An Algerian human rights militant who went on a hunger strike after being jailed in March in the southern city of Ghardaia has died.

The lawyer for Kamel Eddine Fekhar, a doctor in Ghardaia, which is where much of Algeria's minority Mozabite population lives, died on Tuesday in a hospital in Blida, where he had been recently transferred.

In a video on his Facebook page, lawyer Salah Dabouz said his client's death was "foreseeable" and noted the poor detention conditions that he had called to authorities' attention.

Fekhar, 52, was accused of "provoking trouble to public order." His lawyer said he had done nothing wrong.

Fekhar was known for his work on behalf of Algeria's minority populations as well as Christians and followers of the small Ahmadi Muslim sect.