Amnesty International Report 1996 - Algeria

Thousands of people were killed by the security forces, many of them reportedly extrajudicially executed when unarmed or after having been captured. At least 96 detainees were killed inside a prison, many in circumstances suggesting that they were extrajudicially executed. Hundreds of civilians were deliberately and arbitrarily killed by armed opposition groups. Hundreds of people, including possible prisoners of conscience, were arrested on charges of offences against state security. Trials of individuals accused of "terrorism" continued to violate international standards for fair trial. Torture and ill-treatment were reported to be widespread, particularly during incommunicado detention. Hundreds of people arrested by security forces during the year and in previous years remained "disappeared". More than 100 death sentences were imposed during the year, most of them in absentia, and over 600 people sentenced to death in previous years remained on death row. Presidential elections were held in November and General Liamine Zeroual, appointed President of the State at the beginning of 1994, was elected President. The state of emergency declared in 1992 (see Amnesty International Report 1993) remained in force. The emergency "anti-terrorism" decree of 1992 (see Amnesty International Report 1993), which the authorities had announced was going to be repealed, was incorporated virtually in its entirety into permanent legislation in February. Thousands of people were killed by the security forces. The authorities claimed that all those killed by security forces died in armed clashes. However, hundreds of people were reported to have been extrajudicially executed when they posed no lethal threat. Some were reportedly killed in their homes and in front of their families, others after they had been arrested. Such killings appeared to be increasingly used as an alternative to arrest. According to former police and army officers, the extrajudicial execution of known or suspected members of armed opposition groups after they had been captured or in circumstances where they could have been arrested was widespread. Civilians suspected of having supported or failed to denounce armed groups, either willingly or out of fear, were also reported to have been extrajudicially executed by the security forces. Such killings were reported to be particularly widespread in areas where armed opposition groups were active. Gardes communales (communal guards) and "groupes d'auto-défense" (self-defence groups) were reported to have participated with growing frequency in security operations with the army and security forces, during which civilians were killed. Both communal guards and "self-defence groups" participate in surveillance and security operations against armed opposition groups in their local areas. The recruitment and training procedures, and the line of command and accountability of the communal guards remained unclear. The "self-defence groups" did not appear to be subject to any degree of control by the authorities. In June, four brothers – ‘Abdel ‘Aziz, ‘Abdelkrim, Rabah and Sa‘id Bouafia – and two other men were reportedly extrajudicially executed after having been arrested by members of the security forces and communal guards in their orchard in Ouled ‘Askar, near Djijel. In February at least 96 detainees and five prison guards were killed in Serkadji Prison. The authorities stated that the detainees were killed when the security forces intervened to quell a mutiny. Other sources alleged that many of the detainees were extrajudicially executed, some of them after they had returned to their cells. Among the victims were Ykhlef Cherrati and ‘Abdelhamid Bouchamia. The vast majority of those killed had been accused or convicted of "terrorist activities". Many had been held in pre-trial detention since 1992, including Yassine Simozrag (see Amnesty International Reports 1994 and 1995), and at least 40 had been sentenced to death or to life imprisonment. Some of these had been moved to the prison shortly before the incident, in breach of the Algerian Prison Code which stipulates that prisoners on death row or serving life sentences cannot be held in Serkadji Prison. Among them was Hassan Kaouane. The victims' families were informed of their deaths only after they had been buried. No autopsies were carried out to establish the circumstances and causes of death, and most of the dead were buried without having been identified. An inquiry by the official human rights body, the Observatoire national des droits de l'homme (ONDH), National Human Rights Monitoring Body, failed to investigate the circumstances in which the detainees were killed. The ONDH claimed that the victims had been photographed before being buried to allow for post-burial identification, but no photographs were shown to their families and lawyers, or to Amnesty International and other human rights organizations. The list of detainees killed was not made public. Amnesty International delegates visiting Algeria in March and June were not allowed access to Serkadji Prison. No investigation was known to have been carried out into a similar incident in Berrouaghia Prison in November 1994, when scores of prisoners were reported to have been killed. Mourad Malik, detained without trial since May 1992, was among those killed. At the end of 1995 his family had still not been informed of his place of burial. Hundreds of civilians were deliberately and arbitrarily killed in attacks and bomb explosions reported to have been carried out by armed opposition groups defining themselves as "Islamic groups". More than 40 people were killed and over 100 injured by a car-bomb explosion in a busy Algiers street in January. The wife and daughter of a member of the Conseil National de Transition, Transitional National Council, an appointed body replacing parliament, were among seven people killed in an explosion in August at a guarded residential complex outside Algiers. Other civilians targeted included relatives of members of the security forces. More than 20 journalists were killed during the year, most of them in attacks reported to have been carried out by armed groups. Malika Sabour, a journalist for the Arabic-language daily Echourouk, was shot dead in her home in front of her family in May. Communiqués signed by the Groupe islamique armé (GIA), Armed