DRUG SITUATION AND POLICY

Transcription

1 Algeria DRUG SITUATION AND POLICY by Salah ABDENNOURI Former Geeral Director ad iterim of the Natioal Office for the fight agaist Drug Abuse ad Drug Addictio (ONLCDT) P-PG /MedNET (2014) 6 Pompidou Group of the Coucil of Europe Co-operatio Group to Combat Drug Abuse ad Illicit traffickig i Drugs

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3 Preface 3 The Pompidou Group is publishig a ew series of Coutry profiles to describe the curret drug situatio ad policy of its Member States ad States co-operatig i its etworks (the Mediterraea etwork MedNET ad the South East Europe ad Easter Europea Networks). Its log term aim is to provide a first basis to cotribute to the establishmet of a Natioal Observatory i the coutry described. This coutry profile examies the state of affairs ad drugs policy i Algeria ad provides a descriptive aalysis to help professioals to study the treatmet, prevetio ad law eforcemet methods used i Algeria. This profile also provides a aalysis of the impact of drugs ad its effects o the health of citizes. I additio, it provides a overview of the various iteratioal commitmets ad relatios with eighbourig coutries to fight drug traffickig. The documet cotributes to the implemetatio of the atioal policy ad shows the successes ad lessos leart i the fight agaist drug abuse ad drug traffickig. I would like to express my gratitude ad appreciatio to the Departmet for Ati-drug Policies of the Presidecy of the Coucil of Miisters of Italy for their fiacial support i the realisatio of this booklet, as well as the Natioal Office for the Fight agaist Drug Abuse ad Drug Addictio (ONLCDT) who gave its agreemet for this publicatio. I would like to thak i particular Mr Abdeouri Salah for completig this profile. Further ackowledgemet goes to Matthieu de La Rochefoucauld for havig give it thorough follow up. Mr Patrick PENNINCKX Executive Secretary of the Pompidou Group

4 4 Project parter Presidecy of the Coucil of Miisters Departmet for Ati-drug Policies of Italy

5 5 Cotets Preface 3 Project Parters 4 Cotets 5 Drug situatio ad policy i Algeria 7 Geeral statistics 7 Itroductio 9 Geeral drug situatio 9 Natioal ati-drug istitutios ad istrumets 12 Drugs legislatio 18 From the legislative poit of view 18 Covictios 20 Seizures 22 Prisos 24 Prevetio 26 Treatmet 28 Residetial treatmet programme for drug users 30 Risk reductio 31 Respose to health problems 32 Screeig 33 The traiig courses available 34 Fight agaist corruptio ad moey lauderig 35 Iteratioal ad regioal co-operatio 37 Iteratioal co-operatio 37 Regioal co-operatio 38 Bilateral co-operatio 38 Data availability 39 The outlook for Specific theme 40 MedNET, a quality framework for regioal co-operatio 40 Coclusios 42 Bibliography 43

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7 P-PG /MedNET (2014) Drug situatio ad policy i Algeria Geeral statistics Geographical data: o accout of its geostrategic positio o the souther shore of the Mediterraea ad i the cetre of North Africa, Algeria is cosidered to be the gateway to Africa from Europe. With a total surface area of 2.4 millio km², it has sice 2011 (followig the separatio from Suda of South Suda) bee the largest coutry i Africa. It has almost 1,200 kilometres of coastlie ad roughly 6,000 kilometres of lad borders with seve coutries i the regio. Over 85% of its surface area is desert. Because of this, 91% of the Algeria populatio lives i just 13% of the territory. Just a little over 3% of the lad is arable.

8 8 Statistical data for Algeria: Populatio 1 (millios) < age % age % age 60 ad over 8.1% Growth rate 1.9% Life expectacy (i years) 76.4 Uemploymet rate 9.8% Male uemploymet 8.3% Female uemploymet 16.3% Youth (age 19-24) uemploymet 27.5% 24.8% Populatio livig i urba areas* 67%* Ecoomy 2 GDP (i ) GDP per capita (i ) 3995 Growth rate 3.3% Growth excludig hydrocarbos 7.1% Foreig exchage reserves (i ) 140 Debt (estimated as a percetage of GDP) 2% Huma developmet idex Populatio livig below the poverty threshold * 6.79%* Educatio 3 Primary school et erolmet ratio ( ) 97.7% Boys 98.4% Girls 97% Illiteracy rate % Political regime: Presidetial republic with a two-chamber parliamet 1 Algeria Natioal Statistics Office: 2 L état de l Afrique 2014; report i the Jeue Afrique magazie, published i special issue No Uicef statistics o Algeria: 4 Source: statemet by the Natioal Literacy ad Adult Educatio Office, 7 Jauary * UNDP Huma Developmet Report 2011

9 9 Itroductio Although hashish (caabis) has bee used i Algeria society for ceturies, as i may other coutries i the regio, it was much later compared with the coutries of Europe ad America that use of the drug emerged as a social problem. Examples of hashish use ca be traced far back i Algeria s history amog certai sectios of society, especially amog a particular category of promiet figures ad me of culture, icludig performers of Chaabi (folk music) who occasioally cosumed hashish i moderatio, i particular durig festivals ad festivities. This situatio cotiued to a greater or lesser degree util the secod half of the 20th cetury. I this coectio, it should be oted that the Algeria populatio is almost exclusively Muslim. Islam prohibits the cosumptio of alcohol ad all substaces that ca have similar effects o the idividual, i particular those classified as drugs. Furthermore, the Algeria populatio was origially a Bedoui ad rural populatio: we are but decimated tribes, 5 said Kateb Yacie; as a result it has always bee strogly attached to the traditioal values of family ad tribe. Algeria s idepedece i 1962 marked the begiig of a radical chage i the lifestyle of society ad people, ot always for the better. The years followig idepedece saw a mass exodus of people from rural areas to tows ad cities i search of either schools for their childre, who for a log time had bee deied educatio, or jobs, prime factors i improvig livig stadards. This mass exodus led to the appearace of shaty tows ad slum areas aroud urba cetres. These have bee growig steadily i size ad umber, becomig fertile groud for all the ills of society. Cosequetly, with effect from the early 1970s, the law-eforcemet agecies bega to speak of drug traffickig i Algeria. Geeral drug situatio Owig to its geographical positio betwee two sesitive areas of caabis productio ad cosumptio, Algeria cotiues to this day to be classified as a trasit coutry for drug traffickig. Accordig to the UNODC i its World Drug Report 2011, Morocco produced 38,000 toes of caabis herb (from 47,400 hectares of lad), with 5 Kateb Yacie i Nedjma, 1st Editio: Paris, PUF, 1990.

10 10 Europe remaiig the largest market for imported caabis. A large quatity of the caabis produced i Morocco trasits via Algeria o its way to its fial destiatio i Wester Europe. Noetheless, i view of its situatio as a caabis trasit coutry, i recet years Algeria has see a rapid growth i the cosumptio of this substace ad other psychotropic substaces, costatly icreasig from year to year to a alarmig extet. The security crisis affectig most coutries i the regio Algeria i the 1990s ad more recetly Tuisia, Libya, Egypt ad Mali, ot to metio Chad ad Suda has led to the etire regio becomig particularly proe to all sorts of smugglig, traffickig i arms ad drugs ad, above all, brutal terrorism which ecourages such activities ad feeds off the proceeds. This has without a doubt made it all the easier for the major traffickers to chael Morocca caabis through Algeria towards the Middle East o its way to the west Europea market via the Balkas. More specifically, the first warig of drug traffickig i Algeria goes back to 1975, whe the law-eforcemet agecies itercepted three toes of caabis ad arrested the traffickers, the majority of whom were foreigers. The secod alarm was souded i 1989 followig the seizure of two toes of caabis resi ad the arrest of those resposible. Sice the, the situatio has worseed, with a costat icrease each year up to the preset day. The statistics compiled over the last twety years show a gradual icrease i the quatities of drugs seized each year. This is maily caabis 6 (6 toes i 1992, toes i 2012 ad toes i 2013) 7 ad psychotropic substaces (maily cloazepam ad diazepam). This is cofirmed by the results of the atioal epidemiological survey carried out i 2010, which showed that the most frequetly cosumed drugs i Algeria were caabis ad psychotropic substaces. Some of the drugs from the wester part of the coutry are routed via the ports of Ora ad Algiers for (illegal) export to Europe, ad others go to the coutries located to the east ad south of Algeria, via Ouargla ad especially El-Oued, fast becomig a importat crossroads for traffickig to Tuisia, Libya ad the Middle East. 6 Algeria Natioal Five-year Strategic Pla to prevet ad combat drug abuse ad drug addictio , ONLCDT. 7 Source: ONLCDT: Natioal Office for the Fight agaist Drug Abuse ad Drug Addictio.

