined also the importance the Subcommittee attaches to the work of the UN Special Rapporteurs. Algerian delegation assured Ms Hautala that Algeria makes great effort to cooperate with the UN special procedures and is party to many UN Conventions relating to the work of the Special Rapporteurs. Chairwoman underlined in this regard that it is pressing that Algeria ratify the UN Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Disappearance.

The parliamentary delegation from Algeria underlined that while there is still need to protect human rights better in Algeria, the authorities’ commitment to human rights is strong.