ALGERIA

TIME FOR RECKONING:
ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES IN ALGERIA

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Summary and Recommendations - Arabic Word (65 Kb)

I. Summary

II. Recommendations

To the Government of Algeria
To Political Parties in Algeria
To Armed Groups Implicated in the Abduction of Civilians
To the European Union and its Member Nations

III. About this Report

Acknowledgments
A Note on Terms: "Disappearances" and "Abductions"
Algeria's International Human Rights Obligations

IV. Introduction

The Political Setting
Counting Cases, Identifying Perpetrators

V. Cases

"Disappearances" Decline but Secret Detentions Continue
Persons Abducted by Armed Groups and Still Missing

VI. Mass Graves

VII. The Evolution of Government Discourse on Disappearances

1998: The Government First Acknowledges the Problem
1998: Government Sets Up Offices in Wilayas to Receive Complaints of "Disappearances"
1999: The New President Breaks the Taboo
1998-2003: The Official Statistics, Unverifiable and Inconsistent

VIII. The Role of the Courts

The Failure of Courts to Investigate "Disappearances"

IX. State Human Rights Monitoring Bodies: Watchdogs or Mere Mailboxes?

The CNCPPDH Replaces the ONDH

X. The International Community on a Treadmill

The European Union
The U.N. Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
Cooperation with International NGOs Regarding "Disappearances"

XI. Other Countries Show Possible Paths on "Disappearances"

XII. Appendices

Appendix 1: Algerian Penal Code Articles Governing Illegal Arrests and Confinement

Appendix 2: Letter to Algeria's Minister of Justice

Appendix 3: Partial List of "Disappeared" Whose Fate Has Been Clarified

Appendix 4: Contradictory Information in Two Cases of "Disappearances"

XIII. Photographs