11 11 Over ad above the threat from the wester border, the souther borders from El-Oued to Tamarasset also pose a clear threat, with the establishmet there of etworks of drug traffickers. I additio to the traffickig of caabis via the coutry, the law-eforcemet agecies also report a umber of seizures of cocaie ad heroi (i small quatities) eterig Algeria by post from Europe, either by sea or air. Other quatities come from sub-sahara coutries via etworks with cotacts i the capital ad other cities. However traffickig i these types of drug is limited 8. It should be oted that this last sector has become sigificatly stroger i recet times with the successive waves of prospective immigrats from sub-sahara coutries to Europe who trasit Algeria through its ports ad airports, or who try their luck i boats made available for this purpose by people smugglers. I order to fulfil their dream, these illegal immigrats ofte carry with them quatities of these drugs from their coutry of origi, with the aim of fiacig their way across the Mediterraea. Lastly, available statistics 9 show that the quatities of these hard drugs that are seized are very small (just a few hudred grams, or perhaps a few kilograms i extreme cases seized atioally each year), compared with the quatities of caabis seized (of which there are tes if ot hudreds of toes). Although Algeria has bee ad remais a coutry of trasit for caabis, the cosumptio of differet types of drug is oetheless a everyday reality, particularly caabis ad psychotropic substaces. While, thirty or forty years ago drug users kept to the darker corers of certai eighbourhoods frequeted by those livig o the friges of society, today, all the idicators show that drugs are to be foud i all places frequeted by youg people. Use of caabis ad psychotropic substaces occurs i all sectors of society. The umber of cosumers of psychoactive substaces is estimated to be almost 302,000 people aged 12 ad above, i.e. 1.15% of people i this age bracket, with a clear predomiace i the populatio aged betwee 20 ad 39 (some 180,000 people). These idividuals report havig cosumed oe or more drugs i the previous 12 moths Algeria Natioal Five-year Strategic Pla to prevet ad combat drug abuse ad drug addictio , ONLCDT. 9 ONLCDT aual reports 10 Report of the comprehesive atioal epidemiological survey o the prevalece of drugs i Algeria, 2010, ONLCDT ad CENEAP.

12 12 Eve hard drugs are begiig to fid customers ad devotees amog a particular sectio of the youg. This is assisted by several factors icludig the housig crisis, the weakeig of the family uit ad parets disegagemet from their resposibilities, school drop-out ad its cosequeces resultig i various forms of crime, the stagatio of the ecoomy ad uemploymet affectig the youg i particular, ad the effects of terrorist violece o social stability ad o idividuals psychological balace. The vast expase of the coutry ad the difficulties of border cotrol (1,200 km of coastlie ad more tha 6,000 km of lad borders, primarily i desert regios) are factors ot to be overlooked. Lastly, the major multi-faceted ad multidimesioal chages that have bee takig place i the world for more tha a quarter of a cetury are also a key factor which has udoubtedly had a sigificat effect o treds i the drug situatio i Algeria. Natioal ati-drug istitutios ad istrumets Resposibility for the prevetio ad combatig of drug abuse ad drug addictio as social pheomea is, i theory ad i practice, oe of the iheret tasks of various sectors, istitutios ad miisterial departmets of the state. The govermet is resposible for co-ordiatio betwee these various etities so as to esure the effectiveess ad efficiecy of their actio i this field. I this regard, the Miistries of Justice, Health, the Iterior, Defece, Youth ad Sport, ad the miisterial departmets resposible for primary, secodary, higher ad vocatioal educatio each make their cotributio to drug prevetio ad to the fight agaist drug supply ad demad withi the Algeria populatio, ot forgettig, of course, the three law-eforcemet agecies the gedarmerie, the police ad the customs authorities ad the various civil society orgaisatios. Other ecoomic, socio-cultural ad political sectors also cotribute, idirectly, to the fight agaist drug abuse ad drug addictio i Algeria. With regard to co-ordiatio betwee these differet players, Algeria has tried a variety of formulas, settig up i tur various co-ordiatio bodies. 1. The Natioal Narcotics Commissio I 1971, the govermet set up, by executive decree, 11 the Natioal Narcotics Commissio, a iter-miisterial commissio uder the authority of the Miister for Public Health. Its terms of referece were to:

13 13 study iteratioal covetios ad agreemets relatig to arcotics ad put forward implemetatio proposals appropriate to the coutry s specific coditios; idetify ad recommed more effective measures to be implemeted i the fight agaist the traffickig of addictive drugs, ad eradicate the cultivatio, possessio, sale, circulatio ad use of Idia hemp; esure, i co-operatio with the Narcotics Office, that addictive drugs were used solely for medicial purposes, ad oversee ad protect the lawful trade i those drugs; be ivolved where appropriate i health educatio, puttig forward proposals for the ecessary prevetio ad mass educatio methods to combat this problem. The Commissio was chaired by the Health Miister or the latter s represetative, comprised 15 members represetig the various atioal miistries ad istitutios cocered, ad met at least oce every three moths. 2. The Natioal Commissio for the Fight agaist Drug Abuse ad Drug Addictio I 1992, the govermet set up uder the authority of the Health Miister, the Natioal Commissio for the Fight agaist Drug Abuse ad Drug Addictio, i applicatio of Executive Decree No of 14 April This commissio, chaired by the Health Miister or the latter s represetative, was a cosultative body with the followig terms of referece: to assess the extet of drug addictio ad recommed the ecessary medical, social or regulatory measures to be take; to aalyse all the relevat factors relatig to the use ad abuse of addictive drugs ad to suggest measures to elimiate supply ad demad; to put forward proposals for iclusio i a atioal policy to fight drug addictio; to iitiate, orgaise ad take part i traiig or iformatio semiars o the fight agaist illegal traffickig ad abuse of arcotics ad psychotropic substaces ad o the treatmet or rehabilitatio of addicts; to suggest prevetio ad educatio measures or methods to combat drug abuse; to ecourage the volutary sector active i the prevetio of drug abuse; to study iteratioal covetios ad agreemets relatig to arcotics ad psychotropic substaces, to put forward implemetatio proposals appropriate to the coutry s specific coditios ad to participate i their implemetatio oce they have bee ratified. 11 Decree No of 15 July 1971, establishig a Natioal Narcotics Commissio, Official Gazette No. 59 of 20 Jue 1971.

14 14 This commissio comprised some 20 members represetig the various bodies i the Health Miistry dealig with the drugs issue, the various miisterial departmets cocered, the three law-eforcemet agecies ad atioal associatios active i the prevetio of ad fight agaist drug abuse. The executive decree settig up the commissio stipulated that it was to meet at least twice yearly ad that it could establish regioal or local commissios. It was further tasked with draftig a aual activity ad evaluatio report which was to be submitted to the Health Miister. 3. The Natioal Committee for the Fight agaist Drug Addictio This body was set up withi the Miistry of Health, Populatio ad Hospital Reform by Miisterial Decree No. 13/MSPRH of 31 May As its ame idicates, it was resposible for issues relatig to the problem of drug addictio ad the treatmet of addicts. As such, it represeted a stregtheig of the mechaisms to deal with the effects of drug addictio. 4. The Natioal Office for the Fight agaist Drug Abuse ad Drug Addictio. Give that the atioal commissios were ot deemed to have bee particularly successful, Algeria set up a permaet atioal body to address the govermet s cocers ad to step up, harmoise ad co-ordiate the actio take to prevet ad combat drug abuse ad drug addictio at atioal level. Accordigly, a public admiistrative etity, havig legal persoality ad fiacial autoomy, was established o 9 Jue 1997 by Executive Decree No However, it was ot util 2 October 2002 that this body, the Natioal Office for the Fight agaist Drug Abuse ad Drug Addictio (ONLCDT), which oetheless was placed uder the direct authority of the head of govermet, came ito beig. The role of the Office is to frame ad propose, i cojuctio with the relevat sectors, the atioal policy to combat drug abuse ad drug addictio i terms of prevetio, care, reitegratio ad puishmet ad to oversee its implemetatio. It presets a aual report to the head of govermet o implemetatio of the Natioal Strategic Pla to prevet ad combat drug abuse ad drug addictio ad o treds i the overall drug situatio i the coutry.

