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| Africa: North |
| Algeria plans general amnesty |
| 2005-03-31 |
| The Algerian government is preparing the ground for a general amnesty that would clear security forces of atrocities charges and, it is hoped, persuade remaining armed Islamists to end a 13-year campaign of violence. The mechanics of the amnesty, first mooted by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika last year, remain uncertain. There is strong opposition from victims of Islamist atrocities and the families of some 7,000 people alleged to have disappeared at the hands of the security forces during the civil war. Human rights activists fear the amnesty may largely be designed to allow war crimes committed by the security forces to be swept under the carpet. Mr Bouteflika acknowledged recently that the war claimed 150,000 lives. It was sparked when the military cut short 1991 elections that the opposition Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) looked certain to win. Violence has been steadily declining since the late 1990s. Meanwhile soaring world energy prices have allowed the government, which depends on oil and gas for 97 per cent of its export earnings, to begin addressing some of the social problems at the root of the violence. Nevertheless, the stubborn remnants of the insurrection keep bombs and clashes sporadically in the news. Malek Serrai, a member of a national committee working on the details, said the amnesty aimed to halt the violence and set the country on a path towards reconciliation. He and other members of the committee have begun setting up regional centres to sensitise the population before a referendum on the issue later this year. They have also initiated contacts with some of an estimated 200-600 armed militants still at large. Most are from the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), linked in the past by western and Algerian officials to al-Qaeda. The group has now split, with one part seeking to disarm, according to the Algerian press. "Their main demand is that they are not treated as individuals, that the amnesty must be global, their files wiped clean and their rights as normal citizens restored," Mr Serrai said. Some 6,700 former FIS militants who benefited from an earlier truce - many of whom have been unable to regain their status in society - would be rehabilitated. It is hoped many other Algerians will be persuaded to return from exile. Mr Serrai said there would be procedures for compensating some of the victims - both those directly affected by violence and businesses that lost property as a result of it. Mostefa Bouchachi, a human rights lawyers in Algiers, said that for many Algerians this might seem to draw a line under the traumatic events of the 1990s. "When it comes to human rights activists, to mothers whose sons disappeared, and wives who lost husbands and who still don't know whether they are alive or if they are dead how they died, it is more complicated," Mr Bouchachi said. "The amnesty will let a lot of people responsible for crimes off the hook." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #2 Generally. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-03-31 4:47:23 PM |
| #1 Algeria plans general amnesty! I think that means amnesty for generals. |
| Posted by: JFM 2005-03-31 1:54:15 PM |