At the heart of this action is the violation of Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees the right to a nationality and prohibits any arbitrary deprivation of it. A complaint which, according to its author, is neither a symbolic gesture nor a simple act of media denunciation, but a solidly substantiated legal file.
A damning legal case against Algiers
The complaint filed in Geneva is based on a set of supporting evidence: official administrative documents, judicial records established in France, audio and video recordings, as well as formal correspondence addressed to the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Hicham Aboud states that he has exhausted all consular and diplomatic remedies, which were systematically blocked, both for him and for the members of his family.
These repeated administrative obstacles, the file specifies, cannot be separated from a deliberate political will aimed at depriving him of his fundamental civic rights.
A disguised deprivation of nationality
According to the material submitted to the Human Rights Council, the persistent refusal of the Algerian authorities to renew his children’s passports, the impossibility of obtaining basic consular documents such as certificates of single status and marriage registrations, as well as the refusal to issue a passport to a baby girl only four months old, amount to a de facto deprivation of nationality, carried out without any judicial decision or formal administrative act.
These practices, the complaint stresses, violate not only the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but also several provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in particular those relating to freedom of movement, the protection of family life and the prohibition of arbitrary interference by the State.
Cross border political repression
A political refugee since 1997, Hicham Aboud places these violations in a broader context of systematic repression of Algerian opponents abroad. He recalls having been subjected to repeated legal proceedings because of his political positions and his critical writings.
In 2022, his name was placed on a so called “terrorist list” published in the Algerian Official Gazette, without legal basis or judicial decision. All international legal actions launched against him, including red notices and extradition requests, were rejected by Interpol and by European courts, according to the complainant.
Threats, kidnappings and assassination attempts
The complaint goes far beyond the administrative framework. It reports direct threats to Hicham Aboud’s life, including an attempted assassination in Belgium, an attempted kidnapping in France, and a confirmed abduction in Barcelona in October 2024. Facts which, according to him, are documented by security and judicial files held by several European states, pointing to the alleged involvement of Algerian security services.
A call for urgent action by the United Nations
In view of the seriousness of the facts presented, the complainant is requesting the immediate intervention of the relevant United Nations special rapporteurs on the right to nationality, the protection of human rights defenders and the fight against arbitrary detention. He is also calling for the sending of an urgent official communication to the Algerian authorities, so that they put an end to these violations and fully restore all of his rights, as well as those of his family.
This complaint once again places the Algerian regime under international scrutiny and highlights the instrumentalization of state institutions for political reprisals. It illustrates how arbitrary practices are exercised not only against opponents, but also against their families, including children, at the cost of a profound deterioration of Algeria’s image on the international stage, in total contradiction with the official discourse on sovereignty and national dignity.
Editorial team/le7tv