15 15 I this cotext, its mai tasks are to: cetralise ad collect iformatio, co-ordiate the actio take, aalyse idicators ad treds, draw up ad adopt a strategic pla to combat drug abuse ad drug addictio, esure, as part of the strategic pla, implemetatio of measures by ehacig iter-sectorial co-ordiatio, ecourage research ad evaluatio of activities, develop, promote ad cosolidate regioal ad iteratioal co-operatio, make proposals regardig the draftig or revisio of texts relatig to the fight agaist drug abuse ad drug addictio. I order to co-ordiate the actio udertake by the various sectors, the Office has a co-ordiatio body: the Evaluatio ad Moitorig Committee (CES), which meets oce every three moths, chaired by the Director Geeral of the Office. It has 21 members, 14 of whom represet the various miisterial departmets cocered with drug ad drug addictio issues, three members represetig the law-eforcemet agecies (gedarmerie, police ad customs authorities) ad four members represetig civil society associatios active i the prevetio of drug abuse ad drug addictio. The settig up of the Natioal Office for the Fight agaist Drug Abuse ad Drug Addictio udoubtedly marked a radical chage i the way drug abuse ad drug addictio were addressed. Thaks to the resources allocated to it ad its depedece, it quickly became the specialised atioal body able to haress ad create syergy betwee all the efforts exerted ad actio resources i order to achieve the objectives of the atioal policy to prevet ad combat drug abuse ad drug addictio, coverig all the activities udertake by the various stakeholders. I this cotext, the Office has carried out some high quality work which has sigificatly advaced the fight agaist drug abuse ad drug addictio i Algeria. Its achievemets iclude the followig: a) I terms of strategy The draftig of the 1st Natioal Strategic Pla (PDN) as a strategy givig practical form to Algeria s ati-drugs policy for the period This pla, adopted by the govermet at iter-miisterial coucil level, cotais a series of govermetal measures to pla cocerted actio i accordace with comprehesive guidelies to produce a operatioal pla for all parters at atioal level.

16 16 Its aim is to esure cosistecy by maagig the iter-sectoral dimesio of activities relatig to the fight agaist drug abuse ad drug addictio by meas of a itegrated approach. I this way, it ca take o board the ecessary itercoectio betwee the operatios carried out i the various specific areas cocered. These are public health, educatio, ecoomic developmet, iformatio ad the meas of combatig ad puishig drug abuse. The PDN idetified the followig five focal areas of actio to combat drug abuse ad drug addictio: 1. The revisio of atioal legislatio relatig to drugs, 2. iformatio, educatio ad commuicatio, 3. atioal co-ordiatio mechaisms, 4. capacity buildig i the field of reducig drug supply ad demad, 5. stregtheig bilateral ad multilateral co-operatio. The draftig of a 2d Natioal Strategic Pla, for the period This strategy had bee due to begi i 2008 but was postpoed o accout of the delay i carryig out the comprehesive atioal epidemiological survey o the prevalece of drugs i Algeria. The seior maagers i the Office had wisely isisted that the ew strategy should take ito accout the results of two qualitative activities, amely the evaluatio of the previous PDN ad the atioal epidemiological survey, both of which had bee carried out by a specialist cosultacy followig a atioal call for teders. This documet lays dow the Natioal Five-year Strategic Pla to prevet ad combat drug abuse ad drug addictio for the period i questio, ad has as its objective a sigificat reductio i the prevalece of drug use amog the populatio by the ed of the implemetatio period. It lays dow the guidig priciples uderlyig the strategy ad the priorities for actio. It advocates a approach strikig a balace betwee supply ad demad reductio ad sets out the activities for each of these two aspects so as to facilitate its implemetatio across the board ad by sector. The pla clarifies the actio to be udertake by each stakeholder ad defies assessmet idicators ad their source of verificatio ad/or costructio, i terms of both moitorig ad impact.

17 17 b) I terms of research Several research activities have bee udertake, icludig: Cofereces ad discussio semiars o research topics with the participatio of atioal ad foreig parters. The topics have icluded the role of scietific research i the framig of drug policies, sythetic drugs, chemical precursors of drugs, ad the role of civil society i prevetig ad combatig drug abuse ad drug addictio (orgaised i partership with the Pompidou Group). Operatioal research activities: the MedSPAD survey i upper secodary schools i Algiers, i collaboratio with the Pompidou Group, the survey o the potetial lik betwee problematic drug use ad HIV/AIDS, carried out by the CRASC 12 with the support of UNAIDS, evaluatio of the implemetatio of the PDN ( ), udertake by the CRASC, the comprehesive atioal epidemiological survey o the prevalece of drugs i Algeria, carried out betwee 2009 ad 2010 by the CENEAP 13 amog 9,240 households represetig more tha 48,700 people i 46 of the 48 wilayas (provices) i the coutry. c) I terms of co-ordiatio By settig up the Natioal Office for the Fight agaist Drug Abuse ad Drug Addictio, Algeria successfully solved a key co-ordiatio problem at both atioal ad iteratioal level. With its two successive five-year plas, the Office was able to cocetrate eergies ad chael all efforts to achieve the objectives laid dow i those plas. It ow cetralises all iformatio o the various aspects of drug abuse ad drug addictio. At iteratioal level, the Office s role ad resposibilities make it the prime cotact poit for regioal ad iteratioal istitutios ad orgaisatios specialisig i this area. As such, it has bee able to respod to requests from UN orgaisatios resposible for gatherig iformatio o treds i the drug situatio i the various coutries. I additio, it has established special relatioships with may similar orgaisatios ad istitutios ad mutually beeficial parterships, i particular with the Pompidou Group. 12 CRASC: Natioal Research Cetre i Social ad Cultural Athropology, a research body uder the aegis of the Miistry of Higher Educatio ad Scietific Research (MESRS). 13 CENEAP: Natioal Cetre for Populatio ad Developmet Studies ad Aalysis. Website

18 18 For example, i partership with the Pompidou Group it has orgaised may activities to ehace capacities ad coduct research ito the fight agaist drug abuse ad drug addictio. Lastly, it should be oted that followig the 2006 reorgaisatio of the departmets uder the head of govermet, the Natioal Office for the Fight agaist Drug Abuse ad Drug Addictio was placed uder the authority of the Justice Miister. Ufortuately, this reassigmet has resulted i a reductio i the ifluece ad role of the Office as a co-ordiatig body ad as a drivig force for all activities to prevet ad combat drug abuse ad drug addictio at atioal level. Drugs legislatio From the legislative poit of view Although very soo after its idepedece (5 July 1962) Algeria acceded to ad ratified the 1961 Sigle Covetio o Narcotic Drugs (Decree No of 11 September 1963) 14 ad subsequetly ratified the Covetio o Psychotropic Substaces (Decree No of 7 December 1977) 15 ad the 1988 Covetio agaist Illicit Traffic i Narcotic Drugs (Decree No of 28 February 1995) some years elapsed post-idepedece before it passed legislatio addressig the drugs problem. While the use of drugs i Algeria society goes back a log way, as it does i may other societies ad atios, it was ot util much later that the problematic use of drugs reached proportios requirig actio by the legislature. The first text relatig to the drugs problem dates back to 1971, promulgated followig the seizure of a large quatity of drugs by the law-eforcemet agecies. This was Decree No of 15 July 1971 settig up the Natioal Narcotics Commissio. Next came Order No of 17 February 1975 o pealties for traffickig i ad the illicit use of poisoous substaces ad arcotics. This text merely laid dow the pealties for drug-related offeces. Law No of 16 February 1985 o the protectio ad promotio of health dealt with two aspects relatig to drugs: 14 Official Gazette No. 66 of 14 September Official Gazette No. 80 of 11 December 1977.

