Geneva, 04 March 2025 (SPS) - Algeria has voiced concern over the worsening humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, despite international mediation efforts that resulted in a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, as well as the systematic violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in occupied Western Sahara.
In a statement during the general debate under agenda item 2 on the report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the 58th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC), Algeria’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Office in Geneva and other international organizations in Switzerland, Rachid Bladehane, emphasized that the current session “is being held at a time when the world faces multiple challenges, compounded by humanitarian tragedies resulting from the proliferation of armed conflicts and prolonged occupations, as seen in the occupied Palestinian territories and Western Sahara.”
Algeria “expresses deep concern over the persistently worsening humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territories following the genocide” perpetrated by the Zionist occupation since October 2023, “the repercussions of which continue to be felt despite international mediation efforts that resulted in a ceasefire,” Bladehane stated.
Reaffirming the Algerian delegation’s alarm over “the systematic violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in occupied Western Sahara,” he called for these violations to be documented and urged the High Commissioner to dispatch a fact-finding mission to the region and submit a detailed report to the Security Council on the matter.
According to Bladehane, Algeria “believes in multilateral action, which it supports within all international and regional bodies, including those focused on human rights.”
“Last month, Algeria voluntarily submitted a mid-term report to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). It also hosted the Special Rapporteur on the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of association, Clément Nyaletsossi Voulé, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, in September and December 2023, respectively,” the diplomat recalled.
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