Human Rights Developments

Defending Human Rights

The Role of the International Community

Perhaps the year’s biggest disappointment was the report prepared by a delegation of eminent persons, led by former Portuguese President Mario Soares, that Annan had dispatched to Algeria at the government’s invitation. Asked simply “to gather information on the situation and present a report to [the secretary-general],” the “Soares delegation” was the first U.N. visit relating to Algeria’s internal troubles that the government had accepted.

Aside from a government-imposed ban on meeting leaders of the outlawed Islamic Salvation Front, the delegation enjoyed considerable freedom of movement during their July 22–August 4 visit. They met with a wide range of people, including human rights lawyers and victims, visited a prison, and traveled to two villages where massacres had occurred.

The delegation’s report, issued September 16, vehemently denounced terrorism but offered no direct criticism of the authorities responsible for torture, “disappearances,” and other abuses. It urged the government to strengthen the rule of law and handle abuse complaints expeditiously, but these recommendations were quite general and seemed secondary to the plea to the international community to support Algeria in fighting terrorism and “consolidating democracy.” By soft-pedaling the concerns expressed by the U.N.’s Human Rights Committee (see below), the report exemplified the frequent failure by U.N. political bodies to incorporate into their analysis the findings of U.N. human rights institutions and mechanisms.

Before and during the delegation’s visit, Algerian authorities had insisted that Soares and his colleagues had no investigative mandate. The delegation itself acknowledged this. But upon seeing the report, Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf spoke as if the delegation had conducted a definitive fact-finding investigation. The report, he said on September 16, has “refuted any doubt about the sources of terrorism” and “reaffirmed the Algerian government’s assertions that there is no human rights crisis in Algeria, only a number of isolated abuses and individual cases which have been dealt with in accordance with the stipulations of Algerian law.”

At the March-April session of the Commission on Human Rights, no member state introduced a resolution on Algeria, and no formal discussion took place of the need to investigate human rights conditions there. This despite Annan’s remarking to reporters during the session that he hoped Algeria would admit the rapporteurs and Robinson telling the press she would favor a resolution to that effect. At the human rights sub-commission session in August, a resolution urging Algeria to accept rapporteurs was defeated.

In July, the U.N. Human Rights Committee, after scrutinizing the government’s report and oral presentation on the state of civil and political rights covering 1992-98, delivered the most severe indictment ever by a U.N. body of Algeria’s human rights practices. The committee declared that it was “appalled at the widespread massacre of men, women and children in a great number of villages and towns,” and the sexual violence directed against women. It also expressed concern about the “lack of timely or preventive measures of protection to the victims [of massacres] from police or military officials in the vicinity and at the persistent allegations of collusion of members of the security forces in terrorist attacks”; at the “persistent allegations of systematic torture,” and at “the failure of the State to respond adequately, or indeed at all” to “disappearances.” The committee urged independent investigations into abuses and asked that “access be given as soon as possible to the ICRC and other independent observers.”

The committee urged Algeria to conduct independent investigations, and “in all cases of massacres to conduct an independent enquiry into the conduct of the security forces, from the lowest to the highest levels, and where appropriate, to subject them to penal and disciplinary sanctions.”

Release of the Soares report helped to heal the wound inflicted on the government’s image by the Human Rights Committee. It remained to be seen what steps the secretary-general would take in response to these divergent sets of findings. Commissioner Robinson said on September 22 that she hoped the Soares mission would encourage Algeria to be more open toward the rapporteurs on torture and summary executions.

The European Union
Beginning in late 1997, the E.U. became more engaged in the Algerian crisis than at any time since it erupted. During the year that followed, E.U. thinking evolved in a fashion that could only have pleased the Algerian authorities. E.U. officials and members of the European Parliament (M.E.P.s) spoke of the need to support the government’s efforts to build democracy and fight terrorism, albeit “within the rule of law and consistent with human rights.” A succession of European officials distanced themselves from two positions that Algiers viewed as inadmissible: allegations that the security forces were implicated in the massacres, and the call for an international inquiry into human rights violations. These shifts in thinking occurred even as Algiers tightly controlled the agenda and the movements of visiting E.U. troika and M.E.P. delegations and rejected frequent entreaties for greater transparency on human rights issues. Algiers also insisted that Europe’s alleged tolerance of Algeria-linked terrorist networks rank high on the agenda of any bilateral discussion.

