JUDGE DEFERS DECISION IN HIGH-PROFILE RELIGIOUS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ALGIERS 000625

SIPDIS

STATE FOR DRL/IRF WARREN COFSKY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/28/2028
TAGS: PHUM KIRF KDEM PGOV AG
SUBJECT: JUDGE DEFERS DECISION IN HIGH-PROFILE RELIGIOUS
FREEDOM CASE

REF: ALGIERS 491

Classified By: DCM Thomas F. Daughton for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: On March 30 Habiba Kouider, an Algerian who
converted to Christianity approximately four years ago, was
charged in the western Algerian town of Tiaret with illegally
practicing a non-Muslim religion. On May 27 the Tiaret court
delayed giving a final verdict in the case, choosing instead
to refer it for additional investigation. Since the case
first appeared in the French media in mid-May, elements of
the Algerian press have remarked with growing alarm that it
represents a threat to Algeria's tradition of religious
freedom and tolerance. We have engaged the government at
several levels to underscore the damage Kouider's case is
doing to Algeria's image and the potential negative impact it
could have on our bilateral relationship. End Summary.

NEXT TIME TAKE THE TRAIN
--------------


2. (U) According to press reports, in late March Habiba
Kouider was traveling by bus from Oran toward Tiaret when
police questioned her and found Bibles and other religious
materials in her possession. She was charged in Tiaret with
illegally practicing a non-Muslim religion. (Note: The
proces-verbal charging Kouider does not specify the legal
provision under which she was charged. End note.) In a
hearing before a local judge on March 30, the Tiaret
prosecutor asked that Kouider receive three years in prison.
On May 27, a Tiaret judge deferred a final decision pending
additional investigation of the case. Khelloudja Khalfoun,
Kouider's lawyer, told the press after the decision that she
expected the investigation to take place within a week. A
verdict might be rendered once the investigation has been
completed.

THE PRESS REACTS
--------------


3. (U) Algerian French-language newspapers have reported the
story with growing intensity since it appeared in a Paris
newspaper on May 21. The May 27 edition of El Watan
described the case as part of a "crusade" against alleged
evangelical proselytizing. The Algerian state is now going
after religion, the paper wrote, having already gone after
independent unions, opposition parties and journalists. The
article concluded, "Whatever the verdict, Habiba K. is
already a symbol of courage and freedom." A May 27 editorial
in Liberte said Kouider was a not a victim of the Algerian
justice system but of "an atmosphere of lynching." It
asserted that the case has taken Algeria backwards and that
Islamist groups want to make an example of Kouider. Readers
were reminded that the international community is watching
the situation closely.


4. (C) Algeria's Arabic-language press has been largely
silent about the Kouider case -- in stark contrast to the
recent campaign in the Arabic press about alleged Christian
proselytizing in Algeria (reftel). The silence was broken
May 27 in El Khabar, which commented, "We have just gotten
rid of the image of terrorism and now we have the ugly
picture of clamping down on the freedom of worship." The
paper opined that statements by some government officials
have contributed to an image of an Algeria where "worshippers
of other religions are crucified and hunted down." El Khabar
concluded that "it is time for Algeria to make friends on the
international scene and send further signals that give
confidence to partners."

ENGAGING THE GOA: MFA
--------------


5. (C) In the lead-up to the May 27 hearing, Embassy engaged
the ministries of foreign affairs, religious affairs and
justice about the Kouider case. On May 25 the Ambassador
told MFA Director General for the Americas Fatiha Selmane

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that the Tiaret case was generating terrible publicity for
Algeria and damaging the country's reputation as a tolerant
society. He urged Selmane to tell the foreign minister
directly that the U.S. and European embassies were watching
the case closely, as were other observers including the U.S.
Congress. The best result, the Ambassador opined, would be
for the court to throw the case out and for the government to
find ways to reassure the Christian community in Algeria.
Selmane acknowledged that the case had generated bad
international reactions. Speaking personally, she said she
thought the Tiaret judge had gone well beyond the bounds and
she hoped the eventual court decision would not further
tarnish Algeria's image. She cautioned, however, that some
important elements within Algerian society felt strongly
about Christian evangelicals trying to convert Algerian
Muslims, and she warned that the case was very sensitive
politically.

