17 - 23 May 2001
Issue No.534
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 17 - 23 May 2001 Issue No.534 |
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Commission into chaos
Algerian President Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika announced two investigation commissions 15 days ago, but they are still in the formative stage. Nasr El-Kaffas reports from Algiers
With 40 citizens killed in only four days, the investigations into the reasons behind the tragedy have every Algerian citizen holding his or her breath. For some observers, such committees are not always useful: "Forming committees is one way of burying the issue." There is some hope, however, that this time things will be different.
Assa'd Mohaned, head of the national commission of inquiry, seems determined to thoroughly investigate the events preceding and following the death in police custody of Guermah Massinissa in Beni Doula. The killing of the teenage student has threatened to open all the carefully concealed divisions in Algerian society. A respected jurist originally from Kabyle, Mohaned is expected to help alleviate tension in the Berber region. Kabyle is long known as the hotbed of opposition both to Muslim fundamentalism and the military-backed secular regime in Algiers.
The appointment of the national commission of inquiry team has itself emerged as a problem, with reports of prominent national figures and members of civil society rejecting Mohaned's appeal to join the commission. Mohaned claimed such reports "untrue" and confirmed that "membership in the commission is open to all trustworthy national figures and not to political parties."
He then announced that he had contacted the editors-in-chief of six independent papers, but all of them declined to join the commission of inquiry. For his part, Mohaned refused to reveal any names, but soon enough, all the details appeared in the newspapers.
Moreover, reports that Khalida Massaoudi, a well-known member of the berber Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD) party, would join the team in spite of her withdrawal from the ruling coalition were also dismissed by Mohaned.
Obviously disappointed by all the fuss, Mohaned cut the story short, announcing that the inquiry would begin shortly. "Our primary objective will be to prepare a report about the violence and this report will be handed to the country's highest authorities," he added.
The People's Assembly will establish a second commission of inquiry, to consist of 11 members of parliament. The Assembly has called on citizens and civil society organisations to testify in order to unravel the real reasons behind last month's chaos. However, the commission's mission appears somewhat difficult, particularly since MPs from the RCD and the Socialist Forces Front (FFS) did not attend the voting session that created the commission. Almost 30 MPs left parliament in protest.
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