19 19 a) Sectio 190 provided that i future the productio, trasport, import, export, possessio, supply, trasfer, acquisitio or use of arcotic or o-arcotic poisoous substaces or plats, ad the cultivatio of such plats, would be govered by a regulatio. b) Sectios cotaied the crimial-law provisios cocerig drug-related offeces. Executive Decree No of 14 April 1992 provided for the settig up of the Natioal Cosultative Commissio for the Fight agaist Drug Abuse ad Drug Addictio, uder the Health Miister, specifyig its compositio, fuctioig ad terms of referece. Referece should also be made to Executive Decree No of 9 Jue 1997, providig for the settig up of the Natioal Office for the Fight agaist Drug Abuse ad Drug Addictio. This text provided for the establishmet of a idepedet body whose role ad allocated resources would make it possible to trasced the prevetio ad combatig of drug abuse ad drug addictio ad haress all efforts i a atioal policy to which all the parters ivolved i its implemetatio were committed. Lastly, o 25 December 2004, Algeria promulgated Law No o the prevetio ad puishmet of the abuse of ad traffickig i arcotic drugs ad psychotropic substaces. 16 This law, ow i force, is regarded as the most importat of all the legislative drug ad drug addictio-related texts i Algeria. It is uique i this area because: it is a specific law; it is a comprehesive law, isofar as it deals with drug abuse ad drug addictio i terms of both prevetio ad puishmet; it takes accout of the ew requiremets resultig from the socio-ecoomic chages i society ad drug treds i Algeria ad worldwide; it satisfies the commitmets etered ito upo Algeria s ratificatio of ad/or accessio to all iteratioal covetios i this field; it complies with iteratioal legislatio i this field; with regard to drug addictio, it makes a distictio betwee the victims ad the crimials ad provides for the waivig of court proceedigs for those who agree to udergo medical treatmet; 16 Official Gazette No. 83 of 26 December 2004.

20 20 it itroduces compulsory treatmet; it exteds pealties to cover legal etities; it icreases pealties for the sale of drugs to miors or i the viciity of schools ad traiig istitutios. Lastly, it should be poited out that the iteratioal covetios ratified by Algeria may be cosidered as formig a itegral part of Algeria legislatio, i accordace with the provisios of Article 132 of the Costitutio, which provides as follows: Treaties ratified by the Presidet of the Republic i accordace with the coditios provided for by the Costitutio are superior to the law. Covictios Give the extet of drug traffickig throughout the coutry, the Algeria courts i differet regios ad at various levels deal costatly, throughout the year, with cases relatig to drugs offeces submitted to them by the police. The vast majority of these offeces relate to the illegal sale, possessio ad use of psychoactive substaces, i particular caabis ad psychotropic substaces, geerally i small quatities. Traffickig cases, relatig primarily to large quatities of caabis trasitig across the borders ad alog the major roads ad frequetly resultig i the dismatlig of etworks, accout for oly a small umber of the cases dealt with by the courts. It should be oted i this regard that the police operate i the tows ad cities ad the gedarmerie outside urba areas. The customs authorities are authorised to operate throughout the coutry, but their officers do ot have police status, cosequetly ay cases discovered by customs officers are automatically haded over to either the police or the gedarmerie. Despite Law No of 25 December 2004, referred to above, which provides for treatmet orders as a alterative to imprisomet for cases of drug addictio, it is oly rarely that the courts make use of this measure. Chapter III of this law cotais 20 sectios comprisig crimial-law provisios (Sectio 12 to Sectio 31), stipulatig the various pealties, reflectig the legislature s wish to differetiate betwee strictly persoal use ad drug traffickig, with heavier pealties for traffickers, repeat offeders ad those who promote drugs amog the youg. The followig tables ad charts illustrate the umber of drug-related cases ad of the idividuals cocered dealt with by the courts i the period 2006 to 2012.

21 21 Statistics 17 relatig to drug cases dealt with by the courts ad the umber of idividuals tried durig the period Year Cases 25,925 16,396 11,123 11,679 12,637 11,757 16,018 Idividuals 34,710 22,083 14,685 15,691 17,049 12,224 18, Source: Natioal Office for the Fight agaist Drug Abuse ad Drug Addictio

22 22 Seizures I order to address a worryig situatio, with a cosiderable icrease i the quatities of drugs seized aually, Algeria has embarked upo a reletless battle agaist drug traffickig. By coductig a sustaied policy comprisig multifaceted ad cocerted measures to galvaise all the stakeholders ad maximise available resources, it is sparig o effort to reduce drug supply ad demad i the coutry. These efforts have resulted i the seizure of ever larger quatities of caabis trasitig the coutry ad psychotropic substaces frauduletly imported or diverted from the legal distributio chaels of these medicies. By way of example, there was a tefold icrease i the quatities of caabis seized betwee 2010 ad 2013, risig from 23 to 210 toes, ad a fourfold icrease i the umber of psychotropic tablets seized durig the same period. The followig table of seizures 18 ad the variatio curves provide a more meaigful idea of the icrease i the quatities of drugs seized over the last decade: Type of drug Caabis Quatities of drugs seized aually by the law-eforcemet agecies Quatities seized Resi ,51 (toes) Plats ,987 10,712 1,802 3,163 1, ,831 Cocaie (gr) , , , , , , ,790.4 Heroi (gr) , , Opium (gr) 3, , Psychotropic substaces (tablets) 227, , , , ,398 90, , , , , Source: Natioal Office for the Fight agaist Drug Abuse ad Drug Addictio.

23 23 Variatio curves: quatities of caabis ad psychotropic substaces seized Psychotropic substaces

24 24 I 2008, a large-scale attempt to divert psychotropic substaces ivolvig a medicies distributor was foiled i Costatie. Seizures by law-eforcemet agecies also icluded caabis herb ad seeds, as well as opium plats ad psychotropic substaces i liquid form. However, the figures have ot bee icluded, sice seizures of such items occur irregularly, or i quatities ot large eough to be a reliable idicator. It should also be oted that the caabis ad opium plats seized were iteded for cultivatio i very small areas, for persoal cosumptio. Furthermore, the three law-eforcemet agecies are cosidered to be the strogest istitutios i Algeria. All three have large umbers of staff ad cosiderable resources. They each have traiig cetres, efficiet to varyig degrees, providig the officers recruited followig a rigorous selectio procedure with appropriate basic traiig. I-service traiig is also provided for officers assiged to the ati-drug services. This may explai the results of the ati-drug actio take ad the large quatities of drugs regularly seized. Prisos Despite official reassuraces ad reorgaisatio attempts, the Algeria priso system still has cosiderable problems of overcrowdig ad prisos ill-suited to their ew role, give the fact that most of them are a legacy of the coloial era ad had bee desiged to puish those set to them. Noetheless, the moderisatio efforts udertake by the Algeria priso authorities have led to tagible results i terms of the fuctioig of the prisos ad the assistace offered to detaiees, particularly with regard to alterative seteces, rehabilitatio ad post-release support. There are 128 prisos i Algeria housig almost 65,000 detaiees. The prisos are subdivided ito several categories: 1. Remad cetres (80) for remad prisoers, those servig custodial seteces of three moths or less, those who still have three moths or less to serve, ad those subject to imprisomet i default. 2. Rehabilitatio cetres (35) for persos whose custodial seteces are less tha oe year, those who still have oe year or less to serve, ad those subject to imprisomet i default.

25 25 3. Other prisos (10) for persos servig priso seteces of oe year or more, those seteced to life imprisomet ad habitual offeders irrespective of the legth of their setece. 4. Specialist reform istitutios (1) for dagerous covicts ad those who eed to be kept apart. 5. Specialist cetres for miors (2). The aim of the priso moderisatio programme embarked upo as part of the overall reform of the justice system was to improve prisoers livig coditios ad refie procedures for traiig ad rehabilitatig prisoers i order to icrease their reitegratio rate ad protect agaist the dagers of repeat offedig. Referece should be made i this cotext to the vocatioal traiig ad educatio measures take which i 2013 made it possible to eter some 56,000 out of a total 65,000 (almost 86% of prisoers) for examiatios. I 2012, for example, almost 1,000 detaiees obtaied the upper secodary qualificatio, almost 2,000 obtaied the lower secodary qualificatio ad almost 30,500 obtaied a vocatioal traiig qualificatio 19. Metio should also be made of the itroductio of commuity service, a alterative to imprisomet which is icreasigly beig haded dow by the courts: 57 decisios i 2009, 1,763 i 2010 ad 2,807 i I additio, exteral social reitegratio services have bee set up i the various regios of the coutry to help ad support prisoers followig their release. Although there are medical ad paramedical staff (345 i total, icludig 101 psychologists ad 20 social workers) workig i the 128 istitutios, the large proportio of prisoers covicted for drug-related offeces who are sufferig from addictio meas that this category of prisoers is oly rarely provided with appropriate treatmet, o accout of the lack or shortage of doctors specialisig i this field ad of the ecessary resources, especially with regard to substitutio treatmet. 19 Accordig to the Director Geeral of Prisos. 20 Source: Directorate of Crimial Affairs ad Pardos, Justice Miistry.