The human rights subcommittee of the European Parliament helped to focus attention on human rights by holding hearings on Algeria on November 24-25, 1997. The witnesses, from Algeria and international organizations, presented a wide range of views. On November 27 Foreign Minister Attaf appeared before the subcommittee. Asked about “disappearances,” he replied, “There are some, but less than you allege, and those cases are followed up.”

On January 19-20, 1998, the troika’s junior foreign ministers (representing the preceding, current, and next presidents of the European Council) conducted the first official E.U. political mission to Algeria since 1992. Their whirlwind visit was heavily circumscribed by the authorities, who turned down their request to visit a massacre site and offer a symbolic gesture of sympathy to the victims.

The troika ministers failed to convince the government to accept humanitarian aid or immediate access for the U.N. rapporteurs on torture and summary executions. The European Council responded by calling on January 26 for “greater transparency on the part of the government of Algeria about the situation in which terrorist groups continue to perpetrate cowardly and brutal attacks on innocent civilians.” It “regretted” that Algeria “felt unable to provide unhindered access for international organisations, NGOs and the media.”

A February 8-12 visit to Algeria by a nine-member ad hoc delegation of European parliamentarians also encountered heavy-handed control. The delegation was largely confined to an official guest-house in Algiers, where nearly all of its meetings took place. The government determined the schedule of meetings and prevented the delegation from meeting with some of the Algerians that the delegation had requested, including two human rights lawyers and a dissident journalist.

Members of the delegation submitted contrasting reports on their mission, although they concurred on the need to engage with democratic forces in Algeria, including the multiparty national assembly. The delegation leader, André Soulier, urged Europeans to bury the “notorious” idea of an international human rights investigation and the question of who is doing the killing. The army’s hands may not be “totally clean,” he said, but it was not implicated in mass killings. Soulier argued that human rights issues could be best addressed through interparliamentary channels. 

Two dissenting delegates placed greater emphasis in their reports on human rights abuses by the security forces and on the constraints imposed by authorities on the delegation. One, Anne André-Léonard, attempted to present a list of Algerians who had reportedly “disappeared,” only to have this démarche refused.

The E.U. introduced no resolution on Algeria at the meeting of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, and in the end none was tabled. However, the E.U. issued a nonbinding declaration critical of Algeria’s refusal to allow U.N. rapporteurs, and promised to revisit the issue at the U.N. General Assembly and next year’s commission meeting “if there has been no progress.”

The E.U. voiced support for the delegation sent by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to Algeria and welcomed its findings, saying it hoped “the report will help the Algerian government in its efforts to develop the rule of law and to strengthen the democratic process and reforms to which Algeria is committed.”

On October 21, the E.U. president, Wolfgang Schuessel of Austria, drew a link between human rights and the anti-terrorism fight that Algeria wished to highlight in its bilateral relations. After holding what he called frank discussions with Algerian Foreign Minister Attaf, Schuessel pointed out that “more transparency and more insisting on the rule of law and legality and sensitivity for human rights could also be a very important element to fight terrorism.”

There were certain constants during the year, including Europe’s predominance as a consumer of Algeria’s exports, primarily hydrocarbons, and the slow progress in negotiating an Association Agreement, which would lower tariffs between Europe and Algeria and provide modest aid to Algeria.

France
There were no major shifts in French policy toward Algeria during Socialist Lionel Jospin’s first year as prime minister. France remained quietly supportive of the Algiers government while letting the E.U. and U.N. attempt diplomatic initiatives. France carried through on its 1997 pledge to liberalize visa policies, making it easier for Algerians fearing violence at home to remain in France.

France also sought to maintain its primacy among exporters to Algeria and avoid actions that might risk a resumption of deadly bomb attacks on French soil that occurred in 1995 and were traced to the conflict in Algeria.

The tone of French policy was conveyed by Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine in a television interview December 7, 1997. “Questions raised two or three years ago about the lifetime of the Algerian regime no longer apply today,” he said. Alluding to Algeria’s multiparty national assembly, Vedrine said Algeria was undergoing “a fragile, complicated process” of political reconciliation. “We encourage the Algerian authorities to complete this institutional process with a process of true democratization, by way of reforms.”