THE RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS MINISTRY
--------------


6. (C) Ministry of Religious Affairs Director of Religious
Orientation Mohammed Aissa told PolEc Chief May 26 that his
knowledge of the case was limited to what he had read in
newspaper articles, but he added that his ministry was
concerned about the situation and agreed that the case was
not good for Algeria's image. PolEc Chief told him that as
the story gained traction in the Western media, it would have
a very negative effect on Algeria. He encouraged the
Algerian government to act to prevent the situation from
becoming a major irritant in its bilateral relationship with
the United States.

AND THE JUSTICE MINISTRY
--------------


7. (C) On May 26 DCM raised the Kouider case with Ministry of
Justice Director General for Judicial and Legal Affairs
Mohamed Amara. Amara admitted that he had not seen the
specific elements of the case, but cautioned that the judge
was completely independent and the justice ministry was
unable to intervene or influence the judge's decision. Amara
called the press coverage of the Kouider case unprofessional
and unobjective and asserted that the reporters had gone to
Tiaret with the specific intent of writing skewed stories.
Addressing derogatory comments towards Kouider allegedly made
by the judge in March, Amara stressed it was "impossible"
that the judge said such things. It was important to note,
he added, that the prosecutor in Tiaret, rather than the
judge, had started the legal proceedings against Kouider.
The judge's role, Amara added, was to hear all sides of the
case, review the law and facts, and rule on the accusation.


8. (C) Amara also asserted that the case was being tried
under Ordinance 06-03, which regulates non-Muslim worship in
Algeria. Despite the claims in the media, he said, Ordinance
06-03 was "clear," as was the Algerian constitution's
protection of freedom of religion. Amara denied that the
case concerned whether Kouider lacked "authorization" to
practice Christianity, as had been reported in the press. It
was instead an issue of authorization to engage in worship
ceremonies and other practices. Algerian law, he pointed
out, had controls over the modalities of worship for all
religions, including Islam, and was within its rights to do
so under relevant international human rights conventions.
Amara concluded that even though the judge was independent of
ministry influence, the legal system had all the necessary
"protections" built in: the decision could be appealed, "even
to the Supreme Court."

COMMENT
--------------


9. (C) Kouider is the latest casualty in the ongoing fight to
control Algeria's religious identity. Her case has been
distinguished by the vigorous complaint in the local press
that individual freedom and an Algerian history of religious

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tolerance are under attack. In contrast to the recent media
furor over alleged proselytizing, which stressed the threat
to Algeria of Christian evangelization, the press has zeroed
in on the importance of preserving the right of the
individual to choose a religion. The French-language media
has even suggested that the compromise of Kouider's right to
choose could mark the return of Islamic extremism. Their
view is not universally held, however: on May 22 Prime
Minister Belkhadem told a competition of Qu'ran-chanters
that, "The Algerian society's constitution is the Qu'ran ...
and that will never change."


10. (C) The Algerian press has also noticed that the Kouider
case is focusing considerable negative international
attention on Algeria, but the willingness to tolerate that
attention has sharply defined limits. French Human Rights
Minister Rama Yade's May 25 denunciation of the legal
proceedings against Kouider generated a swift and negative
reaction in the Algerian press. One French-language
editorial said Yade's comments represented unacceptable
interference in Algerian internal affairs and that the
Algerian people "need take no lessons from anyone on
religious tolerance". The three Islamist parties (MSP, Islah
and Ennahda) joined the fray, calling the French position on
Kouider a pretext to create a Christian minority in order to
divide Algerian society.


11. (C) Legally, the MOJ's Amara observed that Kouider's case
was being handled as a non-serious offense, i.e., no
investigating judge (juge d'instruction) was involved and
Kouider was not been detained pending trial. In deciding on
May 27 to refer the case for investigation, the Tiaret judge
may have been looking for a face-saving way out of the mess.
The juge d'instruction will have the authority to determine
if probable cause exists for a trial, and can void the
charges if their legal basis is insufficient.
FORD