26 April - 2 May 2001
Issue No.531
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 26 April - 2 May 2001 Issue No.531 |
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Algerian agitation
Books, demonstrations, magazines, protests: Algerians are again challenging their government over its human rights record. Khaled Dawoud reports
Algerian prosecutors announced on Tuesday an investigation of a former army officer who fled to France after accusing his colleagues of massacring civilians. Habib Souaidia, a former lieutenant in Algeria's airborne special forces, is author of the book "The Dirty War," published in France in February. Souaidia's book claims that massacres by Algeria's Islamic extremists were matched by atrocities committed by government forces. The investigation was prompted by a recent interview in which Souaidia called for a "rebellion against Algerian institutions," the state attorney's office said in a statement. Souaidia, 32, gave his interview to French magazine Courrier International. The state attorney's office said it had begun investigations under a section of the penal code which covers threats to national security, including inciting armed rebellion against the state.
Souaidia's book caused a furore in both France and Algeria. Former Algerian Defence Minister Khaled Nizar went to Paris this week to refute Souaidia's claims. Nizar was in charge when the government decided to cancel the results of elections in early 1992 after it became clear that Islamists had scored a major victory. Others rebutted Souaidia's claims, too. Over 100 Algerian intellectuals published a statement in numerous Arab, European and international newspapers, denying that the army was responsible for the violence that scarred Algeria. The intellectuals instead blamed Islamic rebels, especially hardline groups such as the Armed Islamic Group (AIG), for atrocities against civilians. The intellectuals also pointed out that the Islamic groups themselves have repeatedly issued statements accepting responsibility for nearly all the massacres.
The state attorney chose to sue Souaidia the day after an Algerian opposition figure urged the UN Human Rights Commission, currently holding its annual session in Geneva, to "break the wall of silence" on rights violations in his country. In an open letter to the Commission, Hussein Ayet-Ahmed, head of the Socialist Forces Front (FFS), called for an international investigation into the human rights situation in Algeria.
Ayet-Ahmed, in exile in Switzerland since Algeria's presidential elections two years ago, met Monday with the chairman of this year's session, Leandro Despouy of Argentina. "We hope that an international investigation will help open closed doors, which have become a guarantee of impunity for all forms of violence," said Ayet-Ahmed, whose party stronghold is in the northeastern Kabylie region.
Violence had disfigured that region in recent days. Last Wednesday protesters rioted after police accidentally shot a teenager dead. On Sunday, there were complaints alleging police brutality. The unrest coincided with the 21st anniversary of the "Berber spring" of 1980, when demonstrators demanding formal recognition of Berber language and culture were violently subdued by police.
Ayet-Ahmed blamed the government for the disturbances. The government, "activated different networks of political militia to create a climate of terror in Kabylie in order to discourage non-violent demonstrations to commemorate the 'Berber spring'," he said. Ayet-Ahmed also argued that the surge in violence "has allowed the authorities to justify once more the distribution of weapons to civilians." He denounced what he called "the militarisation of society," especially the establishment of so-called "legitimate defence groups."
Souaidia and Ayet-Ahmed have not been alone in condemning abuses in Algeria. More than 200 Algerian journalists brought traffic to a stand in central Algiers on Sunday during a protest against draft laws they fear will stifle press freedom. The journalists gathered in front of parliament, where politicians were debating the new laws. They sat in the street, blocking traffic for over an hour, chanting, "Ahmed Ouyahia, go home!"
Ahmed Ouyahia is Algeria' justice minister. Inside parliament, he urged the 380 members to defend the draft law, which stiffens punishments for "libelling" the state. "We are here to say 'no' to this law and explain its dangers to the deputies. It stifles press freedom and promotes censorship," said Rabah Abdallah, head of the Journalists' National Union, which organised the protest. If the law is passed, fines for slander and libel will double to up to five million dinars ($65,000). The maximum jail sentence will rise to three years from two. Echoing complaints by senior government and military officials of a rise in libellous reports in independent newspapers, Ouyahia told parliament, "Defamation and insult have become daily practice in the Algerian press. The government is forced to take action." When deputies will vote on the bill is not known.
The journalists' union pledged to fight on, though most journalists are resigned to the bill's passage without major change because pro-government deputies hold a two-thirds majority in the house. Police were inconspicuous at the demonstration. No violence or arrests were reported.
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