On 17 January 2012, Alkarama submitted to the UN Special Procedures information regarding the arrest of Dr. Mourad Dhina and the extradition request made by the Algerian authorities, and asked them to urgently intervene with the French authorities. The four Special Rapporteurs who made an urgent appeal to the Permanent Mission of France in Geneva have received a response from the French authorities which aims to be "reassuring".
Since Dr. Mourad Dhina's arrest on January 16, Alkarama has regularly met with the Special Procedures, and on February 10, four of these Procedures submitted a joint appeal to the Permanent Mission of France. The Special Procedures expressed their, "grave concerns for the physical and mental integrity of Mr. Dhina, if he were to be extradited to his home country," recalling that, "the international arrest warrant issued by the Algerian authorities...and the subsequent demand for provisional arrest with the intention to extradite intend to punish his political activism." Aside from reminding the French authorities of the relevant articles of international human rights treaties to which France is a state party, the Special Procedures also asked France to provide them with accurate information concerning, "the preliminary steps taken in order to protect the rights of Mr. Dhina," and further details regarding the procedure in progress.
Though the Permanent Mission of France, in their response dated 8 May 2012, does not produce any answers with regards to the current judicial procedure, recalling, "the constitutional principle of judicial authority," they do attempt to "reassure" the Special Procedures by affirming that, "the French justice system contains (...) firm guarantees that the risks which the UN Special Rapporteurs have brought to the attention of the Government will not become reality". The Mission also reminded the UN that it is the responsibility of the Court to "consider whether or not the described facts can provide grounds for extraditing a person to a foreign state," and that "any negative decision issued by [the court] insurmountably blocks the extradition".
On 20 June, the extradition request made by the Algerian authorities for Dr. Dhina was again examined in the Paris Court. Before all of the incoherencies and the evidently political nature of the extradition request, the General Prosecutor described the Algerian regime's demand as "grotesque" and requested an unfavorable opinion of the Court. The final decision will be issued by the Court on 4 July, on the eve of the celebration of Algerian Independence.