The panelists highlighted ongoing repression in Algeria, including the closure of all but one of the EPA’s churches along with non-EPA affiliated churches, spurious prosecutions against church leaders and members including Pastor Youssef, and prosecutions of a large number of Algeria’s Ahmadis. Algeria relies on unjust and vaguely worded laws, including the 06-03 ordinance governing non-Muslim worship, which regulates the provision of permits to places of worship and outlaws “shaking the faith of a Muslim.”

Over several years, the EPA and the Ahmadiyya Community have made several attempts to apply for status of religious associations through the proper channels but have either received dubious reasons for rejection or no response at all. 

Windsor encouraged the British Government to prioritise the concerns around religious freedom in Algeria in their diplomatic engagement, to develop a deeper understanding of the implications more broadly of security and stability where religious freedom is violated, and to look at what consequences could be applied with multilateral coordination to ensure the Algerian Government cannot persecute its minorities with impunity.

In early 2023, RFI documented these issues in a country overview of the religious freedom conditions in Algeria and a longer religious freedom landscape report published in 2022.