Accreditation by the ICC shall be granted only after an examination of the NHRI's respect for the "Paris Principles", which should determine the framework for their actions. After obtaining this accreditation in 2003, the National Consultative Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Human rights (CNCPPDH) requested the renewal of its accreditation, five years later, in January 2008, in line with regulations. The ICC's Sub-Committee on Accreditation informed the CNCPPDH in April 2008 of its intention to downgrade the organisation and subsequently dropped its status to "B" for non-compliance with the "Paris Principles". Having failed to follow up on the requests of the Sub-Committee, the CNCPPDH lost its accreditation.

This accreditation is of great significance for national human rights institutions because it allows them to act at various levels of the UN: they can participate in the sessions and work of the Council of Human Rights, address the Committee on all items on the agenda as an independent entity and interact with its various mechanisms. Accredited institutions may also submit written statements; disseminate literature bearing their UN-assigned seal and act with the conventional bodies and special procedures of the United Nations.

On 5 February Alkarama presented its observations on the nature and actions of the CNCPPDH to the Sub-Committee on Accreditation. It noted the dependence of the Commission on the executive, the lack of transparency in the appointment of its members and its lack of cooperation with UN bodies and independent human rights NGOs. Several of these comments were included in the note that the Sub-Committee for Accreditation submitted to the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions (ICC).

In its report, the ICC's Sub-Committee on Accreditation notes that "no clear and transparent process is required for the appointment and dismissal of the chairman and members of the CNCPPDH" and reiterated "the need for the CNCPPDH to interact effectively and independently with the UN's human rights system."

It must be remembered that the Algerian delegates to the United Nations have not missed any opportunity to decry the positions of United Nations bodies, particularly those of independent experts and special procedures. NGOs and human rights activists have not failed to note the active role played by Algeria in 2007 when some of the most repressive countries on the planet tried to impose a highly restrictive "code of conduct" that would have obstructed the independence of experts investigating violations.

Algeria, through its Permanent Representative to the UN, has shown particular verve in this pursuit.  In particular, it argued for the creation of an "ethics committee" to judge any UN experts who fail to comply with this code when visiting countries accused of violations. In the end, the final vote did not adopt the most stringent proposals suggested by the Algerian ambassador; in spite of this it still hindered the work of experts, which constitutes the core of UN mechanisms to protect human rights.

It is clear that, although it has ratified many international treaties, Algeria does not comply satisfactorily with any of these. Most egregiously, however, it does not take the international community's supervisory bodies seriously. There was a profusion of verbal blunders during the consideration of periodic reports on human rights and against torture by the Committees.

Mr Ksentini, president of the CNCPPDH, an institution which is supposed to cooperate with United Nations bodies as well as relay their findings and recommendations, described the observations of the Human Rights Committee as "fairy tales bordering on buffoonery" [1]. He added that the committee "had in the past taken up the cause of terrorism against Algeria." [2] He categorically refuses to allow visits by special rapporteurs on torture and extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

Even at the height of the violence suffered by the population in during 90's, with its grim procession of forced disappearances, summary executions and torture, Algerian diplomacy had managed to cripple efforts by the United Nations to initiate an independent international inquiry into the massacres and other serious violations of human rights committed by all the elements of the Algerian security apparatus.

Operating as it does under a state of emergency for the last 17 years, Algerian diplomacy has paid the price for its attitude. The comments of two committees of the United Nations in October 2007 and May 2008 recall that the sponsors of enforced disappearances and massacres have so far not been apprehended or punished.

Ultimately, the downgrading of the ITC by CNCPPDH is undoubtedly a serious setback which once again taints the credibility of Algeria in the field of human rights.

[1] Farouk Ksentini: There are no secret prisons in Algeria, by Djamel B., Le Quotidien d'Oran, 4 November 2007.
[2] idem.