The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, together with the signatory organisations, condemn the arbitrary expulsion from the national territory imposed on Nassera Dutour on 30 July 2025. This illegal and abusive measure constitutes a serious violation of international human rights standards and Algeria’s obligations regarding the right of citizens to enter and move freely within the national territory.
Paris, 6 August 2025. In response to an egregious violation of the fundamental rights of an Algerian citizen committed to truth and justice, we as members of the Solidarity with Algeria Collective, with the support of international organizations, denounce Algeria’s continued slide into authoritarianism and declare the following:
Nassera Dutour, President of the Collective of the Families of the Disappeared in Algeria (CFDA) and mother of a disappeared person, was forcibly and arbitrarily deported upon her arrival at Algiers airport. She was only provided with an incomplete report as an explanation of the legal basis of her expulsion. The report did not mention any reason for her deportation, nor did it identify the responsible officer. It was issued without an authorized signature, in clear violation of the applicable procedures.
On 30 July 2025, upon her arrival at Houari Boumediene Airport in Algiers, Nassera Dutour, (born Yous), was detained for three hours by border police, without any justification being given despite her repeated requests. She was then forcibly boarded onto Air France flight AF1455 bound for Paris; it was only after she was boarded on the plane that she was given the aforementioned report.
Nassera Dutour, an Algerian citizen, was forcibly exiled from her own country, constituting a serious affront to her dignity that blatantly violates her fundamental rights, including the guarantees provided under Article 49 of the Algerian Constitution, as well as Law No. 08-11 of 25 June 2008 on the conditions of entry, stay, and movement of foreign persons—a law that cannot legally be applied to an Algerian citizen. Dutour’s deportation also violates Article 13 (paragraph 2) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that ‘everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country,’ Article 12, paragraph 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which affirms that ‘no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country,’ and Article 12 (paragraph 2) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which also states that ‘every individual shall have the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.’
We as members of the Solidarity with Algeria Collective, together with the undersigned international organizations, condemn the deportation of Nassera Dutour, which constitutes an arbitrary act that is both unjustified and unlawful. Dutour’s expulsion from Algeria flagrantly violates the fundamental rights guaranteed to every Algerian citizen by the Constitution. It constitutes further authoritarian entrenchment in Algeria, wherein the most basic civil rights are openly trampled upon amid a resounding repudiation of Algeria’s constitutional commitments and the international conventions it has ratified.
By violating its own Constitution, the Algerian state has paved the pathway for impunity while breaking the bonds of trust between citizens and the authorities, and between civil society and a state that should guarantee fundamental and inalienable rights to all.
Therefore, we, the undersigned, members of Algerian and international civil society and the Solidarity with Algeria Collective:
– Express our full and unwavering solidarity with Nassera Dutour. We fully support the restoration of her right to move freely and to return to her homeland Algeria.
– Condemn the authoritarian governing that deprives an Algerian citizen of her right to free movement, in disregard of applicable laws and international conventions, thereby opening the door to further violations and abuses.
– Finally, we commit to fighting – by all legal and peaceful means – against violations of Algerian citizens’ rights; including the right to return freely to their country, to express themselves without restriction, and to fully enjoy their citizenship—without fear of expulsion, exile, or arbitrary imprisonment.
