Gay Travel Advisory

Algeria

Penal Code Ordinance 66-156 from 8 June 1966

Sources
  1. Text of the law is available at: https://wipolex.wipo.int/en/legislation/details/19199

Legal Code Text

Article 338 - “Any person who commits an act of homosexuality against a person of the same sex shall be punished by imprisonment from two months to two years and a fine of 500 to 2,000 dinars.”

Article 333 - “When the indecent exposure consisted of an act against nature with an individual of the same sex, the penalty is imprisonment for six months to three years and a fine of 1,000 to 10,000 dinars.”

Article 333 Reiterated - “The making or possession, importing or attempts to import for trade, distribution, for payment, copying, exhibition or display or attempts to display to the public, or for selling or attempts to sell, or distribution or engaged in the distribution of each publication, an editor or a drawing or a declaration or pictures or paintings or photographs, or the origin of the image or its template or produced anything in breach of modesty shall be punished with imprisonment from two months to two years and a fine of 500 to 2,000 dinars. A breach of decency punished by two months to two years in prison and a fine of 500 to 2,000 Algerian dinars. The punishment for those convicted of “abnormal sexual acts” is six months to three years in prison and a fine of 1,000 to 10,000 Algerian dinars.”

Sources
  1. Original text: ”Tout coupable d‘un acte d‘homo- sexualité est puni d‘un emprisonnement de deux (2) mois à deux (2) ans et d‘une amende de cinq cents (500) à deux mille (2.000) DA.”

ILGA Analysis & Notes

In the 2014 and 1982 revisions of this gender -neutral Penal Code, Article 338 outlaws “d‘homosexualité”, while Article 333 (modified) increases the penalty for public indecency if it is same-sex. The second part of Article 333 (new) makes the publication of writings, images, etc, contrary to ‘modesty’ punishable. This provision goes beyond the scope of traditional sexual behaviour-based regulation, and akin to the codes of other MENA States, targets expression of around sexual and gender diversity. An overview of the SOGI situation in Algeria in late-2014 was provided by Muftah. However, an article from October 2015 points to a resilient LGBT community despite their vilification by some religious leaders. In 2016, a gay Algerian man’s refugee asylum claim to the UK was rejected, in part based on the lack of prosecutions or arrests in recent years, but it evidently did not account for the extremes of family and societal shame, threats and violence that pervades rural and urban Algeria regarding diverse sexual orientations in men and women. In its 2nd cycle UPR in May 2012, Algeria ‘noted’ (functionally rejected) two recommendations (Spain and Canada) to decriminalize same-sex sexual relations, “and take measures to ensure equality and non-discrimination on all grounds” in conformity with Articles 17 and 26 (privacy and non-discrimination) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Algeria’s 3rd cycle UPR commences in May 2017.

Continued to enforce Articles 333 and 338 of the Penal Code (1966) through 2023, including an undisclosed number of arrests in northern Algeria (March 2023) for 'magic, sorcery and homosexuality.' No change to the underlying law.