Part 3
a) Amnesty International press release
b) Joint press release from AI and the Federation Internationale
des Droits de l'Homme (FIDH)
c) A letter from the FIS representative in the US to the UN general
secretary calling for an international investigation in the massacres
d) A press release from AI condemning the passivity of the UN
e) A press release from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
=================================
Item 3-a
* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *
AI INDEX: MDE 28/47/97
23 DECEMBER 1997
ALGERIA: WHEN THE STATE FAILS
Violence in Algeria has reached unprecedented levels this year, with the
slaughter of thousands of civilians (many of them women and children)
decapitated, mutilated or burned alive in their homes. It is not
sufficient, however, simply to catalogue the atrocities that have left
some
80,000 people dead. Beyond the grisly statistics there is a crying need
to
challenge the official version of events put forward by a government
that
washes its hands of civilian deaths by attributing sole responsibility
to
"terrorist groups."
How credible is this account?
Consider, first, that most of the recent massacres have taken place in
the
most militarized region of the country - and often in the shadow of army
barracks and security forces posts. The cries of the victims, the sounds
of
gunshots have been within earshot, and flames from burning houses have
been visible in the distance. In some cases army units with armoured
vehicles were stationed nearby, yet no one intervened to stop the
massacres. How is it possible that large bands of attackers could make
their way to a village, crossing main roads in highly controlled areas,
carry out killings over several hours and then leave, unaccosted, on
each
occasion?
Secondly, most massacres have taken place in areas where a large
percentage
of the population had voted for the now banned Islamic Salvation Front
(FIS), before the cancellation of the electoral process and the
imposition
of the state of emergency in 1992. Victims of recent massacres included
FIS supporters, people who offered either active or passive support to
armed "Islamist" groups, and individuals who had refused to join
state-armed militias. Some of the massacres have allegedly been
committed
by groups acting on the instructions, or with the consent, of certain
army
and security forces units. Is it not possible that through the
massacres,
the government is physically seeking to "eradicate" the Islamists it
has
vowed to destroy politically?
Thirdly, it may not be economic accident that the recent massacres have
clustered around the Mitidja plateau near Algiers. This is the most
fertile region of Algeria: its 500, 000 acres were once the jewel of
French
colonial agriculture. After independence, the land was nationalized
and
later farmers acquired the right to its permanent use. Recent efforts to
privatize this land have sparked intense debate, and some fear that much
of
this rich land may finally wind up in the hands of powerful interest
groups. Who stands to gain from massacres which have forced villagers
and
peasants to flee from the area?
These questions implicitly challenge the simplistic explanation -
offered
by Algerian officials to the international community - that the
atrocities
owe their sole origins to a conflict between a government that would
protect "democracy" and "terrorist groups" seeking to establish an
"Islamic" regime.
Unquestionably, armed groups calling themselves "Islamic" have committed
the worst atrocities in the name of "holy war." But likewise, terrible
abuses have been committed by those who claim to defend "democracy" and
the
rule of law.
==========================================
Item 3-b
1998/01/11
Amnesty International, the International Federation of Human
Rights (FIDH), Human Rights Watch and Reporters sans
frontie[\]res join together to appeal to the international
community to act now to address the deteriorating human rights
situation in Algeria, and are calling on members of the United
Nations Commission on Human Rights to convene a Special
Session on the human rights situation in Algeria. As the UN body
with primary responsibility for the promotion and protection of
human rights, we look to the Commission on Human Rights to
provide leadership in seeking solutions to this human rights
tragedy.
The last year has seen the longest, most intense spell of
violence since the beginning of the conflict in Algeria five
years ago. Violence which has taken a new and terrifying turn
with the massacre of civilians.
Thousands of people -- women and children, the poor and elderly
--have been massacred with unspeakable brutality. Some of those
lucky enough to have escaped having their throats cut or being
burned alive in their homes have reached nearby security forces
posts and called for help. In vain.
Their cries have not been heard in their country, or beyond their
national borders. Up to 80,000 people have been killed behind a
virtual wall of silence on the part of the international
community.
Recent statements of the UN Secretary-General, the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights, UNICEF and the UNHCR condemning
the massacres of civilians and other human rights abuses in
Algeria go some way towards breaking through the barriers of
silence surrounding the crisis. But words are not enough.
The international community has for too long turned a blind eye
to the plight of the victims in Algeria, despite the warnings
sounded by human rights organizations. The UN Commission on Human
Rights has so far not scrutinized the situation. It is time to
take concrete action to end this spiral of violence and to ensure
the protection of the civilian population.
