Anti-Terrorism Laws in the Maghreb Countries: The Mirror of a Democratic Transition that Never Was

Abstract

This article sheds light on the counter-terrorism measures enacted by the Maghreb countries, with a comparative approach of the laws in Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. Carried out by comparing the Arabic and French original versions, the analysis revealed a common attitude that tended to preserve national security at the expenses of civil freedoms and human rights. In almost all cases, anti-terrorism laws strayed away from their supposed initial finality – fighting terrorism – tackling other issues such as the maintenance of public order or indirectly the control of dissidence and political opposition, with no or scarce legal checks and balances that could restrict possible police or judiciary abuses towards civil and political rights. The legal measures significantly delayed both the first transition to democracy in the region in the 2000s as well as the promising development after the ‘Arab spring’.

The State of Emergency and Exception in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia: The ‘License to Kill’ the Rule of Law?

“…Only the general popular unrest stemming from the 'Arab spring', pushed the Algerian establishment to put an end to the application of the 19 years-old state of emergency in February 2011 (Journal Officielle de la République Algérienne Démocratique et Populaire, 2011). The lifting had few practical implications, because other legislative forms of control and repression were still in force (see for example the law 92-03 'against subversion and terrorism') (Tamburini, 2018), which allowed the elite and the military to continue involving themselves in domestic security, as they did under emergency powers.…”

The ‘Islam of the Government’: The Islamic High Councils in Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia

“…The attacks, known as the ‘Moroccan September eleventh’, renewed again attention to the presence of religious extremism in the country and spread the idea that immunity from the violence of terrorism was over. Moroccan authorities reconsidered the state’s religious policy and the king issued a new law on terrorism on 28 May 2003 (Tamburini, 2018), afterwards reasserting also the state monopoly on religion through the Decree 1-03-193 of 4 December 2003. This legislative measure stated that the Ministry of ḥubus and Islamic Affairs had the task to ‘spread the authentic concepts of the Muslim religion and to work to diffuse the Islamic precepts of tolerance and its true values’ (BORM, 2003).…”