Islamic Group, claimed responsibility for many such attacks and issued renewed death threats against relatives of members of the security forces, officials, civil servants, journalists, foreign nationals and others whom they accused of supporting the authorities. However, the authenticity of such communiqués could not be verified, and the composition, structure and leadership of such armed groups remained unclear. Hundreds of people were arrested on charges of "terrorism" and offences against state security. Some were released without charge while others were detained awaiting trial. Some were prisoners of conscience and possible prisoners of conscience. Among them were Outoudert Abrouss, director of the newspaper Liberté, and Samir Khayaz, a journalist on the newspaper. They were arrested in December and given suspended prison sentences after being convicted of publishing false information about a senior government official. Incommunicado detention was often illegally prolonged beyond the maximum 12 days permitted by Algerian law. For example, Mohamed Benmarksi, a taxi driver who had appeared in a filmed documentary on political violence in Algeria at the end of 1994, was arrested in April and held incommunicado for over five weeks. He was then released without charge. The two leaders of the Front islamique du salut (FIS), Islamic Salvation Front, who had been released from prison and placed under house arrest in 1994 (see Amnesty International Report 1995), were again imprisoned at the start of 1995. Thousands of people arrested on "terrorism" charges since 1992 continued to be detained awaiting trial. Among them was Noureddine Lamdjadani, a doctor who was reportedly tortured after arrest in 1994 (see Amnesty International Report 1995). At least 647 people administratively detained since the beginning of 1992 without charge or trial in the desert camp of ‘Ain M'Guel in southern Algeria (see Amnesty International Report 1995) were released in November. The special courts set up under the 1992 "anti-terrorism" decree were dissolved in February. Trials of individuals accused of "terrorist" acts resumed in ordinary courts, but continued to violate international standards for fair trials. Judges and magistrates consistently failed to investigate allegations that defendants had been tortured and ill-treated and accepted as evidence confessions allegedly extracted under torture. No investigation was carried out into the death in custody of Fouad Bouchelaghem, detained in June 1994 (see Amnesty International Report 1995), and into other deaths in custody in previous years. Torture and ill-treatment of detainees were reported to be used routinely in police and gendarmerie stations, military and other secret detention centres to extract information and confessions from detainees held in incommunicado detention, often illegally prolonged for weeks or months. The most common methods reported included: the "chiffon", where the detainee is tied to a bench and a cloth is placed in the mouth through which a mixture of dirty water and chemicals is poured; the "chalumeau", burning with a blowtorch; electric shocks to sensitive parts of the body; placing the detainee's penis in a drawer and slamming the drawer shut; tying a rope around the detainee's genitals; suspension in contorted positions; cigarette burns; and beatings. Hundreds of people who had "disappeared" after arrest in 1995 and in previous years remained unaccounted for. They included Allaoua Ziou from Heliopolis (near Guelma), who "disappeared" after being arrested by the security forces. His brother, Mohamed Ziou, a doctor, was also arrested in September and was released after one month in secret detention. Two journalists, Djamaleddine Fahassi and Saghir Bouhadida, arrested in Algiers in May and June respectively, remained "disappeared". Among those arrested by the security forces in previous years whose fate and whereabouts remained unknown were two representatives of the FIS elected in December 1991; Mohamed Rosli, Director of the Institute of Sociology at Blida University, who "disappeared" following his arrest in October 1993, and Brahim Cherrada, who "disappeared" with Mohamed Chergui, Yamine ‘Ali Kebaili and 13 others after their arrests in July 1994 from their homes in Rass El Oued, Bourj-Bouarreridj. More than 100 death sentences were passed during the year, most of them in absentia. Lieutenant Lembarek Bouma‘arif, who was detained in June 1992 and accused of killing former President Mohamed Boudiaf, was sentenced to death in June. ‘Abdelkader Halouane, Mustapha Rahmouni, Sadok Boukeddache, and Mohamed Berbar were sentenced to death on charges of murder and other "terrorist" acts on behalf of armed opposition groups by a Tizi Ouzou court in July. Their trial fell short of international standards for fair trial. They and more than 600 others remained on death row at the end of the year. Most had been sentenced to death following unfair trials in previous years (see Amnesty International Reports 1994 and 1995). No executions were reported during the year, and the moratorium on executions announced in December 1993 remained in force. In August Amnesty International sent a memorandum detailing its concerns to President Liamine Zeroual, together with lists of hundreds of cases of alleged extrajudicial executions, "disappearances", torture and arbitrary detention by the security forces, urging that these abuses be thoroughly and impartially investigated. Amnesty International called on armed groups to stop killing civilians. It also called on the FIS to condemn all killings of civilians by armed groups defining themselves as "Islamic groups". In a response to Amnesty International's October 1994 report – Algeria: Repression and violence must end – the authorities denied that any of the human rights violations described in the report had taken place. However, the response failed to substantiate the denials. The FIS also issued a response to Amnesty International's report denying that armed Islamic groups were responsible for killings and other attacks on civilians. Some FIS representatives condemned killings of civilians, but failed to call on armed groups to stop targeting civilians. In a written statement to the UN Commission on Human Rights in March, Amnesty International described its concerns relating to torture, extrajudicial executions and "disappearances" in Algeria.