Police in Algeria raided a worship service at a humanitarian shelter on 4 September and detained all twelve Christians present on suspicion of holding an unauthorised non-Muslim religious service.
The House of Refuge in L’Ayaida, 36 km east of Oran, shelters vulnerable women and their families. Authorities ordered the closure of its worship hall in October 2019 but Christians continued to meet for church services in one of the apartments on the premises, which have reportedly been under surveillance.
During the raid police seized Christian literature, mobile phones and identity cards and brought the twelve Christians to the Bethioua police station. The women were released to be questioned the following morning, while the men were held until late at night, some until 3 am.
Morning Star News described the raid as “part of a long-standing pattern of judicial harassment against Christians in Algeria, particularly in the Oran Region”. It reported on 14 September that the twelve Christians had not yet been brought before a prosecutor, but said it is feared that they could be charged under Ordinance 06-03, which was introduced in 2006 to govern non-Muslim worship.
It criminalises collective worship outside the officially-approved state framework or any action deemed to “shake the faith of a Muslim” and punishment can range from two to five years in prison and fines of 500,000 to 1 million Algerian dinars (around €3220 to €6440).
The 2006 law requires non-Muslim worship buildings to be licensed, but all applications for new licences have been ignored (although the historical churches are allowed to have buildings). Because of this many churches have sought protection by affiliating with l’Église Protestante d’Algérie (EPA), the umbrella organisation of Protestant churches in Algeria, which had legal status before 2006.
Since November 2017 the authorities have cracked down on the EPA, closing all but one of its 47 affiliated church buildings plus at least ten unaffiliated church buildings.
Since December 2020 at least 52 Christians, most of them pastors, have been prosecuted on faith-related charges such as blasphemy and proselytism, including the EPA’s President Salaheddine Chalah and Vice-President Youssef Ourahmane. While some have spent time in prison, most are waiting for their appeals to be heard in the Supreme Court.
Vice-President Youssef Ourahmane (pictured) founded the refuge in L’Ayaida where the twelve Christians were detained. In May 2024 he lost his appeal against his one-year prison sentence for organising a retreat (his sentence had been reduced from two years at a previous appeal) but he remains out of prison pending an appeal to the Supreme Court.
In July 2024 Youssef and his daughter Sarah Ourahmane spoke at a side event at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva which was held to raise the issue of the persecution of Christians by the Algerian government.
Representatives sent across Algeria to resolve “church issue”
According to Morning Star News, Christians in the Béjaïa, Tizi Ouzou and Bouira regions say that in the past month authorities have been seeking to permanently resolve the “church issue” by appointing special representatives and sending them across the country to meet congregations not affiliated with the EPA and urge them to join a new Christian association project intended to replace the EPA.
This reorganisation would pave the way for churches to reopen under strict state control, subject to conditions imposed by the government.
Read Church in Chains’ Algeria Country Profile.
(Morning Star News, Church in Chains Country Profile)
Map: Church in Chains Global Guide
Photo of Youssef Ourahmane: Middle East Concern