Category:International Investigation
A Democratic System in Algeria ?
A presentable facade constantly controlled by the Generals of the "black cabinet". They know that the state of emergency, renewed illegally each year since 1992 denying basic freedoms that violence which, for fifteen years, has resulted in more than 200,000 deaths, more than 16,000 disappeared, millions of casualties, orphans and refugees (and more than 500,000 exiles), undoubtedly owes as much to the actions of the armed groups as to the "dirty war" carried out by the DRS (security services) and the "special forces" of the army
The standard for "the maintenance of law and order" is generalised torture and the machine-gunning of demonstrators, is still being carried
the last three years the "Rulers" bear a great deal of the responsibility for tens of assassinations and the most horrific bloody killings that are carried out each month in a general atmosphere of indifference, either by their "death squads" or by armed bands controlled or manipulated by them
Thousands of "repentant" criminals who left the cover of the maquis were never subject to legal proceedings and that a number of them were integrated into the "security services", from which many had originally come (double agents, "Islamist of the army").
It is no longer acceptable to whitewash the Algerian Regime, or to justify this criminal indifference by pretending that the conflict is too opaque to understand.
The "civil concord" was used as a smokescreen to recycle agents that had been infiltrated into the maquis as well as to liquidate certain "repentance" who refused to collaborate with the security forces). They are willing to do anything to preserve their scandalous privileges and revenue derived from corruption. The Regime has constructed a political system that allows them to count on the connivance of successive Presidents of Algeria, who have never either condemned or sanctioned the criminal and irresponsible use of the security forces. We appeal to act according to the "Barcelona Declaration" which instituted a "Euro-Mediterranean Partnership" in November 1995. This is a declaration under which all State signatories committed to "respect human rights and fundamental freedoms and guarantee the effective legitimate exercise of such rights and freedoms, including freedom of expression, freedom of association for peaceful purposes and freedom of thought, conscience and religion." . This would require the establishment of the rule of law by the Algerian State and its security forces. Violations committed by the security forces and the armed " Islamic" groups must be sanctioned according to international standards. This implies, in particular, that Algeria finally accepts investigations by United Nations special reporters into torture and disappearances.
Many massacres have taken place in areas around the capital or close to military barracks, yet security forces have apparently failed to halt the bloodletting. Many of the worst attacks have been on communities known to support the fundamentalists. This has led human rights groups to allege that the military may either be turning a blind eye to the massacres, or carrying some out themselves.
Amnesty International says 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 groups, which have increasingly targeted and terrorized civilians. And ex-Algerian security officers now in hiding and a former prime minister living abroad have made similar claims that the state's security services -- seeking to justify a tighter grip on Algeria -- have played a big part in the massacres. Some Europeans politicians called for more openness on the part of the Algerian government and say a
UN investigation would merely clear up any doubts.
Amnesty International, the International Federation of Human Rights, Human Rights Watch and Reporters without borders have called on members of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to convene a special session on the human rights situation in Algeria.
Citing the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership Agreement between the EU and Algeria, which contains provisions on the respect of human rights, Amnesty urged the EU to press for a special session of the UN Commission. 'The solution, in our minds, is not in periodic visits to the lounges of ministers, said Baoudouin. We believe that there ought to be an independent investigation of these massacres. To set up a credible independent investigation into the massacres that has killed thousands of women, men, and children in recent years.
In a report, Human Rights Watch disputed the government's claim that Algeria's crisis is solely "a terrorist phenomenon." "On the one hand, ordinary civilians have been brutally slaughtered by armed groups, which have waged a campaign of terror and sexual violence against women and girls in particular, On the other hand, security forces have been implicated in torture, forced 'disappearances,' arbitrary killings, and extra judicial executions on a scale that can only be characterized as systematic."
The report endorsed the recent findings of the United Nations Human Rights Committee, an expert body which concluded that allegations of involvement or collusion by the security forces themselves in the mass atrocities were widespread and persistent
enough to require independent investigation.