The need to investigate and reveal the truth is the first step to
finding solutions to this human rights tragedy. For this reason,
we are calling for the establishment of an international
investigation to ascertain the facts, examine allegations of
responsibility and to make recommendations in respect of the
massacres and other abuses by all sides in Algeria. Such an
investigation has to be provided with broad powers, adequate
staff and resources. It should collect evidence, statements,
including testimony from victims, witnesses and responsible
officials, to discover the truth.
Since the outbreak of the current conflict in 1992, extrajudicial
executions, deliberate and arbitrary killings, torture, rape,
"disappearances" and hostage-taking have become routine. The
large-scale massacres of civilians over the past year have taken
place against a background of increasingly widespread human
rights abuses by security forces, state-armed militias and armed
Islamist groups, which have increasingly targeted and terrorized
civilians. Disregard for human rights has become the rule rather
than the exception. This is despite the fact that Algeria has
ratified important international and regional human rights
treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the African
Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.
Time after time, the Algerian Government has simply failed to
investigate these abuses by its own forces and by armed
opposition groups, and to bring those responsible to justice.
This failure has exacerbated the breakdown of law and order and
left civilians feeling ever more alone and unprotected.
The complex reality of violence and counter-violence has become
increasingly confused with the clampdown on information and
investigations.
============================================
Item 3-c
Subject: Algeria: FIS calls on UN to set commission to help investigate
massacres
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____________________________________________________________________________
Source: Islamic Front for Salvation (FIS, Algeria)
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 1997 12:56:07 -0600 (CST)
Email: fisalgeria@themis.host4u.net
Title: Open Letter to the General Secretary of the UN
TEXT:
______________________________________________________________________
Islamic Front for Salvation
(FIS - Algeria)
Delegation Abroad
Information Bureau
______________________________________________________________________
http://www.fisalgeria.org/ Email: mail@fisalgeria.org
----------------------------------------------------------------------
November 1st, 1997
AN OPEN LETTER
TO THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE
UNITED NATIONS
Considering the recent upsurge of massacres and collective killings
of
civilians in Algeria, under the watchful eye of the regime and its
impassiveness, the Islamic Front for Salvation, the party of the
majority in Algeria, and the sole holder of constitutional legitimacy
in the country, we demand on behalf of our people, and specifically
the families of the victims, the prisoners, the tortured and the
disappeared an urgent intervention of the United Nations in order to
stop the bloodshed by sh edding light and breaking the walls of
silence on the events in Algeria. We demand the setup of an
International Commission to investigate the crimes which have been
taking place and to follow-up on its findings in order to bring the
perpetrators and thos e who commanded them to justice.
The Islamic Front for Salvation is ready for a full cooperation with
such a UN Commission, and also to play a constructing role in
mediating with the Mujahideen organizations who are faithful to its
political line in order to establish the full fac ts surroundings
crimes attributed to them, and determine the responsibilities. This
position is taken despite our full conviction that the Mujahideen
have
no relation with the crimes being perpetrated against civilians. The
Islamic Front for Salvation loo k forward to see the International
Commission of Inquiry pressing to demand from the ruling regime to
remove the political cover ton the generals and other military and
intelligence officers who, in the view of the FIS are behind the
crimes being committe d.
The Islamic Front for Salvation calls for an investigation of the
crimes listed below, while safeguarding the security and safety of
the
witnesses. The FIS insists on a full prosecution of the authors i.e.,
those who gave the orders as well as thos e who executed them:
1.All the recent massacres.
2.The Sahara desert detention camps and the gross human rights
violations surrounding them.
3.The problem of torture and torture centers throughout the country.
4.The cases that have had wide media coverage and have been exploited
by the regime to seek international support and intensify its
campaign
of repression against our people. Such as the true circumstances
surrounding the death of the Psychiatrist Bouc ebci and Katia
Bengana.
5.The "ratissage" of popular neighborhoods during 1994 and 1995.
6.The case of the torture center of the Amirouche Central Police
Station.
7.The cases of collective massacres inside prisons: Berrouaguia in
1994 and Serkadji in 1995.
8.Investigate the testimonies given by former police and military
officers who sought refuge abroad.
9.The case of Benathmane Bouathria who was expelled from Belgium and
died under torture in Algeria.
10.The assassination of Abdelbaki Sahraoui in France, and the bombing
of the Paris Subway.
11.The infiltration of the ex- GIA by Gen. Smail Lamari and its
transformation into a terrorist antiguerrilla group controlled by the
state.
The Islamic Front for Salvation looks forward to see the Commission
shedding some light into the cases listed above, determine the
responsibilities and publish its findings.
