Medical presents the draft law on the prevention of human trafficking before the Algerian Legal Affairs Committee – Al-Hiwar

Today, Tuesday, the Minister of Justice, Keeper of the Seals, Abdel Rachid Tabbi, presented in Algiers, before the Committee on Legal and Administrative Affairs and Freedoms of the National People’s Assembly, the draft law related to the prevention and combating of human trafficking.

By the way, Tabib explained that the preparation of this project aims to “confront this extraneous phenomenon in our society and in view of its negative effects, especially on women and children,” noting that “its transformation into a cross-border crime prompted the international community to demand the enactment of its own legislation.” This project is for “adapting our country to international obligations and compiling all forms of this criminality in one legal text.”

The draft proposes the obligation of the state to protect victims of human trafficking crimes and strengthens institutional and international cooperation in the field of prevention. It also stipulates the intervention of local groups and public institutions in the prevention of this crime through the development of a national strategy to implement it with the involvement of civil society.

The project confirms – adds the minister – the tasks of the National Committee for the Prevention of Human Trafficking, which was established in 2016, especially its preparation of a draft national strategy and the adoption of vigilance mechanisms and early detection of various forms of the crime of trafficking in persons.

In view of the nature of the victims of human trafficking, who are mostly women and children and those in a vulnerable situation, the project decides on measures aimed at accompanying and caring for them and allocating them places to receive them.

The text also proposes procedures to facilitate the return of Algerian victims to the homeland, and to facilitate the return of foreign victims to their countries of origin while facilitating their recourse to the judiciary and the establishment of a fund to assist and sponsor them.

The draft also provides for the obligation of service providers and any other person to hand over any information relevant to the investigation of human trafficking crimes, and the possibility of ordering the immediate withdrawal or storage of all content that they allow to view or make it impossible to access it.

The project introduces the electronic leakage procedure as a special procedure for investigation and investigation, through which a judicial police officer, with a judicial permission, can access every information system or any other electronic communication system aimed at monitoring suspects.

The project also allows for inspections to be conducted at any hour of the day and grants associations and bodies active in the field of human rights protection the right to file a complaint with the courts and to establish themselves as a civil party.

The text of the draft law for this phenomenon stipulates penalties that may reach life imprisonment in the event that the victim is subjected to torture, sexual violence or permanent disability. The penalty is also increased if the crime is committed within the framework of an organized group or when it is of a transnational nature.

The draft criminalizes the disclosure of information leading to revealing the identity of the victim, witnesses, whistleblowers, and criminalizes all forms of threats or retaliation against them, including experts, subjecting perpetrators of crimes after exhausting their sentences to electronic monitoring and preventing them from residing in Algeria for a period of up to 10 years.

The draft includes provisions related to international cooperation, especially in the framework of judicial procedures, the extradition of criminals and the recovery of criminal proceeds, while stipulating observance of the principle of “reciprocity”, and the exception of requests for judicial cooperation that would prejudice national sovereignty or public order.