The UN experts made their findings public, after examining the government's fifty-five page report on its implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and following two days of meetings with Algerian officials. The findings constitute the most severe indictment by any UN body of the government's practices since civil strife escalated in Algeria in 1992. Credible investigations are critical to ensure that the perpetrators of atrocities and human rights abuses do not enjoy impunity, and the victims are not compelled to live in perpetual fear,"
The Algerian authorities have steadfastly refused to cooperate with UN human rights bodies, such as the special reporters on torture and on extra judicial executions and arbitrary killings, which have sought to visit Algeria.
Human Rights Watch, together with other independent human rights groups, publicly called for the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in October 1997 to initiate an international investigation with respect to massacres and gross abuses.
In this latest report, Human Rights Watch also called on Algeria to investigate and prosecute officials responsible for forced "disappearances" and for practicing or condoning the torture of detainees.
Since the beginning of the conflict in 1992 hundred of thousands of people have been killed; victims of violence by both armed groups and security services. Massacres, murders, extra judicial executions, torture, abductions and "disappearances" are a daily reality for the Algerian population. These crimes continued during and after visits to Algeria by European Union delegations and European parliamentarians.
To date no independent and impartial inquiry has been carried out by the Algerian authorities, who continue to oppose an international investigation and who accuse those who have expressed concern at the lack of protection for the civilian population of "interference".
The Algerian authorities have not allowed any international human rights organisation to go to Algeria to carry out research on the ground, and the United Nations Special Reporters on Torture and on Extra judicial Executions continue to be refused access to the country despite the "agreement in principle" publicly given by the Algerian authorities a long time ago. Many foreign journalists to date remain unable to obtain visas to Algeria and those who are allowed into the country are under constant surveillance by security forces. Amnesty International first sought mass public support for an international investigation into human rights violations in Algeria with an Urgent Action in 1997 saying: "In Algeria, political killings, "disappearances", torture, secret detentions, abductions and death threats have become routine. Thousands of men, women, children and elderly people have been slaughtered, hacked to death, decapitated, mutilated, shot and burned alive in their homes; pregnant women have been disemboweled, children and babies thrown off balconies.
Amnesty International, the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), Human Rights Watch and Reporters sans frontieres regret that upon its return from Algeria the delegation of the European Parliament opposed an international investigation into the massacres and other violations which have continued to be perpetrated for the past years. This conclusion follows a visit by the delegation to the Algerian capital ,during which the Members of the European Parliament did not meet with human rights organisations, human rights lawyers or activists and victims of violations by security forces. All efforts by the European parliamentarians to have such meetings were refused by the Algerian authorities. The organisations reiterate that this visit by the Members of the European Parliament could not in any case constitute an alternative to an international investigation which is necessitated by the situation in Algeria. The need for an international investigation increases each day. Amnesty International, the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), Human Rights Watch and Reporters sans frontiers reiterate once again that, as a state party to international human rights treaties, Algeria must be subjected to scrutiny by the international community. Concrete action to shed light on the situation is necessary in light of the gravity of the human rights violations in Algeria and by the systematic obstacles imposed by the Algerian Government to impartial investigations into massacres and other human rights violations. It is therefore the duty of the European Parliament and of all those concerned about human rights violations in Algeria to work for the establishment of an independent and impartial international investigation, so that those who continue to kill civilians and to commit grave violations in total impunity be brought to justice. The European Parliament, which recognizes that the work of its delegation to Algeria was limited by the conditions and restrictions imposed by the Algerian authorities, should also call for: - Prompt access to Algeria for the UN Special Reporters on Torture and on extra judicial Executions. - Prompt access for international human rights organisations to Algeria to freely carry out research
To support the call (appeal) of an international inquiry into the murders in Algeria
>>>> www.Algeria-investigation.org
Pages in category "International Investigation"
The following 3 pages are in this category, out of 3 total.