26 26 Prevetio As the drug situatio worses o a daily basis i Algeria, with huge quatities of caabis passig through every regio of the coutry, ad with the prevalece of drug use risig amog the differet populatio groups, particularly youg people, the authorities ad society as a whole are edeavourig to remai i a costat state of vigilace ad to redouble efforts both to reduce the supply of drugs ad to cut demad for them. While the law-eforcemet agecies the gedarmerie, police ad customs departmet are strog, well orgaised ad have sufficiet resources to be effective i their role of combatig drug traffickig, dismatlig etworks ad apprehedig traffickers, prevetio, which is the eve more importat aspect of the fight agaist drugs ad drug addictio, is still the weakest lik i this ogoig battle. As we kow, prevetio of the various social problems, ad particularly of drug abuse ad drug addictio i society, is theoretically the role of several differet sectors, miisterial departmets ad istitutios, ad ideed of society as a whole. I practice, however, we fid that those players, otwithstadig the existece of a atioal policy give cocrete form i the strategy agaist drug abuse ad drug addictio, do ot always act with the same covictio ad degree of awareess of the may dagers of this scourge, surely i the belief that some are more cocered by this issue tha others. To this has to be added the fact that civil society i Algeria is ot yet maagig to get ivolved i the desired maer as a local force supplemetig the work of state ad govermetal istitutios. Those are the mai difficulties impedig prevetive actio agaist drug abuse ad drug addictio i Algeria. That has ot preveted the authorities i charge of this matter, represeted by the Natioal Office for the Fight agaist Drug Abuse ad Drug Addictio, from makig prevetio a very importat part of the atioal policy agaist drug abuse ad drug addictio. Thus prevetio has bee oe of the priority lies of actio i the Natioal Strategic Pla (PDN), which urges all players to base their activities o iformatio, educatio ad commuicatio. The Office, for its part, has sice its iceptio costatly carried out iformatio ad awareess-raisig activities, periodically holdig local cofereces ad semiars to raise awareess amog local officials ad residets of the dagers of drug use, ad to get society as a whole workig agaist it.

27 27 I this cotext, ad with a view to mobilisig civil society, the Office, i partership with the Pompidou Group, held a atioal coferece o the role of associatios i the prevetio of drug abuse o 26 ad 27 Jue 2007, i order to orgaise ad give impetus to associatios actio i drug prevetio ad direct it towards achievig the objectives set by the PDN. Represetatives of 200 NGOs took part i that coferece, led by atioal ad foreig (Pompidou Group) experts. Also to be metioed are the operatios to stregthe capacities orgaised i partership with the Pompidou Group betwee 2005 ad 2010, particularly the sequece of traiig activities for doctors o dealig with drug addicts (i the cotext of implemetatio of the multi-aual atioal programme to stregthe drug addict treatmet ad care facilities), as well as the traiig for seior staff of civil orgaisatios i the four regios of the coutry. The curret five-year pla (the strategy for ), based o a itegrated policy with a balace betwee supply ad demad reductio, attaches the same importace to prevetio, ad the priciples below guide this strategy: Implemetatio of the atioal strategy remais based o a itegrated ad holistic approach etailig itervetio by all miisterial departmets ad state istitutios. Itervetio by civil society, iter alia i the framework of awareess-raisig, iformatio ad commuicatio activities Priority to prevetio ad care activities Stregtheig of research ad fact-fidig activities so that relevat ad reliable data are available. The priciple that the fight agaist drug traffickig is meaigless uless it is accompaied by deterret, prevetive ad health actio geared to reducig demad. 21 Oe of the two mai thrusts of this same strategy is headed Supply reductio: strivig for better cotrol ad itegrated ad coordiated actio by the departmets cocered. It sets out the objectives to be achieved by the ed of the period of implemetatio, determies who is to work towards each objective ad defies objectively verifiable evaluatio idicators as well as verificatio sources. 21 Strategy for the five-year period , ONLCDT.

28 28 Treatmet The treatmet of drug addicts ad addictio is a importat aspect of the actio to reduce demad for drugs. The promulgatio of Law No of 25/12/2004 was a crucial turig poit i terms of the treatmet ad care of persos depedet o psychoactive substaces. Ideed, the provisios of Articles 6 to 11 actually deal with the edig of the crimial prosecutio of drug addicts, if they, as ordered by the resposible court, udergo curative ad detoxificatio treatmet at specialised establishmets. Practical implemetatio of these provisios was ot always easy, because of the lack of specialised cetres ad services i some regios of the coutry. This was why the Algeria Govermet started a multi-year programme i 2007 to set up a widespread etwork of cetres to care for drug addicts i the differet regios of the coutry. This etwork comprises 15 ew regioal cetres to provide hospital treatmet for drug addicts, as well as 53 itermediate cetres (kow as CISTs) providig outpatiet treatmet to drug addicts, ad at least oe receptio ad guidace uit at every hospital ad care cetre i the coutry. As at 18/11/2013, 25 of the 53 plaed CISTs had bee set up ad started operatio, 22 addig to the two cetres ad three CISTs already i operatio before the project bega. The atioal epidemiological survey o the prevalece of drugs i Algeria reports that 1.15% of the populatio aged 12 or over uses drugs of some kid. Those respodets stated that they had used the drugs metioed durig the 12 moths prior to the survey: 23 caabis (0.59%), opium (0.06%), heroi (0.01%), cocaie (0.01%), psychoactive drugs (0.61%). That survey, however, gives o idicatio of how may persos are depedet o oe or the other of those drugs. The table below shows the umbers of medical cosultatios ad hospitalisatios at treatmet cetres ad CISTs atiowide over the past three years 24. Year Total Cosultatios 12,471 18,447 14,936 45,854 Hospitalisatios 1,279 1,819 1,477* 4, Statemet by the Director Geeral of the ONLCDT. 23 Fial report o the comprehesive atioal epidemiological survey o the prevalece of drugs i Algeria. 24 Source: Natioal Office for the Fight agaist Drug Abuse ad Drug Addictio. * 96 of these for treatmet ordered by the courts.

29 29 The oly data available i respect of drug-depedet users come from a survey coducted at the Fratz Fao detoxificatio cetre i Blida, the oldest ad largest cetre i Algeria. The table below cotais the figures showig the umbers of persos depedet o various drugs 25. Multiple drug addictio Caabis Psychotropic substaces Alcohol Opiates Solvets Total , I their coclusio, the authors of the survey make the followig observatios: Worst affected is the 20 to 30 age group; The populatio cocered is essetially male (approximately 94%), sigle, uemployed, ad of a medium socio-ecoomic level; Multiple drug addicts are clearly i the majority (caabis, psychotropic substaces ad alcohol); All social classes are affected; Drug addictio ad crimial offedig are very frequetly associated with each other (almost 40% of drug addicts have a crimial record). It should be oted, fially, that substitutio treatmet is ot used at all i Algeria. Methadoe ad bupreorphie, for example, do ot eve appear o the Justice Miistry s list of medicatios licesed for marketig i the coutry. This situatio caot be justified by the small umber of persos i Algeria depedet o opiates, for eve if oly oe such perso existed, he or she would be etitled to beefit from appropriate care. 25 Source: survey coducted by the cetre's care team, comprisig Dr Amalou, Dr Derguii, Dr Bouguermouh ad Dr Habibeche.

30 30 Nor should it be forgotte that there is a large emigrat commuity whose members frequetly retur to Algeria. There are boud to be amogst them some drugdepedet persos who are udergoig substitutio treatmet, ad who are thus either allowed to import their medicatio or able to obtai it o the spot. Residetial treatmet programme for drug users I order to have a idea of the residetial treatmet programme for drug users i Algeria, we shall take a look at the Fratz Fao detoxificatio cetre i Blida, a pioeer i this field 26. The cetre has two uits: a cosultatio uit ad a hospital uit with two wards, a me s ward with 40 beds ad a wome s ward with 10 beds. It is staffed by a multidiscipliary team comprisig psychiatrists, geeral practitioers, psychologists, sociologists, urses ad service workers. The treatmet of drug addicts addresses their persoality ad their relatioship with drugs, their social situatio ad the cosequeces of their drug use. The residetial treatmet programme comprises: Receptio ad cousellig; Motivatioal iterviewig; Evaluatio of the most problematic patters of usage: startig youg, combiig drugs, overdosig, repetitive use; Risk factors: persoality traits, risk-takig behaviour, cotext i terms of school, family, eviromet, etc. At the same time, the somatic, social ad psychiatric complicatios of problematic drug use are uder ivestigatio. I-patiet treatmet: Some of the drug addicts admitted to the cetre are accompaied, others come aloe, ad while some come at their ow iitiative, others are referred by geeral or psychiatric hospitals, private-sector doctors, associatios, cousellig cetres or courts (treatmet orders), etc. 26 The source of the iformatio ad figures give i this part of the "Algeria Profile" is a lecture by Dr Derguii, a doctor who works at the Blida detoxificatio cetre.

