Algeria: Truth and justice should not be obscured by Impunity
ai-...@amnesty.org
International *
8 November 2000
MDE 28/014/2000
210/00
"A lasting peace in Algeria cannot be built by sacrificing truth
and justice," Amnesty International said in its new report 'Truth
and justice obscured by the shadow of impunity', released today.
"Only by establishing the truth about all the violations
and abuses of the last decade, through full, independent and
impartial investigations, and ensuring the accountability for all
those responsible for past and current human rights abuses, can
confidence in the justice system be restored."
Tens of thousands have died since the current conflict
began in 1992, thousands have "disappeared" after being taken
away by the security forces and hundreds of thousands have been
injured in acts of violence or afflicted by the pain of losing a
close relative. "The victims and their families have a legitimate
desire and a right to truth and justice," Amnesty International
said.
The Algerian authorities have talked of their intention
to turn the page on this dark chapter. Yet they have failed to
take any concrete and effective measures to tackle the huge
problem of impunity in the country, or to carry out independent
and impartial investigations into the killings and human rights
abuses that took place in the last decade.
"The wounds caused by a tragedy of such scale and depth
as that experienced by Algeria during the last decade cannot be
healed by a 'turn the page and forget' approach," Amnesty
International said.
At the end of October Amnesty International received a
response from the Algerian authorities to a memorandum sent to
them in August detailing the organization's concerns. In the
response the authorities expressed their wish to further their
dialogue with Amnesty International and other human rights
organizations on matters of mutual concern and reiterated their
commitment to strengthening human rights protection, notably
through judicial reforms and legislative amendments. The
authorities also emphasized that all cases of human rights abuses
brought to their attention were investigated.
Amnesty International welcomed this response, but
regretted that its requests for information concerning specific
cases of abuses or details of the outcome of investigations
remained unanswered.
An Amnesty International delegation is currently visiting
Algeria (5 to 19 November), where it is meeting victims, families
of victims, human rights activists and other members of civil
society. The organization hopes that, in the course of continuing
talks with government officials, its delegation will be provided
with the detailed information it has requested.
A range of concerns arise from the provisions of the
presidential amnesty as well as from the application of the Civil
Harmony law in practice.
Amnesty International takes no position on the granting
of pardons after the truth is known and the judicial process has
been completed. However, the organization opposes amnesty laws or
other mechanisms which prevent the emergence of the truth and
accountability.
"It is a paradoxical situation whereby people who have
already spent up to eight years in prison continue to serve
prison sentences imposed in unfair trials, whereas people who
spent years as leaders or active members of armed groups have
been granted an amnesty or exempted from judicial prosecution in
a matter of days after giving themselves up," Amnesty
International said.
Amnesty International shares the concerns of victims and
families of victim in Algeria that their appeals for truth and
justice have not been heeded.
The human rights organization calls on the Algerian
government to:
- Investigate urgently the thousands of killings, massacres,
"disappearances", abductions, cases of torture, and other grave
abuses committed since 1992 by security forces, state-armed
militias and armed groups which call themselves "Islamic groups",
and ensure that all those responsible are brought to justice.
- Declare the wholesale amnesties, extended also to perpetrators
of serious human rights abuses which constitute violations of
international law, to be null and void.
- Ensure that members or leaders of armed groups who have
surrendered under the Civil Harmony law and who have been
responsible for human rights abuses are brought to justice.
- Take concrete measures to put an immediate end to arbitrary
arrests, secret detentions, torture, "disappearances" and
extrajudicial executions.
- Disband all state-armed militias and ensure that
law-enforcement tasks are carried out by adequately trained
personnel operating in an official framework which ensures
accountability.
Amnesty International reiterates its condemnation of the
killings and other grave human rights abuses committed by armed
groups and calls once again on these groups to stop targeting
civilians.
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