Sincerely Yours,
Anwar N. Haddam
President Parliamentary Delegation Abroad
______________________________________________________________________________
__ __________ _ _______ ______
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=========================================
Item 3-d
Subject: Amnesty Algeria Lobby in New York
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____________________________________________________________________________
Source: Relay; Originally posted on amnesty-L
Email:
Title: Amnesty Algeria Lobby in New York
Date: Wed Nov 19 19:26:28 1997
Original poster: Dr Lawrence Morton
Email:
TEXT:
*******************************************************************************
CRISIS RESPONSE NEWS
Amnesty International Crisis Response (Canada)
AICR on the World Wide Web
http://www.charli.com/amnesty
*******************************************************************************
19 November 1997
The section describing the UN's refusal and reasons for not convening a
special session on Algeria at the request of AI makes interesting and
frustrating reading - LM.
ALGERIA*ALGERIA*ALGERIA*ALGERIA*ALGERIA*ALGERIA*ALGERIA*ALGERIA*ALGERIA*ALGERIA*
* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International * AI INDEX: MDE 28/38/97
18 NOVEMBER 1997
ALGERIANS: FAILED BY THEIR GOVERNMENT
AND BY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
STATEMENT BY PIERRE SANE[/], SECRETARY GENERAL
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
NEW YORK, 18 NOVEMBER 1997
Today Amnesty International is taking its lobbying campaign on Algeria
to
New York because we want to challenge United Nations member states to
stop
averting their gaze from the Algerian tragedy and start taking real
action
to bring some relief to the Algerian people.
Let me start by giving you some basic facts:
Some 80,000 people have been killed since the outbreak of the conflict
in 1992;
This year alone Algerians have been slain in their thousands with
unspeakable brutality -- decapitated, mutilated and burned alive in
their
homes;
Many of the massacres have been within shouting distance of army
barracks, yet cries for help have gone unanswered, the killers allowed
to
walk away unscathed;
Torture, "disappearances" and extrajudicial executions have become
part of the daily reality of Algerian life;
And what action has the international community taken? None;
This last point is as disturbing as the grizzly catalogue of abuses.
Few member states of the UN have spoken out on the situation in
Algeria, and those which have done so have made mostly bland and
generalized statements of concern
The UN Commission on Human Rights has failed to address the plight
of
the victims in Algeria
The Organization of African Unity has failed to respond to the
human
rights situation in Algeria
The European Union has hidden passively behind a self-created wall
of
ignorance, claiming they don't have full information on the abuses in
Algeria yet taking no action to instigate or support investigations
No expert mechanism of the UN has visited Algeria in the six years
of
horror
In the mean time, children and women have continued to die, and that is
why
Amnesty International added its voice to calls for action made by other
non-governmental organizations.
Last month, we joined with the International Federation of Human Rights,
Human Rights Watch and Reporters sans frontie[\]res to call for a
Special
Session of the Commission on Human Rights and the establishment of an
international investigation to get the facts, determine who is
responsible
for abuses, and make recommendations.
We have been lobbying governments around the world, sent letters to
foreign
ministries and issued an open letter to all governments two weeks ago.
We're here today to call again on governments to take action, including
those who have to date responded with what I can only describe as
insupportable excuses.
They have argued that the Algerian authorities will never allow a
human rights investigation into the country
They have hidden behind each other by claiming that there is no
political will for a Special Session of the Commission on Human Rights
They argue that such a Special Session is not needed because the Third
Committee of the UN is currently meeting here in New York, but this
committee has so far taken no initiative on the Algerian crisis
All this against the backdrop of recent statements by the UN Secretary
General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UNICEF and UNHCR
condemning the massacres of civilians and other human rights abuses in
Algeria. These words are welcome, but start to sound hollow when they
are
followed only by the hedging of governments and not by action.
We can think of no other country where human rights violations are so
extreme, where civilians have been targeted to such an extent, and yet
where there has not even been international scrutiny let alone action by
the international community.
In other countries with similar levels of torture, "disappearances" or
political killings at least experts have visited or monitors have been
sent
or political resolutions have been passed.
Governments cannot claim to be ignorant of the violations, especially
the
massacres of the past year.
Most of these massacres have taken place in areas around the capital
Algiers, in the most militarized region of the country. As I said
earlier,
some of the villages where the massacres were committed -- sometimes for
hours on end -- were close to army barracks and security forces posts.
Yet
the army and security forces did not intervene, neither to stop the
massacres nor to arrest the killers - who were able to leave undisturbed
on
each occasion.
Let me give you some recent examples:
On the night of 11 July in Bou-Ismail, west of Algiers, a family of 12
were massacred;
On the night of 28 August in Rais, south of Algiers, up to 300 people,
many of them women and children, even small babies, were killed and more
than 100 injured;
On the night of 5 September in Sidi Youssef, on the outskirts of
Algiers, more than 60 people were massacred;
And on the night of 22 September in Bentalha, south of Algiers, more
than 200 men women and children were massacred;
And in the past few weeks, hundreds more have been killed in a series
of massacres of a dozen or more people at a time.