France responded to massacres in Algeria with vigorous and repeated condemnations of terrorism but said little publicly on human rights abuses committed by the Algerian government during the year. However, on January 5, the foreign ministry spokesperson provoked a sharp reaction from Algiers by invoking the Algerian people’s “legitimate right to be protected” from armed groups, saying,“The duty of any government is to enable its citizens to live in peace and security.”

France offered no support for the call, made by human rights organizations and some Algerian opposition forces, for an international investigation into human rights abuses in Algeria. Foreign Minister Vedrine, in a statement published in the Journal officiel of September 14, praised Algeria for accepting missions by European parliamentarians and the troika, as well as the U.N. delegation.

United States
The U.S. embraced cautiously the political reforms undertaken by President Zeroual and hinted that warmer relations could result if the government showed more openness on human rights. While denouncing acts of terrorism throughout the year, the U.S. showed more willingness than the E.U. or France to criticize patterns of security force abuses.

The U.S. was Algeria’s second largest partner for both exports and imports, according to data for 1997. American companies were particularly active in the hydrocarbon sector, often benefitting from Eximbank loan guarantees to their Algerian customers. However, the U.S. gave Algeria no military or bilateral aid and maintained a policy of rejecting licenses for the sale to Algeria of equipment produced by American companies that could be used by the security forces in an offensive capacity. High-level diplomatic meetings were rare; Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Martin S. Indyk was the most senior official to visit Algeria during the first ten months of 1998. At no point during that period did President Clinton or Secretary of State Madeleine Albright publicly involve themselves in, or make high-profile statements on, the Algeria crisis.

The year got off to a wobbly start on human rights policy when the U.S. first seemed to endorse, then distance itself from a call for an international investigation into the violence. Questioned about a string of massacres at the turn of the year, State Department spokesman James Rubin on January 5 urged the Algerian government to “do more to protect its civilians” and said, “We would like to see an international enquiry get to the bottom of it.”

On January 6, the Algerian foreign ministry summoned U.S. ambassador Cameron Hume to convey its “categorical rejection” of the U.S. call, according to the official Algerian news agency. On January 9, the State Department’s spokesperson explained that the U.S. was not seeking an international commission of enquiry but rather access for U.N. special rapporteurs and human rights organizations. About one week later, Ambassador Hume visited and spoke with survivors in Sidi Hamed, where at least one hundred persons were massacred the night of January 11-12.

While Assistant Secretary for Human Rights John Shattuck insisted on January 30, “The need for a credible international fact-finding mission is clear,” the administration one week later invited the Algerian government to come up with its own plan for showing openness. On February 5 before a House of Representatives International Relations subcommittee, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ronald E. Neumann testified, “As long as there continue to be differing accounts of what is going on, and many questions about why civilians are not better protected, the need for greater openness remains.” The focus should be on “the quality of information, not the particular means by which that transparency is obtained.”

The U.S. continued to publicly urge Algeria to accept visits by the U.N. special rapporteurs on torture and summary executions, but declined to introduce a resolution on Algeria at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, helping to keep one of the world’s most pressing human rights crises off the agenda.

The U.S. characterizations of abuses committed by the government were blunt, both in the State Department’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1997 and in public remarks by officials. Neumann, in his February 5 testimony, said the GIA was responsible for the great majority of the atrocities and the government did not “have a policy of sending out death squads.” But, he added, “Some security forces personnel may also be involved to some extent in some of the killings.” Neumann also said that, despite the local and national elections that had taken place between 1995 and 1997, the government “had a long way to go” before Algerians felt a sense of “credible participation” in their political system.

Assistant Secretary Indyk raised concerns about killings by security forces when he met with Algerian officials on March 14, according to a State Department official who briefed reporters on March 19. Secretary of State Albright held a brief meeting with Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf in Washington on September 29 but made no public statement afterward.

The U.S., like the E.U., has sought greater engagement with Algeria’s civil society and parliament. Washington funded U.S. visits by members of each in recent years. Also, small grants from the Regional Democracy Fund were allocated to technical training programs for these sectors.

In early October, the U.S. and Algerian forces conducted a modest naval rescue exercise in the Mediterranean. Although the U.S. downplayed the significance of the first-ever joint military exercise between the two countries, the Algerian press heralded it as an indication of Washington’s increased regard for the Algiers government.

Relevant Human Rights Watch reports:
Algeria—“Neither Among The Living Nor The Dead” 2/98
Algeria—Algeria’s Human Rights Crisis, 8/98