Amnesty International has strongly condemned the Algerian authorities’ decision to seal the Algiers office of SOS Disappeared, a human rights organization that has long campaigned for accountability for the thousands of people forcibly disappeared during Algeria’s internal armed conflict in the 1990s. The closure took place on 16 March 2026 and has been described as a serious setback for efforts to secure truth, justice, and reparations for victims and their families.
Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said the forced closure is a major blow to one of the country’s most important organizations working on enforced disappearances, which remain an ongoing crime under international law. She accused Algerian authorities of once again using the restrictive Law 12-06 to suppress human rights work and silence organizations seeking accountability. Although the authorities had tolerated SOS Disappeared’s presence in Algiers for more than two decades, Amnesty noted that pressure on the group has intensified since 2024.
Amnesty stressed that under international law, the right to freedom of association protects both registered and unregistered groups. It argued that no organization should be penalized or shut down simply for operating without formal registration, especially one that provides critical support to families still searching for answers about relatives who were allegedly taken by security forces or militias during the 1990s conflict. Amnesty called on Algerian authorities to immediately reverse the closure and end what it described as a climate of widespread impunity that continues to leave families in deep psychological distress.
SOS Disappeared was established in Algiers in 2001 as a branch of the Committee for the Families of the Disappeared in Algeria (CFDA), which was founded in France in 1999 by mothers seeking justice for loved ones who were forcibly disappeared during the conflict. The unresolved fate of the thousands who vanished during Algeria’s civil war remains one of the country’s most painful and unresolved human rights legacies.
As one of the main organizations pushing for truth and justice around these disappearances, SOS Disappeared has faced ongoing legal and administrative obstacles from the start. Algerian authorities have consistently denied the group formal registration since it began operating. The current closure was ordered by the governorate of Algiers on 12 March 2026 on the grounds that the organization was unregistered, despite its long-standing presence and advocacy work in the capital.
The shutdown follows a series of measures that Amnesty says reflect a broader crackdown on the organization. In 2024, police reportedly blocked SOS Disappeared from organizing two events at its own premises. In May 2025, the organization’s website became inaccessible within Algeria, and in July 2025, authorities allegedly denied entry into the country to its founder and president, Nassera Dutour, in what Amnesty described as an arbitrary move.
Amnesty argues that the use of Law 12-06 to close the office violates international human rights standards, which do not require associations to obtain formal registration in order to be protected under freedom of association. Rather than forcibly shutting the group down, the organization says Algerian authorities should respect civil society freedoms and create a safer, more enabling environment for NGOs working on human rights and accountability.
Overall, the closure of SOS Disappeared is being seen as a serious escalation in restrictions on civil society in Algeria. For families of the disappeared, the organization has represented one of the few remaining spaces to seek truth, demand justice, and keep public attention on unresolved abuses from the 1990s conflict. Its forced closure therefore raises wider concerns not only about freedom of association, but also about the shrinking space for human rights advocacy and the continued lack of accountability for past violations in Algeria.