The recent massacres have taken place against a backdrop of increasingly
widespread human rights abuses and violence over the past six years.
Security forces have been responsible for extrajudicial executions,
"disappearances", and torture.
Armed groups which call themselves "Islamic groups" have killed,
abducted
and tortured civilians.
And militias armed by the state have been responsible for deliberate and
arbitrary killings.
The government's attempt to lay the blame for all killings squarely on
the
shoulders of "terrorist groups" and wash its hands of any civilian
deaths
is a disgrace.
It is true that armed groups have killed many civilians and committed
terrible atrocities, but it is also true that security forces who should
be
protecting the population have been responsible for many killings of
civilians.
The authorities have also been arming civilian militias to join in the
"anti-terrorist fight". Thousands of the these groups are now operating
outside the law effectively as vigilantes, many headed by relatives of
people killed by armed groups who want to seek revenge.
In doing this, the government has not only abdicated its responsibility
for
law and order but also drawn civilians ever more into the centre of a
conflict in which they are increasingly the victims.
This escalation of violence against the population and erosion of law
and
order belies the statements by the authorities that the security
situation
is "under control" and that "terrorism is residual".
The security situation is certainly under control in the south, the
north-east and north-west of the country, in areas dotted with oil and
gas
refineries and outlets, where foreign oil companies are indeed well
protected.
But in others parts of Algeria, especially in poor areas where oil and
money do not flow, the civilian population, increasingly impoverished,
is
denied the protection of the state and lives in fear of massacres and
attacks.
There is also little protection for the population in the areas where
the
massacres have taken place, areas where large numbers had voted for the
now
banned Islamic Salvation Front in the 1990 and 1991 elections. It is in
these areas that armed "Islamist" groups have had most support after the
beginning of the conflict, even though many people may have supported
these
groups out of fear of retaliation.
This is also the area with the richest agricultural land, where the
privatization of land is an issue of intense and controversial debate
among
fears that much of this rich land may end up being grabbed by powerful
interest groups.
There have been allegations that some of the massacres were perpetrated
with the aim of punishing the local population for having supported or
failed to denounce armed groups, and to force villagers and peasants to
flee and abandon the land.
Accepting the argument of the Algerian authorities that the massacre of
tens of thousands of civilians is an "internal affair" may be an easy
option for those who do not - for whatever reason - want to know the
truth
and who do not want to stop the killings.
But human rights are not just an "internal affair" or an issue of
national
sovereignty especially when citizens are being slaughtered en masse week
after week and when disregard for human rights has become the rule
rather
than the exception. Algeria cannot be above international scrutiny. Why
should it be?
The need to investigate and reveal the truth is the first step to
finding
solutions to this human rights tragedy. For this reason, we are calling
for the establishment of an international investigation to ascertain the
facts, examine allegations of responsibility and make recommendations in
respect of the massacres and other abuses by all sides in Algeria.
Such an investigation has to be provided with broad powers, adequate
staff
and resources. It should collect evidence, statements, including
testimony
from victims, witnesses and responsible officials, to discover the
truth.
The tragedy of the situation in Algeria in now universally recognized,
and
it is time for action to stop the massive human rights violations and to
ensure the protection of the civilian population.
ENDS.../
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Item 3-e
____________________________________________________________________________
Subject: ADC: Arab Americans Strongly Condemn Bloodshed in Algeria
____________________________________________________________________________
Source: American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
Email: adc@adc.org
URL: http://www.adc.org
Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 23:09:02 +0000 (GMT)
Title: Arab Americans Strongly Condemn Bloodshed in Algeria
TEXT:
For Immediate Release:
January 8, 1998
Contact: Sam Husseini
(202) 244-2990
Arab Americans Strongly Condemn Bloodshed in Algeria
ADC Calls for Action by Arab League
--Washington, D.C.: The Arab American community has watched with growing
shock and concern the mounting carnage in Algeria. Tens of thousands of
Algerians have been killed in the civil war that began after the
authorities canceled elections in 1992. There have been scores of
massacres with hundreds of people being butchered and there seems to be
no
end to the human suffering. This tragedy must end forthwith and the
culprits must be brought to justice. The ADC condemns all those
culpable
irrespective of their political affiliations. The focus should be on the
well-being and unity of the Algerian people as the driving force for any
credible peace efforts.
The president of the ADC has sent letters to the Secretary Generals of
the
League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Conference asking
these organizations to take immediate action that ensures the security
and
safety of the Algerian people. These organizations can ensure the
integrity of information coming from Algeria so that criminals can be
identified and remedies found.
This bloodshed can no longer be tolerated and we appeal to all
Algerians,
whose liberation struggle was a monument to human freedom, to set a
course
for their country based on peaceful understanding.
-- 30 --
(Note to Editors: AD