A Law Against Dissent: How Algeria’s Amended Nationality Law Criminalizes Opposition

🗓️ Published on: 24/12/2025

Today, the Algerian Parliament approved an amended and supplementary law to the Algerian Nationality Code. Regardless of the final wording, which will only become clear once the text is published in the Official Gazette, the information currently available points to a deeply troubling direction: the transformation of nationality from an inherent and inalienable right into a punitive tool used to silence dissent—particularly dissent expressed from abroad.

The amendment to the Algerian nationality law comes at a time of heightened political and security tension. It raises serious concerns about the expansion of state powers to revoke nationality and the conversion of a permanent legal bond into an instrument for punishing opinion and political opposition. COSYFOP considers that this trajectory runs counter to international human rights standards and poses a direct threat to Algerians both inside and outside the country, especially those who engage with United Nations mechanisms, Special Rapporteurs, and the International Labour Organization.

A Direct Violation of the Core Right to Nationality

Nationality is not a privilege granted by the authorities and withdrawn at will. It is a fundamental human right, explicitly enshrined in Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states: “Everyone has the right to a nationality, and no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality.”

As presented in both official and informal discussions, the proposed amendments open the door to nationality revocation based on vague and indeterminate concepts such as “harm to state interests,” “undermining national unity,” or “loyalty to foreign entities.” These notions lack legal precision and have long been used by the Algerian authorities to criminalize peaceful political, trade union, and human rights activities.

Reproducing a Transnational Logic of Repression Through Vague Legal Provisions

Algeria’s experience with ambiguous and broadly framed laws is well documented. For years, imprecise provisions of the Criminal Code—most notably the former Article 87 bis—were used to repress domestic activists and criminalize political and trade union action under the pretexts of “terrorism,” “subversion,” or “threats to state security.”

Today, this same logic is being extended into a new domain: nationality. Having failed to fully subdue dissent within the country, and faced with the refusal of democratic judicial systems to extradite Algerian political opponents, the authorities are now turning to a more dangerous weapon: stripping nationality from abroad, in an attempt to punish dissent where traditional mechanisms of repression have failed.

Criminalizing Engagement with UN Mechanisms: An Extreme Government Approach

The most alarming aspect of this law is not nationality revocation in itself, but the political objective underlying it. In several cases brought before Algerian courts, communication with United Nations mechanisms—including Special Rapporteurs, treaty bodies, and the Committee on Freedom of Association of the International Labour Organization—has been characterized as a “subversive act” harmful to state interests.

This approach constitutes a clear violation of Algeria’s international obligations and reveals a deliberate strategy to criminalize international complaints, intimidate human rights defenders and trade unionists, and obstruct effective UN oversight. In particular, it seeks to undermine complaints before bodies such as the ILO by challenging the complainant’s Algerian nationality itself.

In this context, revocation of nationality becomes a means to hollow out international complaints: stripping the complainant of citizenship, contesting their legal standing, and ultimately closing the case at the international level.

A Law Targeting Algerian Diaspora Activists

It cannot be ignored that this law is primarily aimed at Algerians living abroad. The authorities are fully aware that European courts consistently refuse to extradite political opponents, that asylum decisions and judicial rulings document the political nature of prosecutions, and that repeated diplomatic efforts to secure the return of dissidents have failed.

As a result, the government is now pursuing an alternative strategy: severing the bond of nationality itself. This unprecedented move undermines the principle of non-deprivation of original nationality and opens the door to statelessness, legal insecurity, and political blackmail.

COSYFOP’s Position and Next Steps

In light of the above, COSYFOP (Trade Union Confederation of Productive Forces) considers the amended Nationality Law to constitute a serious violation of international human rights standards, a direct threat to human rights defenders and trade unionists, and a new instrument to suppress free Algerian voices both at home and abroad.

Accordingly, COSYFOP announces the following actions:

1. To await the official publication of the law in the Official Gazette in order to conduct a precise and comprehensive legal analysis of its final provisions.
2. To submit formal complaints, in cooperation with international human rights organizations, to the competent bodies of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
3. To formally alert the Committee of Experts and the Committee on Freedom of Association of the International Labour Organization to the dangers posed by this law, particularly its role in criminalizing engagement with international oversight mechanisms.
4. To call for international precautionary measures to protect Algerian individuals who cooperate with the United Nations and the International Labour Organization, and to affirm that such engagement cannot be construed as harming national interests, threatening state security, or constituting subversive acts—thereby ensuring full protection of their right to original nationality.
5. To hold the Algerian authorities fully accountable for any retaliatory use of this law against human rights defenders, trade unionists, and peaceful political opponents.

Nationality Is Not a Disciplinary Tool

Nationality is neither a disciplinary instrument, nor a political bargaining chip, nor a sword hanging over the heads of dissidents. Any law that transforms citizenship into a tool of repression is devoid of human rights legitimacy, regardless of the technical legal language behind which it seeks to conceal its intent.

Raouf Mellal, President of the organization, states:

“The Trade Union Confederation of Productive Forces will continue, by all lawful and legitimate human rights means, to expose this dangerous drift and to defend Algerians’ right to their nationality, their dignity, and their freedom to engage with international mechanisms without fear, retaliation, or intimidation.”

Intervention by the President of the organization, Raouf Mellal, on North Africa Channel.