31 31 The patiet s motivatio is crucial to the success of withdrawal treatmet. He or she must agree to be subject to striget iteral rules. Further examiatios may be prescribed: radiological, biological, serological ad geeral tests. Detoxificatio lasts for a average of 21 days, but this may be shorteed at the patiet s request or if the iteral rules are disobeyed. The treatmet has two parts: Medicatio: prescriptio of euroleptics, axiolytics atidepressats, aticovulsats ad other medicies. Psychotherapy: group or idividual psychotherapy sessios. Family participatio may be essetial. Occupatioal therapy ru by activity leaders: ope-air outigs ad walks, various games ad sports activities are also o the treatmet programme. The purpose of these activities is occupatioal. Patiets are ot allowed out i the eveigs, so a TV room is made available eablig them all to get together. The post-detoxificatio period: Followig 21 days of treatmet ad a cosultatio with the whole care team, patiets are discharged from the cetre. Their treatmet is cotiued o a outpatiet basis, ad they are subject to regular moitorig. Risk reductio It should be oted that risk reductio is ot yet a explicit part of Algeria s policy agaist drug abuse ad drug addictio, although the risk reductio approach is ow omipreset i may coutries because of its effectiveess i strategies agaist drug abuse ad drug addictio, ad the relevat specialised Uited Natios agecies recommed its iclusio as a itegral part of ay policy to prevet ad combat drugs ad drug addictio. This cocept remais a subject of cotroversial discussios i Algeria. Ideed, some policy-makers thik that, sice the umber of cases of opiate depedecy has ot yet reached sigificat levels i our coutry, it is poitless to refer to risk reductio. Ad this, although drugs are recogised to be a health ad public safety problem. Furthermore, the atioal strategy agaist drugs ad drug addictio has ot directly catered for reductios i risks ad damage (it simply

32 32 recommeds that the risk reductio perspective be icorporated ito the actio pla, but without settig the objectives i this respect or determiig actio) 27. Differet views are take o the subject, which is cotroversial, ad the same applies to substitutio treatmet. Of course the aims of risk reductio are idirectly covered by addictio prevetio measures, as well as treatmet ad rehabilitatio measures for users depedet o drugs. Targeted operatios directly iteded to reduce risks ad damage are isigificat, although the survey coducted i 2005 by the Ora-based CRASC, the Study o the potetial lik betwee problematic drug use ad HIV/AIDS i Algeria, had souded the alarm about the existece of at-risk behaviour amogst umerous drug users. O the other had, risk ad damage reductio measures are dealt with uder the Natioal Strategic Pla agaist STDs/HIV/AIDS ( ). That pla has two mai aims: Achieve uiversal access to prevetio, diagosis, treatmet ad care, Cotribute to the achievemet of the health-related Milleium Developmet Goals by It should be poited out that a sustaied atioal effort is beig made to prevet ad combat HIV/AIDS ad that risk reductio operatios i this field are very visible o the groud. They are coducted ot oly by the authorities, but also by civil society (awareess-raisig campaigs, screeig, distributio of cotraceptives, care ad assistace for sufferers, etc). Algeria beefits i this field from valuable support from the relevat iteratioal bodies (UNAIDS, WHO, UNICEF, UNODC, ). Respose to health problems Algeria, a coutry the size of a cotiet, had oly two residetial treatmet cetres for drug addicts util 2007, oe i Blida (50 beds), the other i Ora (40 beds), as well as three itermediate cetres for outpatiet treatmet: Algiers, Sétif ad Aaba. Sice 2007, the authorities, through the Health Miistry, have started a programme spread over several years to build up a broad etwork of establishmets to provide care ad deal with the health problems associated with drug addictio. 27 Strategy for the five-year period , p.43. ONLCDT

33 33 Thus 53 itermediate cetres providig treatmet for drug addicts (CISTs) have bee plaed across all regios of the coutry, with at least oe i every wilaya (provice), as well as 15 residetial treatmet cetres located i the mai courbatios. By the ed of 2013, over half of the CISTs ad two residetial treatmet cetres had bee set up, ad most of them were already operatioal. At the same time, traiig activities for medical ad paramedical staff were begu by the Health Miistry ad the ONLCDT, i partership with the Pompidou Group, i the cotext of the MedNET etwork. These cetres are boud to help to lesse the burde imposed by the growig demad for the treatmet ad care of drug addicts ad to facilitate the use of treatmet orders as a alterative to imprisomet. But there is still o aswer for the time beig to the questios about reducig the risks ad damage associated with problematic drug use. Screeig HIV/AIDS screeig: Algeria, i commo with other coutries o the souther shore of the Mediterraea, is still a coutry where HIV/AIDS is ot very prevalet. Accordig to data supplied by the Health Miistry, the umber of cases cofirmed by the atioal referece laboratory betwee 1985 ad the ed of the year 2012 was 6,141 people who were seropositive ad 1,365 cases of AIDS, ad the umber of ew cases diagosed seems to have bee gradually slowig over recet years, to aroud 600 or 700 cases a year. I order to cope with this situatio, Algeria has embarked o a process etailig the settig up of a atioal ati-hiv/aids framework, a atioal coordiatio framework ad a atioal moitorig ad assessmet system. Thus three cosecutive HIV/AIDS prevetio ad treatmet plas have bee adopted sice 2002 (for the periods , ad ). There have bee three importat dates where screeig is cocered: 1999 saw the itroductio of madatory testig of doated blood ad orgas, the atioal blood agecy resposible for trasfusio safety was set up i 1995, ad 1996 saw the start of the settig up of referece cetres, ow umberig ie. The first epidemiological moitorig step take i Algeria etailed the reportig of cases of AIDS ad HIV as trasmissible diseases. Sice 1990, it has bee compulsory to declare cases of HIV/AIDS.

34 34 Screeig is free of charge ad aoymous at 60 screeig cetres icorporated ito the eighbourhood health facilities of wilayas (provices). I 2012, 661 persos were foud to be seropositive, from the 48,296 tested, i.e. a prevalece of 1.36% 28. The groups regarded as vulerable i this cotext are: youg people (aged 15-24) of both sexes, male members of the uiformed services, groups who travel, ative ad foreig groups. The high-risk groups which eed particular attetio are: sex workers, me who have sexual relatios with other me, users of ijectable drugs. The traiig courses available The traiig courses relatig to the prevetio ad combatig of drug abuse ad drug addictio i Algeria have ot isigificat fuds available ad give great importace to the shapig ad stregtheig of capacities i geeral; they may be divided ito two categories: regular iitial traiig for staff of the gedarmerie, police ad customs authorities ad for medical ad paramedical staff, as well as i-service traiig throughout the careers of those categories of staff; specific targeted traiig courses to meet specific eeds. It should ot be forgotte that the security services resposible for actio agaist drugs traffickig (gedarmerie, police ad customs authorities) recruit uiversity graduates as officers through competitive examiatios, subsequetly givig them vocatioal traiig which lasts 2 to 3 years. Below officer level, recruitmet is also selective, ad recruits start work oly after a traiig course lastig betwee six ad 18 moths. The targeted traiig courses iclude those orgaised by the Health Miistry for medical ad paramedical staff i the cotext of implemetatio of the atioal actio 28 Natioal Strategic Pla agaist STDs/HIV/AIDS

