Human rights organizations urge Butaflika to re-try a political activist

The spokesman for the Arab committee for human rights, Haitham Manaa, has warned against the deterioration of the health conditions of the Algerian activist in the area of human rights, Salah Seidhum.

In a statement to the Qatari TV al-Jazeera yesterday, Manaa said that Seidhum situation is very drastic and that several Arab and international legal organization urged the Algerian President Abdul Aziz Butaflika to retry him and transport him from prison, especially as the trial according to which he was convicted and given sentence of 20 year imprisonment and a fine of 8,000 dollars was not judicial.

Worthy mentioning that Seidhum had a remarkable role in disclosing what is called "camps of liquidation" in Algeria. In a report issued in February, Amnesty International said that Algeria began steps to improve human rights. However, the report also indicated the absence of what it called the absence of the political feedom and the vast spread of torture operations at the detention centers.

Moreover, member of the organization Rojer Clark who visited Algeria 8 months ago criticized continued bad treatment at detention centers as well as not responding to a request to hold meetings with military officials. He said that the authorities are in need of serious steps to establish a state of law, and provide transparency on all related issues.