Azul, salama, hola, hi, saluti, ...... etc,


Algeria: Against Self-Amnesty - Yes to Justice, No to Impunity!
23 March 2006

On 27 February 2006, the Algerian regime passed a law implementing 
provisions of the "Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation" (adopted 
in September 2005 by a referendum whose results were rigged). On the 
pretence of ending the bloody period initiated by the coup of January 1992, 
the Algerian Regime grants impunity for murderers, be they members of armed 
groups claiming to act in the name of Islam or "the web of defence and 
security forces of the Republic". It also creates a new prisonable offence: 
attributing any responsibility to those who organised violations of the law 
and order or covered up or justified the atrocities committed over the last 
fifteen years.

Parents of victims and families of the missing are compelled to remain 
silent as they are no longer able to lodge complaints for financial 
compensation, unless they are willing to "forget", a shameful method in 
which outrage meets blindness. But how can the memory of the blood and 
horror that submerged Algerian society be erased? The second Algerian war - 
which brought to a climax the perverse and inhuman forms of guerrilla and 
counter-guerrilla developed during the independence war by colonial forces - 
left nearly 200,000 dead, 20,000 missing, and a very high number of wounded 
and displaced persons.

After imposing a deadly and particularly "dirty" war on the Algerian people, 
the generals responsible for the coup and who hold the real power in Algiers 
(President Abdelaziz Bouteflika being only their diplomatic representative) 
are eager to absolve themselves for crimes against humanity that were 
perpetrated under their authority and to erase those of their former 
adversaries. In direct violation of international commitments signed by 
Algeria and of fundamental principles of law, this policy of forced memory 
loss is in itself a manifest admission of responsibility.

This unacceptable machination, with the assent of many great Western 
democracies, is a great comfort to the regime in Algiers. Mainly motivated 
by economical considerations, the "terrorist threat" is put forward to 
justify the denial of universal human rights.
The self-proclaimed amnesty of warlords has already been attempted in other 
places, including Latin America, and ended in failure everywhere. For no one 
can have the power to erase history. There can be no peace or reconciliation 
without truth and justice. The Algerian people know its history and no ploy 
can erase imprescriptible crimes. Wanting to impose silence through threat 
is plainly illusory.

The freedom loving men and women throughout the world and signatories of 
this text reject this outdated law and give unconditional support to the 
Algerian society in its journey towards justice and freedom.

First signatories: Lahouari Addi (sociologist), Hocine A