35 35 pla for dealig with drug addicts, ad more particularly the project for the settig up of a large umber of treatmet ad care cetres for drug addicts. I fact, sice 2008, the Miistry has orgaised courses for specific groups i tur who are destied to work i the ew drug addict treatmet cetres, etailig oe day a week of traiig over a period of three moths, the groups cocered beig geeral practitioers, psychiatrists, psychologists ad paramedical staff. I this cotext, the Natioal Office for the Fight agaist Drug Abuse ad Drug Addictio, i co-operatio with the Health Miistry ad the Pompidou Group, orgaised four traiig semiars i 2008 o dealig with drug addicts (154 people i all beefited from these semiars i the coutry s four mai regios). A umber of Algeria doctors have also take part i the traiig o substitutio treatmet orgaised by the Pompidou Group i various coutries of the regio i the cotext of MedNET activities. Four regioal traiig semiars o project orgaisatio were also orgaised i 2009 by the Natioal Office for the Fight agaist Drug Abuse ad Drug Addictio, i partership with the Pompidou Group, for o fewer tha 150 maagers from associatios from all of Algeria s wilayas (provices), i the cotext of the MedNET programme of actio. This traiig was led by Algeria ad Frech istructors. A pla to start a uiversity-level addictology module is uder discussio betwee the relevat departmets of the Health ad Higher Educatio Miistries. Fight agaist corruptio ad moey lauderig Algeria, which suffers all kids of hardships related to iteratioal orgaised crime, has made its respose part of the global process of fightig agaist orgaised crime, particularly moey lauderig, the fiacig of terrorism, drugs traffickig, corruptio ad arms traffickig. It has implemeted the UN Security Coucil resolutios o prevetig ad combatig terrorism ad has ratified the UN Covetio agaist Illicit Traffic i Narcotic Drugs ad Psychotropic Substaces, the iteratioal Covetio agaist Trasatioal Orgaised Crime ad the Arab ad Africa Covetios o the prevetio ad combatig of terrorism. Domestically, the Algeria authorities have adopted a rage of measures to itesify the fight agaist corruptio ad moey lauderig. These ecompass: Order No of 09/07/1996 o the prevetio of ifrigemets of the legislatio ad regulatios o currecy exchage ad capital movemets to ad from other coutries (Official Gazette No. 43 of 10/07/1996, p. 8).

36 36 The settig up i 2002 of a fiacial itelligece processig uit (Executive Decree No of 07/04/2002). The edig of bakig secrecy for the beefit of the fiacial itelligece processig uit; Fiace Act of 2003, Articles 104 to 110. The promulgatio i 2004, of Laws Nos ad of 10 November 2004 makig moey lauderig ad trasatioal orgaised crime offeces. The promulgatio i 2005 of the outlie law o the prevetio ad combatig of moey lauderig ad the fiacig of terrorism, Law No of 06/02/2005 (Official Gazette No. 11 of 09/02/2005, p. 3). Provisios have also bee icluded i the Code of Crimial Procedure (CPP) eablig police officers to keep uder surveillace ot oly ayoe suspected of participatig i offeces relatig to drugs traffickig, trasatioal orgaised crime, moey lauderig, terrorism or iterferece with automated data processig systems, but also objects, assets ad other proceeds of those offeces (Arts. 16 ad 16 bis of the CPP). It also has to be said that Regulatio No of 28/11/2012 states that baks, fiacial establishmets ad the fiacial services of the Algeria Post Office must adopt a writte programme o the prevetio, detectio ad combatig of moey lauderig ad the fiacig of terrorism. I additio, those establishmets are, i accordace with that regulatio, required to have a trasactio moitorig system which eables suspect activities to be detected. To that ed, baks are required to ascertai the origi ad destiatio of capital, the purpose of trasactios ad the idetity of those ivolved. Baks ad fiacial establishmets are required, whe a electroic trasfer is made, to idetify accurately the perso makig ad the perso receivig the trasfer, as well as the addresses of both parties. Where iteratioal istrumets are cocered, Algeria has acceded to the UN Covetio agaist Corruptio (UNCAC), ratified by Presidetial Decree No of 19/04/2004, ad to the Africa Uio Covetio o Prevetig ad Combatig Corruptio, ratified by Presidetial Decree No of 10/04/2006. It is also a foudermember of the Middle East ad North Africa Fiacial Actio Task Force (MENAFATF) ad of the EGMONT Group, a discussio forum for fiacial itelligece uits. Algeria has siged umerous bilateral covetios o judicial co-operatio, with coutries icludig the USA, Frace, the Uited Kigdom, Saudi Arabia, Bahrai ad Lebao.

37 37 Ad fially, Algeria has three bodies to prevet ad combat corruptio, moey lauderig ad the fiacig of terrorism. These are: the atioal orgaisatio for the prevetio ad combatig of corruptio (ONPLC)( the cetral office for the prevetio of corruptio (OCPC), the fiacial itelligece processig uit (CTRF) ( O the traceability frot, thigs do ot actually happe i such a way as to eable all these istrumets ad bodies to be effective ad efficiet i the prevetio ad combatig of moey lauderig. I fact, cash paymets across the whole rage of commercial trasactios are very commo, eve stadard practice. Few paymets are made via bak trasfer or cheque, particularly by private idividuals or legal etities, eve whe the sums cocered are large. Thus civil society s associatios active i the prevetio of corruptio ad moey lauderig assert that major moey-lauderig operatios do occur, especially i the property sector ad i the iformal commercial activity which is very widespread i Algeria. Iteratioal ad regioal co-operatio Drug traffickig beig, as is well kow, basically a trasatioal orgaised crime which geerates huge amouts of moey, it ca be combated oly through cocerted iteratioal actio. Algeria, which grasped this eed very rapidly, soo ratified the iteratioal covetios o the fight agaist drugs whe it gaied its idepedece, ad it has carried out its activities i the iteratioal cotext i accordace with the esuig obligatios. The settig up of the ONLCDT as a iteratioal coordiator ad iterface has eabled Algeria to broade ad itesify its field of actio at iteratioal level, ad to carry out co-operatio activities o a bilateral, regioal ad iteratioal basis. Iteratioal co-operatio Algeria regularly takes part i the aual meetigs of the Uited Natios Office o Drugs ad Crime ad cotributes to the draftig ad discussio of its various resolutios. It presets reports o the chagig drugs situatio i Algeria ad o the implemetatio of the various recommedatios of that Office ad of other UN bodies i geeral.

38 38 The Natioal Office for the Fight agaist Drug Abuse ad Drug Addictio also takes care to complete all the questioaires draw up by the Iteratioal Narcotics Cotrol Board (INCB), i co-operatio with the various atioal bodies cocered, ad it returs these by the set time limits. Algeria also joied Iterpol over 50 years ago ad regularly takes part i its activities, cofereces ad meetigs. Regioal co-operatio I the cotext of regioal co-operatio, Algeria atteds the aual meetigs of the Heads of Natioal Drug Law Eforcemet Agecies, HONLEA Africa, which is a regioal istrumet of the UNODC ad which provides a framework for Africa coutries to cosult, exchage experiece ad make proposals to the iteratioal agecies o behalf of Africa as a whole. It is also active amogst Arab states i the cotext of the aual meetigs of the Coucil of Arab Miisters of the Iterior. That Coucil is a co-operatio istrumet set up by the League of Arab States ad is resposible for security issues ad for combatig orgaised crime ad drugs traffickig. There is also aother framework for regioal co-operatio which eables Algeria to develop quality activities, amely the Mediterraea etwork for co-operatio o drugs ad addictios, MedNET. The etwork, set up i 2006 by the Coucil of Europe s Pompidou Group, aims to promote co-operatio ad the exchage ad two-way trasfer of kowledge betwee South Mediterraea coutries ad Europea coutries which are members of the Pompidou Group ad doors. I this cotext, Algeria has played a active part i the activities orgaised sice 2006, both i Algeria ad i other member states of the etwork, particularly i the fields of exchages, research ad the stregtheig of the capacities of the differet stakeholders: officials ad policy-makers, medical ad paramedical staff, security service officials, judges, officials of associatios, ad so o. Algeria officials have, moreover, o may occasios expressed satisfactio with the results of this regioal co-operatio. Bilateral co-operatio At bilateral level, Algeria egages i co-operatio activities with several coutries i Africa, Europe ad America, as well as Arab states, maily o judicial, security ad ati-terrorism issues.

