A/HRC/52/12 8. These consultations had made it possible to adopt an approach that was free from the political adventurism of a transition period without deadlines and to opt for the process that would confer constitutional legitimacy on the relevant institutions, by allowing the people to express their will through an electoral process that began on 12 December 2019 and resulted in the election of Abdelmadjid Tebboune as President of the Republic. 9. The newly elected President had proceeded, in line with his campaign promises, to initiate far-reaching reforms, including the preparation of a draft revised constitution, which was approved by the people through a referendum held on 1 November 2020. The new Constitution included important amendments that enshrined fundamental rights, civil liberties and the balanced separation of powers, strengthened the independence of the judiciary, promoted human rights and ensured transparent governance. 10. In this context, numerous texts had been harmonized, new laws had been introduced and many national institutions had been established to help promote and protect collective and individual freedoms. 11. Algeria believed in pluralism, supported the principle of the universality of human rights and rejected any attempt to impose a single unified model of social or political organization or a unilateral vision based on foreign values that did not take into account the philosophical, civilizational, historical, cultural and religious differences between States. Freedom of expression should not be used as a pretext for showing a lack of respect for monotheistic religions, their symbols and the beliefs of different peoples. 12. Democracy was not compatible with behaviour that undermined personal dignity, just as freedom of opinion, expression and assembly could not be based on the logic of subversion, calls for insubordination or even separatism, or attempts to circumvent the electoral process in order to gain access to power through unconstitutional means. 13. Freedom of opinion and expression should not be a tool for subversion or a means of encouraging violence or hate speech that can damage the social fabric. 14. The Minister of Justice also stated that, in Algeria, crimes of opinion and press offences did not exist and journalists were not imprisoned for doing their job. He criticized the deliberate exploitation on social media of a handful of cases involving prosecutions under ordinary law that had nothing to do with freedom of expression. 15. Terrorism was a transnational problem and a real threat both to human societies and to the security and stability of countries. 16. In this context, the Minister of Justice noted that it was pointless to envisage a coordinated legislative response to this type of crime and that democratic societies offered freedom that was exploited by terrorists to promote intolerance, exclusion of the other, and rejection of the notion of living together in peace. 17. Terrorists were developing their capacity for survival and sometimes used human rights as a cover, exploiting legal, political, media and, on occasion, trade union frameworks, especially via social networks, and employing their tools to attack diversity and marginal groups, to feed hatred against institutions and to incite civil disobedience and separatism. 18. With regard to freedom of association, the Minister of Justice noted that a new law guaranteeing freedom to engage in trade union activities had been drawn up and that there were 160 workers’ unions. 19. Freedom of worship and religion was enshrined in the Constitution, could be exercised in accordance with the law, without any discrimination, and was protected by the State against any political or ideological influence, pursuant to article 51 of the Constitution. The provisions governing Islamic and other religious worship were in line with article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the allegations of prohibitions, restrictions and prosecutions relating to the performance of religious rituals were unfounded, especially as the prosecutions in question were being brought under ordinary law. 20. Efforts had been made to improve conditions of detention. Over the previous four years, 21 new prisons had been opened and 13 prisons had been closed. In the previous three GE.22-27762 3