A/HRC/13/42* page 108 1. Algeria 216. In its latest report on Algeria, dated 26 May 2008, the Committee against Torture expressed its concern that secret detention centres existed in Algeria, run by the Department of Information and Security (DRS). In this connection, the Committee made reference to reports of the existence of secret detention centres run by the Department in its military barracks in Antar, in the Hydra district of Algiers, which are outside the control of the courts.416 In its comments on the conclusions and recommendations of the Committee, Algeria “categorically refuted the allegations with regard to alleged places of detention that reportedly lie outside the reach of the law. In all the time that they have been promoting subversion and attacking republican institutions, the people making such allegations have never been able to put forward any documentary evidence.” Furthermore, the State Party affirmed that “it exercises its authority over all places of detention under its jurisdiction and that it has been granting permission for visits by independent national and international institutions for more than eight years.”417 217. In its response to a questionnaire about the present study (see annex I), the Government of Algeria stated that secret detention was not used by the police services of Algeria; the law precluded such practice. The methods for dealing with terrorism were within a strict legal framework, with investigations to be carried out within allowed time limits, and with magistrates being informed. In an emergency situation in the context of counter-terrorism threatening the public order, a presidential decree may be made of a state of emergency, notified to the United Nations, authorizing the Minister for the Interior to take measures of house arrest as administrative internment. It was in this context, controlled by presidential decree, that such rare and exceptional measures may be taken. This was believed to be an effective measure in the effort against terrorism. 218. In its briefing to the Committee against Torture, Amnesty International also referred to “a persistent pattern of secret detention and torture” by the DRS, noting that the barracks where detainees were held in secret detention were “situated in an area surrounded by forest, concealed from public view and not accessible to the public”.418 219. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has reported on two cases in Algeria in recent years, as described below. 220. M’hamed Benyamina, an Algerian national domiciled in France since 1997 and married to a French national since 1999, was arrested on 9 September 2005 at Oran airport in Algeria by plainclothes policemen. He was held for six months in a secret place of detention, and was released in March 2006 following a presidential amnesty decree concerning the implementation of the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation of 27 February 2006. On 2 April 2006, he 416 CAT/C/DZA/CO/3, para. 6. 417 CAT/C/DZA/CO/3/Add.1, paras. 14-15. 418 Amnesty International, “Algeria: briefing to the Committee against Torture”, 17 April 2008. Available from www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/docs/ngos/AI-AlgeriaApril2008.pdf.