39 39 Where the fight agaist drugs ad drug addictio is cocered, the Natioal Office for the Fight agaist Drug Abuse ad Drug Addictio has special liks with the Frech Iter-Miisterial Missio agaist Drug Abuse (MILDECA). There have bee several practical activities i this cotext: study ad fact-fidig visits have bee by several groups of Algeria officials to the Frech bodies resposible for the various aspects of the prevetio ad combatig of drug abuse ad drug addictio ad the treatmet of drug addicts, Frech experts have led semiars ad cofereces held i Algeria, traiig operatios have bee supervised, ad so o. Data availability Algeria has a specialised public statistics agecy, the Natioal Statistics Office (ONS), 29 which was set up i It is resposible for collectig, processig ad dissemiatig statistics i various fields. The mai periodical publicatios produced by the Office are: cosumer prices, idustrial ad agricultural productio idices; social statistics, for example relatig to Algeria s populatio ad demographics, health, employmet, housig ad educatio; classificatios such as georefereces, socio-professioal categories ad occupatios. The Natioal Office for the Fight agaist Drug Abuse ad Drug Addictio cetralises iformatio ad figures relatig to the prevetio ad puishmet of drug use ad the treatmet of drug addicts. Its aual reports cotai statistics relatig to seizures of drugs, the ways i which the courts deal with offeces agaist drug regulatios ad legislatio, ad the treatmet of drug addicts. It has to be said i this cotext that the fial report o the comprehesive atioal epidemiological survey 30 o the prevalece of drugs i Algeria, coducted i 2010, is a importat source of qualitative iformatio about the differet aspects of the drugs situatio i Algeria. The differet departmets hold iformatio about their ow resposibilities ad roles: law-eforcemet agecies, Health Miistry, Justice Miistry, Educatio Miistry, etc. 29 Natioal Statistics Office (ONS): 30 ONLCDT, Fial report o the survey, September 2010.

40 40 The outlook for 2014 I 2014, for the fourth cosecutive year, Algeria cotiues to implemet its atioal strategy for the period agaist drug use ad drug addictio. It is recommeded uder that strategy that istitutioal, legal ad regulatory arragemets be cosolidated, alog with iter-sectoral coordiatio ad operatioal studies ad research. The strategy also requires a stregtheig of atioal ad iteratioal parterships. I order to facilitate implemetatio, the strategy icludes a operatioal programme of actio with the mai aim of sigificatly reducig the prevalece of drugs i society. To that ed, the strategy specifies objectives for each player, the actio to be take to achieve these, assessmet istrumets ad verificatio sources. Where research is cocered, the Natioal Office for the Fight agaist Drug Abuse ad Drug Addictio has started the process of a atioal survey of the prevalece of drug use i (middle ad secodary) schools. A restricted atioal tederig process was started o 11/08/2013 to choose the cosultacy to be resposible for that survey. After the teders submitted by the deadlie had bee examied, it was decided to accept oe of them. Accordig to its officials, the Natioal Office will i the ear future coduct a limited tederig process i accordace with Algeria s procuremet code. I additio, the Health Miistry will cotiue i 2014 to create ad ope treatmet cetres as plaed uder the 2007 project, i order to improve the system of care ad treatmet for drug addicts. The traiig of medical ad paramedical staff will also cotiue, so that the ew cetres have operatioal staff, thus esurig their success. The plaed itroductio of a uiversity addictology module will probably come to fruitio at the start of the ext academic year, i September Those are the mai operatios expected to be completed durig Specific theme MedNET, a quality framework for regioal co-operatio Over the past two years, Algeria has participated less i the activities carried out uder the MedNET programme of actio because of the istability experieced

41 41 durig that period by the Natioal Office for the Fight agaist Drug Abuse ad Drug Addictio. The etwork, steered by the Pompidou Group, without a shadow of doubt cotiues to be a exemplary framework for co-operatio withi the regio. Ideed, the activities coducted o both shores of the Mediterraea have eabled hudreds of officials to travel i oe directio or the other. Maagers ad experts from both shores have worked together, miglig ad forgig lastig relatioships, very ofte leadig to friedships. If that were the oly result, it would be well worth while i its ow right. But those activities have also had other, o less importat results. I Algeria s case, a multitude of activities carried out i this framework have etailed: the orgaisatio of several study ad fact-fidig visits to Frace, Spai, Italy ad Portugal for various groups of Algeria maagers ad officials; the participatio of Algeria represetatives i semiars ad cofereces o various subjects held i Morocco, Egypt, Lebao, Jorda, Frace, Italy ad Switzerlad; the orgaisatio i Algeria of several semiars ad cofereces o subjects of iterest to Algerias at the highest level, such as the role of scietific research i the framig of drug policies, sythetic drugs, chemical precursors of drugs, the role of civil society i prevetig drug use, treatmet orders as a alterative to priso for drug addicts, ad so o; the orgaisatio of traiig activities i the various regios of the coutry with a view to capacity buildig, with 154 people attedig traiig o the care ad treatmet of drug addicts ad 150 officials from associatios receivig traiig o project preparatio ad implemetatio; participatio i several sessios of the high-level coferece of the Pompidou Group s Mediterraea etwork. All those activities have bee led by Algeria ad Europea experts as well as experts from other coutries o the souther shore of the Mediterraea. It should be oted that all the activities held i Algeria have beefited from very itesive media coverage. Thus broad sectios of society have bee iformed about the subjects dealt with, had their awareess of them raised ad cosequetly bee able to appreciate the work doe ad results achieved, i the same way as the officials of the istitutios cocered by those activities.

42 42 Coclusios 2 It is clear from the above that a affirmed ad resolute political will exists i Algeria to joi the iteratioal fight agaist drug use ad addictio ad to coduct a reletless all-out war agaist the scourge of drugs. That political will has bee reflected i Algeria s accessio to the various iteratioal covetios o the fight agaist drugs ad drug addictio ad i the makig available to the istitutios ad stakeholders cocered of cosiderable fiacial resources. The settig up of the Natioal Office for the Fight agaist Drug Abuse ad Drug Addictio as a istitutio specialisig i framig drug policy, i moitorig implemetatio of the policy ad i coordiatig the activities udertake by all sectors was a qualitative turig poit i dealig with the problems associated with drug use ad drugs traffickig. The atioal survey o the prevalece of drugs i Algeria provided better kowledge of the situatio ad made it possible to steer the ati-drugs strategy more effectively. The curret schools survey will surely improve kowledge of the situatio i Algeria s schools. A cosiderable effort has also bee made i terms of border cotrols ad actio agaist drugs traffickig i geeral, as well as i the settig up of treatmet facilities for drug addicts. Nevertheless, some aspects have ot beefited from sufficiet attetio, examples beig civil society s cotributio to drugs prevetio, the protectio of vulerable groups, risk reductio, substitutio treatmet ad the itroductio of a reliable system for collectig, processig ad dissemiatig iformatio ad data relatig to the scourge of drugs ad drug addictio.

43 Bibliography 3 43 g g A cultural history of Algeria (i Arabic), A.E.K SAADALLAH, Ed. Dar El Gharb El Islami, Beirut, The report: Algeria 2013, Oxford Busiess Group, g La revue du CENEAP, Populatio et développemet, 35 g La revue du CENEAP, Niveau de vie et mesure de la pauvreté e Algérie 41 g g g g g g g g g g g g ONS, Algeria Demography (i Frech), 2013, ONS, Ecoomic accouts i terms of volume from 2002 to 2012 (i Frech) ONS, Ecoomic cesus 2011 (i Frech) L état de l Afrique 2014; report i the Jeue Afrique magazie, published i special issue No. 35 Comprehesive atioal epidemiological survey o the prevalece of drugs i Algeria (i Frech), Fial report, ONLCDT, Aual reports o seizures of arcotic ad psychotropic substaces by the laweforcemet agecies (i Frech), ONLCDT, coverig the years 2011, 2012 ad 2013 UNODC, World Drug Report data-ad-aalysis/wdr2011/world_drug_report_2011_ebook.pdf Strategy for the five-year period , ONLCDT Evaluatio of the Algeria Natioal Five-year Strategic Pla to prevet ad combat drug abuse ad drug addictio , summary of the fial report (i Frech), CRASC/ONLCDT, February 2010 Dealig with drug addicts, Proceedigs of the traiig semiars for doctors held i the cotext of the MedNET project (i Arabic ad Frech), September 2008, ONLCDT/Pompidou Group of the Coucil of Europe Study of the potetial lik betwee problematic drug use ad HIV/AIDS i Algeria, Survey report (i Frech), CRASC, Jue Natioal Strategic Pla agaist STDs/HIV/AIDS , Health Miistry.

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