Kamel Daoud, objeto de dos órdenes de detención internacionales

On Tuesday, May 6, 2025, Le Figaro confirmed a report from Le Point that two international arrest warrants have been issued against Franco-Algerian writer Kamel Daoud by a judge at the Oran tribunal. The first was sent via Interpol Algeria in March; the second followed in early May. These proceedings stem from multiple legal complaints filed in Algeria concerning Houris, Daoud’s novel that won the 2024 Prix Goncourt.

The Algerian judiciary is basing its case primarily on Article 46 of Ordinance No. 2006-01 of February 27, 2006, which implements the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation. This law criminalizes any public reference to the Algerian civil war (the “Black Decade”) that may “undermine the institutions of the Republic, weaken the State, damage the honor of its agents […] or tarnish Algeria’s image internationally.” The prescribed penalties range from three to five years in prison, doubled in the event of a repeat offense, and fines of 250,000 to 500,000 Algerian dinars.

On this legal basis, Houris, which recounts civil war massacres through the perspective of a female survivor, has been banned in Algeria. Additionally, in November 2024, a second complaint was filed against Daoud for alleged violation of privacy, with a woman claiming the author drew from her medical records without consent. Daoud disputes the allegation, insisting Houris is a fictional work rooted in his journalistic investigations during the 1990s.

These two fronts, alleged violation of the reconciliation law and breach of privacy, form the foundation of the two international arrest warrants issued by the Oran tribunal.

Daoud’s lawyer, Jacqueline Laffont, condemned the procedure as politically motivated. She announced that an immediate request had been submitted to Interpol’s Commission for the Control of Files, challenging the warrants as abusive under Article 3 of Interpol’s Constitution, which states: “It is strictly forbidden for the Organization to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.” Based on this, the mandates are expected to be rejected as politically motivated and swiftly removed from Interpol databases.

From a legal and diplomatic standpoint, Daoud is protected by:

• Interpol procedures are specifically designed to prevent political abuse. In Kamel Daoud’s case, the arrest warrants clearly constitute judicial harassment. As such, they will likely be ruled inadmissible and removed from international databases.
• Invoke the protection of France, of which he is a citizen. France does not recognize the criminalization of artistic expression and can provide diplomatic and legal support.
• Rely on international literary and legal networks, by activating NGOs such as PEN International, Reporters Without Borders, or Human Rights Watch to publicly defend his case and exert pressure on Interpol and Algeria.
• Respond in the media by denouncing this attempt to suppress historical memory and publishing op-eds or testimonies exposing past violence by the Algerian state.

Media response and public support could also be mobilized to denounce the silencing of historical memory and highlight past state violence.

These arrest warrants reflect a broader strategy of judicial repression targeting dissenting voices on Algeria’s civil war narrative. Using the reconciliation law to pursue a France-based writer marks an alarming escalation by the Algerian security apparatus.

This is not merely a literary dispute, it’s a warning: documenting or narrating the past without state approval can now trigger transnational legal consequences.

For now, Kamel Daoud remains safe in France, but this case tests the strength of international protections against authoritarian misuse of mechanisms like Interpol.

Abderrahmane Fares.