SECRETARY-GENERAL PUBLISHES EMINENT PANEL'S REPORT ON ALGERIA
Press Release
SG/2047
SECRETARY-GENERAL PUBLISHES EMINENT PANEL'S REPORT ON ALGERIA
19980916 The following press communique on the report on Algeria by the Panel of Eminent Personalities was issued today by the Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General:On 29 June, the Secretary-General announced that he had established a Panel of Eminent Personalities to visit that country. The purpose of the mission was to gather information on the situation in Algeria and present a report to him which he would make public.
The Panel consisted of: Mr. Mario Soares, former President of Portugal (Chairman); Mr. I.K. Gujral, former Prime Minister of India; Mr. Abdel Karim Kabariti, former Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of Jordan; Mr. Donald McHenry, former Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations; Mrs. Simone Veil, former State Minister of France and former President of the European Parliament; and Mr. Amos Wako, Attorney-General of Kenya.
The Panel visited United Nations Headquarters on 8 July for meetings with the Secretary-General and for other consultations. It then met in Lisbon from 20 to 22 July where it planned its visit. It thereafter proceeded to Algeria where it stayed from 22 July to 4 august. Following its departure from Algeria, the Panel met in Lisbon on 5 and 6 August where it worked on its report. On Thursday, 10 September, the Panel submitted its report to the Secretary-General.
On Monday, 14 September, the Secretary-General met with the Permanent Representative of Algeria and handed over the report to the Algerian authorities.
As envisaged in the agreement with the Algerian authorities on the establishment of the Panel, the Secretary-General is today making the report public as a Department of Public Information (DPI) publication in English and in French. Copies are available.
A number of significant features may be noted about the Panel, the process, and the report being made public today.
-- The Panel is one of the most high-powered ever established in the history of the United Nations, consisting as it did of a former President, two former Prime Ministers, a former State Minister, a serving Attorney-General, and a former Permanent Representative to the United Nations, who spent two weeks visiting Algeria from north to south and east to west.
-- The Panel was the first international body to visit a prison and massacre sites in Algeria. In one instance, the Panel visited a massacre site within days and spoke to the victims.
-- The report provides an account by an international panel, based on a visit, of violence on the ground in a situation that has been the subject of a great deal of international attention.
-- The Panel categorically rejects terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. It underlines that there can be no excuse for terrorism. At the same time, it states that efforts to combat terrorism must take place within the framework of legality, proportionality and respect for fundamental human rights.
-- The Panel emphasizes the importance of democratic pluralism, legality and respect for the rule of law.
-- The Panel emphasizes that Algeria deserves the support of the international community in its fight against terrorism.
-- The Panel calls for further invigoration and strengthening of institutions responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights, as well as expeditious attention to complaints of arbitrary detention, extrajudicial execution and disappearances.
-- The Panel sees room to accelerate the pace of privatization of the Algerian economy.
-- The Panel urges the Algerian authorities to examine measures to improve the transparency of their decisions, the dialogue with, and the flow of information to the Algerian citizenry.
-- The Secretary-General is deeply grateful to the members of the Panel for agreeing to undertake this difficult and arduous task. He extends his appreciation to the Government and people of Algeria and he is also grateful to those who gave the Panel the benefit of their advice and assistance to facilitate its work.
* *** *