101 Mr. Lawlor asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the appointment of a special rapporteur from the Human Rights Commission to look into the estimated 200,000 deaths over the past ten years in Algeria; and if he will request a formal UN mandate for the special rapporteur on torture and extra-judicial executions to investigate the continuing reports of widespread torture by the Algerian authorities. [11020/01]

I refer the Deputy to my written replies of 20 and 22 March to the questions tabled by Deputies Spring, Durkan, Gregory and O'Sullivan on this issue. In those replies I stated: