EFL from Guardian
The Algerian authorities have erased the first evidence to appear of the graves of the hundreds, if not thousands, of people believed to have been kidnapped and killed by army-backed anti-Islamist militias in the 1990s, according to human rights campaigners. Campaigners who secretly dug up a mass grave near the western town of Relizane last November, and who claim to have identified one militia victim buried there, said the site had since been cleaned out by police. The police now refuse to acknowledge the grave’s existence. But the human rights campaigners have photographic evidence, some of which the Guardian publishes today, showing the bones and clothing found near Relizane. It is the first public evidence of what campaigners believe is the last resting place of some 200 victims from Relizane, while thousands of other victims of state-backed militias are thought to be in similar graves elsewhere.
The scandal comes as pressure grows on President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who is leading Algeria towards renewed acceptance by the west, to investigate the role of the so-called Patriot militias in the civil conflict that claimed 120,000 lives in the 1990s. The pressure comes from the families of the disappeared and from international groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch which want a full and public investigation into the fate of up to 7,000 people said to have gone missing after being picked up by the authorities. Mr Bouteflika is also facing opposition from army hardliners to his attempts to be re-elected president in April. |