Critiques question Western NGOs’ lack of support for jailed French-Algerian writer

LONDON - The silence of advocacy groups and Western-based human rights organisations over the upholding by an Algerian court on July 1 of a five-year prison sentence being served by French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal  has raised many questions over their “impartiality” in defending freedom of expression.

Sansal, 80, had been living in France but was detained while visiting Algeria in November and sentenced in March after making statements to a French media outlet in which he endorsed Morocco's position that part of its territory was seized under French colonialism and annexed to Algeria.

Sansal denied the charges. He said his statements were made within the framework of freedom of expression and that he had no intention of offending Algeria.

The North African country has cracked down on dissent, imprisoning journalists, activists, and opposition figures, including Hirak protesters. NGOs, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, did not issue any official statement condemning Sansal’s imprisonment, unlike other cases in North Africa where they have been very vocal and supportive of jailed journalists and activists.

In December 2024, Amnesty International's French-language account stressed on X that it had not yet been able to "independently verify" the information on the arrest of the Franco-Algerian writer, which it therefore refused to officially condemn.

“Would it be easier to get information in Gaza, in the midst of a war between Israel and Hamas than in Algeria?” asked Le Figaro in its article published last December.

Critiques argue that this striking comparison in fact finding highlights the policy of “double standard” of the London-based NGO in dealing with cases while it was clear that Sansal was jailed for his comments about the history of Algeria’s borders.

The Algeria media TSA wrote on November 27  that "at the beginning of last October, the writer (Sansal) made very serious comments on Algeria, its history and its borders in the French media Frontières. He notably maintained that the current borders of the country were drawn by French colonialism which, according to him, gave Algeria the whole of 'the eastern part of Morocco'."

The same critiques stress that Sansal’s pro-Israel and pro-Morocco stance and criticism of Islamism seems not to be fitting some Western-based NGOs’ agenda or geopolitical interests, while others suggest that Algeria’s petrodollars are one of the key factors behind their silence.

The French Foreign ministry said that "France regrets the appeal court's decision to impose a prison sentence on our compatriot Boualem Sansal, which maintains the sentence handed down by the lower court."

Paris urged the Algerian authorities to show clemency and find a swift, humanitarian and dignified solution to the situation of our compatriot, taking into account his state of health and humanitarian considerations. But Algeria was oblivious to France’s call.

Ties between Paris and Algiers have worsened since France recognised Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara.