Algeria: Repression and violence must end

Introduction

The human rights situation has continued to deteriorate in Algeria since a state of emergency was imposed at the beginning of 1992. Since then, according to official sources, at least 10,000 people have been killed by security forces and by armed political groups which define themselves as armed Islamic groups. Unofficial sources estimate the total number of those killed to be over twice as high. Hundreds of those killed by the security forces are reported to have been extrajudicially executed.

Torture and ill-treatment of detainees held in garde à vue (incommunicado) for weeks and months has become common practice. Confessions extracted under torture and denied by the accused before the court are routinely accepted as evidence, and trial proceedings in special courts violate the most basic principles for fair trials.

Both the security forces and armed Islamist groups have acted in total disregard for human rights and humanitarian law. Tens of thousands of activists or suspected activists of the Front Islamique du Salut, FIS (Islamic Salvation Front),and others known or suspected of having links with the armed Islamist groups have been detained. Many have been tortured or killed by the security forces. Hundreds of civilians suspected of cooperating with the security forces, supporting the government, or known for their position against the political agenda of the FIS and the armed Islamist groups have been killed by such groups. Relatives of those targeted by either the security forces or the armed Islamist groups have also been detained, taken hostage, or killed. Anti-Islamist groups, said to be linked to the security forces, are also reported to have abducted, killed and issued death threats to civilians believed to have Islamist sympathies.

Thus the civilian population has been taken hostage in a spiral of arbitrary violence by both government forces and armed groups. Armed Islamist groups such as the Groupe Islamique Armé, GIA (Armed Islamic Group), the Mouvement Islamique Armé, MIA (Armed Islamic Movement), the Armée de l'Etat Islamique, AEI (Army of the Islamic State), and the Armée Islamique du Salut, AIS (Islamic Salvation Army), have repeatedly issued death threats to individuals and certain sectors of the population. Members of the security forces often carry out their operations in plain clothes without presenting arrest or search warrants, and armed Islamist groups kill civilians after setting up false road blocks wearing security forces uniforms. This further increases the confusion and insecurity of the civilian population.

The Algerian authorities have so far failed to take action to stop the security forces from resorting to extrajudicial executions and torture. Members of the judiciary have consistently failed to investigate allegations of torture and breaches of laws regulating incommunicado detention.

FIS leaders and spokesmen have not only failed to condemn killings of civilians by armed Islamist groups, but have repeatedly justified such killings.

Amnesty International opposes human rights violations by the security forces and has repeatedly expressed its concerns to the Algerian authorities, urging them to take the necessary measures to put an end to torture and ill-treatment of detainees and to ensure that the security forces do not resort to excessive use of lethal force and extrajudicial executions.

The organization also opposes human rights abuses by armed political groups, such as the deliberate killing of civilians; harming those who are wounded, captured or seeking surrender; the taking of hostages or the torture of any person. These acts can never be justified and are forbidden by international humanitarian law.

Amnesty International takes no position on the use of violence, and in opposing abuses by armed political groups it neither recognizes nor extends any particular status to such groups; its concerns are with the victims and potential victims, and its aim is to promote the observance of minimum humanitarian standards.

In this report Amnesty International describes cases of gross human rights violations committed by the Algerian authorities such as extrajudicial executions, torture and unfair trials. It also describes cases of human rights abuses, including killings of civilians by armed political groups. The organization calls on both sides to stop the killings of civilians and other human rights violations and abuses, and to free the Algerian people from the reign of arbitrary terror.

Background

After the first round of the first multi-party elections at the end of December 1991, in which the FIS won a large majority of seats, the then President Chadli Bendjedid resigned and a five-man Haut Comité d'Etat, HCE (Higher State Committee), led by President Mohamed Boudiaf was appointed. The cancellation of the second round of elections, due to be held on 16 January 1992, led to a political crisis which resulted in the imposition of a state of emergency on 9 February 1992. There were widespread protest demonstrations by supporters and sympathizers of the FIS, some of which resulted in clashes between demonstrators and security forces, and thousands were detained. According to the authorities, in the first two months of 1992 at least 70 civilians were shot dead by the security forces, and over 30 members of the security forces were killed by government opponents. Unofficial sources reported the number of civilians killed by the security forces to be considerably higher.

Over 10,000 of those detained were held without charge or trial in internment camps in the desert in southern Algeria under administrative detention. The Algerian authorities described this as a preventive measure aimed at protecting public order. Most of them were released in the course of 1992 and 1993, but over 300 remain detained without charge in a desert camp in Ain M'Guel, in the south of the country.

Similar measures had already been taken by the Algerian authorities in 1991, when a four-month state of siege was imposed on 4 June, in the aftermath of a general strike called by the FIS in protest at the postponement of the elections. The strike had been followed by large protest demonstrations which led to widespread arrests. Over 50 civilians were shot dead by security forces during these demonstrations.

In March 1992 the FIS was banned, and in July 1992 its leaders, Abbassi Madani and Ali Belhadj, who had been detained since July 1991, were tried by the Military Court. They were sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment in a trial which was closed to international observers and foreign media, and which did not comply with international standards for fair trial. They were released from prison and placed under house arrest on 12 September 1994. Three other FIS leaders sentenced in the same trial were also released at the same time.

The confrontation which broke out between government forces and supporters and sympathizers of the FIS after the suspension of the electoral process in 1992 turned increasingly violent and continues to threaten the security of the civilian population. Communications infrastructure, state factories and other public properties have been destroyed or damaged, and schools and forests have been burned down. Armed Islamist groups have claimed responsibility for some of these acts, but in other cases they have denied having carried out acts attributed to them and have in turn accused the security forces of being responsible for them. Houses have been destroyed by the security forces, reportedly on grounds that armed groups were believed to be hiding there.

The Algerian human rights organizations, the Ligue Algérienne des Droits de l'Homme, LADH (Algerian League for Human Rights), and the Ligue Algérienne de la Défense des Droits de l'Homme, LADDH (Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights), have repeatedly expressed their concern about the increasing human rights violations and abuses committed by the security forces and the armed groups. Both organizations have condemned the practice of arbitrary and administrative detention, the torture of detainees and killings by security forces and armed groups. In June 1994 the President of the LADH, Youcef Fethallah, was shot dead by unknown gunmen as he went to his office in the centre of Algiers.

The Observatoire National des Droits de l'Homme, ONDH, the National Human Rights Monitoring Body set up by the government in 1992, has again recently raised its concern with the authorities about increasingly widespread reports of illegally prolonged garde à vue detention. In 1993 the ONDH had raised several cases of torture allegations with the authorities, but these do not appear to have been investigated by the authorities. The ONDH has not itself investigated cases of torture and illegally prolonged garde à vue detention which have been brought to its attention.

Amnesty International has visited Algeria on several occasions since 1991, most recently in August 1994. In the past three years the organization has gathered information and investigated reports of killings and other human rights violations and abuses by both security forces and armed groups, and has interviewed former detainees, lawyers, doctors, human rights activists, families of detainees and of victims killed by the security forces and by armed groups and eyewitnesses of killings by both sides. The organization has raised its concerns publicly in reports and news releases, and with the Algerian authorities directly and through correspondence. Amnesty International members throughout the world have called on the Algerian authorities and FIS leaders to put an end to human rights violations and abuses.

Increasing lack of protection for the civilian population

Thousands of lives have been lost already, and the killings continue. In many cases it is impossible to know with certainty who carried out the killings and why. The bodies of the victims have often been burned or mutilated, sometimes in front of their families. Victims, including children, have had their throats slit, and their heads severed from their bodies; others have been viciously maimed by having their genitals and limbs severed. Both armed groups and members of the security forces are believed to be responsible for such brutalities.

The civilian population is targeted by both government forces and armed groups. Civilian victims of attacks by armed groups who have failed to report such incidents to the security forces for fear of reprisals by the armed groups have been persecuted by the security forces on charges of cooperating with and supporting the armed groups. Teachers who, under threat by armed Islamist groups, have advised their female students to wear the hidjab (Islamic veil) have been arrested and imprisoned for encouraging civil disobedience; newspapers sellers have been threatened with having their licences withdrawn for suspending the sale of French-language newspapers after receiving death threats from armed Islamist groups; men within the age group of compulsory military service are threatened with death by the armed Islamist groups, unless they refuse to join the army or unless they desert after having already been conscripted, and at the same time face imprisonment if they desert the army or refuse to join. Relatives of known or suspected members of armed Islamist groups risk being taken hostage and ill-treated by the security forces as a means of putting pressure on their sought after relatives. Families of members of the security forces or of civilians targeted by the armed Islamist groups risk being killed instead of their relatives.

Killings and extrajudicial executions by security forces

The Algerian authorities have stated that 10,000 people have been killed by the security forces and armed groups since the beginning of 1992. They have not given any separate figures for killings by the security forces, but have stated that these have occurred in the context of armed conflict. When scores of civilians were shot dead by the security forces during protest demonstrations in the summer of 1991 and at the beginning of 1992, the Algerian authorities stated that they had been killed in armed clashes with the security forces. However, Amnesty International believes that there was evidence that unarmed civilians had been killed by members of the security forces shooting at demonstrators and in the course of raids aimed at arresting suspect opposition activists in situations where the lives of security officers were not deemed to be at risk. Some of those killed may have been the victims of extrajudicial executions. Bystanders were also killed and injured by stray bullets fired by the security forces.

The number of deaths by shooting by the security forces continued to increase since the imposition of the state of emergency in 1992, and especially after the state of emergency was prolonged indefinitely in February 1993. Although the Algerian authorities have continued to state that those killed by the security forces were killed in armed clashes, Amnesty International has received reports of hundreds of extrajudicial executions by members of the security forces. Eyewitnesses have told Amnesty International that unarmed individuals have been killed by the security forces, sometimes at night during curfew hours, in or near their homes, sometimes in front of their families and neighbours; others are reported to have been arrested and killed in custody. In some of these cases the victims were reported by the authorities to have either been killed in armed clashes with the security forces, or to have been killed by unknown "terrorists". Official reports of killings by the security forces often do not give the names of those killed or any details of the exact location and circumstances in which they were killed. Security-related information is strictly censored and the Algerian media can only report information provided or approved by the security forces.

Testimonies and other information gathered by Amnesty International from a variety of sources show a pattern of extrajudicial executions carried out by members of the security forces as an alternative to arrest or in retaliation for ambushes and attacks by armed groups on security forces and civilians. Such practices also appear to be used as a means of dissuading the population from providing material support and hiding places to the armed groups or failing to denounce them. Victims of extrajudicial executions appear to fall mainly into two categories: known or suspected members of armed Islamist groups who are killed without any apparent attempt to arrest them; and people who are suspected of having helped such groups or failed to denounce them, either willingly or under threat. People who live in areas where the armed groups operate often have no knowledge of the activities of these groups or fear to denounce them.

Rebai Rabah, a 38-year-old FIS member from Oued Sly who was arrested from his home on 28 September 1993, was found lying dead in a field near his village 13 days after his arrest. He had been shot in the head, chest and left leg and had bruises and wounds on the face, chest, right leg and arm. After his arrest his family had been unable to see him but had been told by the authorities that he was in good health and that they would be able to see him as soon as the investigation into his case was completed. Following the discovery of his body the authorities refused to give his family any explanation regarding the circumstances of his death. When the family recovered the body from the morgue it was in a sealed coffin.

Nine students and their teacher from the El Oued area, Dahab Omar, Derouiche Abdelbassat, Rahal Abderrazak, Mahadda Salah, Aouinet Abdelkader, Djerad Abdelkader, Arhouma Saad, Maatallah Abdelbaki, Nazli Abdelkamel and Khouider Messaoud, were arrested by the security forces on 12 March 1994. They had returned to their homes on leave from their training course in the Alhadjar steel factory in Annaba (600 kms away); Another student from Guemmar, Saci Tahar, had been arrested a few days earlier. Some of the families of those detained contacted the gendarmeriein El Oued and were informed that their sons had only been detained in order to check their military service status and would be released shortly. The members of one family asked the gendarmerie whether they should contact a lawyer and were reportedly told that this was not necessary as their son would be released soon, and they were allowed to visit him once. On 17 March, the detainees were reportedly moved to a detention centre in Annaba, and thereafter their families were unable to visit them or to obtain any information about the reasons for their detention. On 13 April, they were informed by the gendarmerie in El Oued that their detained relatives had been released on 8 April but had immediately been killed by "terrorists". At around the same time the Algerian media announced that a group of "terrorists", led by Saci Tahar, had been killed when trying to set fire to the Alhadjar steel factory. The families were able to collect the bodies from Annaba on 16 April. When a relative of one of those killed enquired about the identity of the group of "terrorists" killed the previous week, he was reportedly told to keep quiet or he might lose another son. The bodies were in sealed coffins, but some families opened the coffins and reported that the bodies bore bruises and wounds.

On the morning of 19 March 1994 Kouider Melal, arrested two weeks earlier from his place of work, was found lying dead in the street outside his home in El Ataf (Ouedfoda) alongside the bodies of three other men from the same district who had also been previously arrested. After his arrest his family had enquired at the commissariat in Ouedfoda and were reportedly told that he had been arrested for security reasons and would be released soon. They had been allowed to see him on one occasion one week after his arrest and to bring him food. The bodies of the four victims reportedly had bullets injuries in the head, and were left on the street for most of the day during which their families were not allowed to remove them. The bodies were taken to the morgue in the evening and the families were allowed to bury them two days later.

On 11 April 1994, after an army colonel was shot dead in the middle of the afternoon by unknown individuals outside a bakery in a square in the Algiers district of Ain Naja, men believed to be members of the security forces came to the square at around 1am. Two eyewitnesses stated to Amnesty International:

"We were woken up by gunfire and when we looked out of our window we saw a group of hooded men dressed in plain clothes shooting near the bakery; they were shooting in the air in various directions and towards the building of the bakery for about half an hour; there was no one else about and no response to the fire; the shooting only came from this group of men. We were terrified that a stray bullet may come through the open window and hit us. We did not understand why no one came out of the gendarmerie station which is just across the square; after they left five bodies were lying in the square, but these five people had not been killed there. The five bodies were left there until 9am, even though someone had notified the gendarmerie station several hours earlier. The victims were barefoot and in pyjamas, and were not from the district; they were killed elsewhere. Some of the bodies had bruises on their faces and necks. Notices which read: "this is the fate of the traitors of the motherland" were left on some of the bodies."

Amnesty International has received reports of other incidents of killings which took place during the curfew hours without any attempt by the nearby gendarmerie and police to intervene. Such reports suggest that the killings could have been carried out either by the security forces or by others with the consent of the security forces. The organization has received several reports of security forces operations after which individuals wearing pyjamas and sometimes not known in the district were found dead, indicating that they had been killed after having been taken from their homes.

A number of incidents of killings by the security forces in army vehicles are reported to have occurred in Cherarba, a suburb of Algiers, in April, May, July and August 1994 following attacks by armed groups on the security forces. According to eyewitnesses at least 20 people were killed by members of the security forces in the evening of 16 August 1994, reportedly after an ambush by an armed group on two army vehicles that afternoon. One of those killed was Fatah Mizreb, an 18-year-old high school student said to have been shot dead when he opened the door of his house to go out. The bodies of those killed were left on the road until the following morning, when they were taken away by ambulances. The eyewitnesses told Amnesty International that the victims were killed outside their homes by members of the security forces who were questioning inhabitants of the district for information about the armed group who had carried out the ambush on the army vehicles.

Amnesty International has repeatedly expressed its concern to the Algerian authorities about the increasing number of killings by the security forces in circumstances which suggest that the victims may have been extrajudicially executed. After the killings of civilians in 1991 and 1992, the organization called on the Algerian authorities to take all the necessary steps to ensure that the members of its security forces respect international standards on the use of force and firearms. Principle 9 of the United Nations (UN) Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials states:

"Law enforcement officials shall not use firearms against persons except in self-defence or defence of others against the imminent threat of death or serious injury, to prevent the perpetration of a particularly serious crime involving grave threat to life, to arrest a person presenting such a danger, and resisting their authority or to prevent his or her escape, and only when less extreme means are insufficient to achieve these objectives. In any event, intentional lethal use of firearms may only be made when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life."

Moreover, Principle 10 states:

"In the circumstances provided for under Principle 9, law enforcement officials shall identify themselves as such and give a clear warning of their intent to use firearms, with sufficient time for the warning to be observed...".

Amnesty International has repeatedly urged the Algerian authorities to carry out full, impartial and independent investigations into killings of civilians by the security forces, and to make public the findings of the investigations, in compliance with international standards. Principle 9 of the UN Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-Legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions states:

"There shall be a thorough, prompt and impartial investigation of all suspected cases of extra-legal, arbitrary and summary executions, including all cases where complaints by relatives or other reliable reports suggest unnatural death... ".

These Principles, and the UN Manual on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-Legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions, establish strict standards for such investigations, including a requirement that a written report shall be made within a reasonable period of time on the methods and findings of the investigation and shall be made public immediately. Moreover, the UN Basic Principles on the use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials and the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials impose reporting requirements in cases of death and in all cases where firearms are discharged.

However, to date there have been no public inquiries into any death caused by law enforcement officials. Although the Algerian authorities stated to Amnesty International that internal investigations were held in cases of death by shooting by the security forces in 1991, no information was made available concerning their findings. Subsequent requests for clarifications of specific cases of killings by the security forces and calls for investigations into reports of extrajudicial executions have been ignored by the authorities.

Deliberate and arbitrary killings of civilians by armed political groups

Hundreds of civilians have been killed by armed Islamist groups since the beginning of 1992. Whilst in the first year of the state of emergency armed Islamist groups targeted mainly members of the security forces, after the state of emergency was prolonged at the beginning of 1993 these groups have increasingly resorted to killing civilians, often after issuing individual or generalized death threats. Armed groups have also taken civilians hostage.

Amongst those killed and threatened with death by armed Islamist groups have been journalists, writers, intellectuals and political activists accused of having called for and supported the cancellation of the 1992 elections or of writing against the political agenda of the FIS and of armed Islamist groups. Others who have been targeted include civil servants, especially the presidents of the Délégations Executives Communales (DEC), appointed to replace elected FIS mayors, and tax collectors; teachers; magistrates and lawyers accused of working with the authorities in the special courts; women accused of un-Islamic behaviour or non-compliance with the Islamic dress code; hairdressers and beauticians; and sellers of French language newspapers and tobacco, goods which were banned by the GIA. Since September 1993 foreigners have also been targeted, and at least 60 have been killed to date. The GIA announced last October that foreigners had one month to leave Algeria or face death, and has since claimed responsibility for the killings of most of these foreigners.

Armed Islamist groups have repeatedly issued death threats (often referred to as "death sentences") against civilians, but have pursued a policy of not claiming responsibility for carrying them out (except in the case of foreigners and some other cases for which with the GIA reportedly claimed responsibility). Death threats have been delivered in communiqués sent to the media and stuck on walls throughout the country, and in letters and telephone calls to individuals and newspapers.

Communiqués from armed Islamist groups usually contain generalized death threats and praises for the killing of civilians considered to be "enemies". Letters containing death threats signed by armed Islamist groups are usually, but not in all cases, addressed to specific individuals and in some cases include lists of other individuals "sentenced to death" by these groups. Some contain a piece of white material (symbolizing the shroud) with the verse of the Qur'an which is recited for the dead (the Shihada).

FIS spokesmen have often denied that Communiqués and letters threatening civilians with death or claiming responsibility for the killings were issued by the armed Islamist group, and have stated that such Communiqués may be issued by the security forces or others in a deliberate attempt to discredit them. FIS spokesmen have to date denied all responsibility for the killings carried out by the armed Islamist groups. They have stated that the FIS is a political party and as such it cannot be held responsible for the action of these groups (referred to as mujahidin,freedom fighters). At the same time, they have failed to condemn such acts by others, maintaining that the actions of the mujahidin are legitimate because those targetted were "not innocent". FIS spokesmen have condemned the killing of "anyone not engaged in or directly responsible for acts of repression", but maintain that civilians who have taken a position in favour of the halting of the elections in 1992 and against FIS's participation in political life are "not innocent" and are in fact responsible for the political crisis which has led to the repression of Islamist activists.

Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the FIS leaders to condemn all arbitrary and deliberate killings of any civilians by the armed Islamist groups and to call for an immediate halt to such actions by these groups. However, these calls have been ignored.

Many of the civilians believed to have been killed by armed Islamist groups were known for their opposition to the political agenda of the FIS and the armed Islamist groups. They include El Hedi Flici, a medical doctor, writer and a member of the Conseil Consultatif National, CCN (National Consultative Council),who was shot dead at his surgery in the Casbah in Algiers on 17 March 1993; Mahfoud Boucebci, a professor of psychiatry stabbed to death outside the hospital where he worked in the Kouba district of Algiers on 15 June 1993;and Djilali Belkhenchir, a paediatrician and a member of the Comité de Sauvegarde de l'Algérie (Committee for the safeguard of Algeria, which called for the cancellation of the second round of elections in 1992), shot dead on 18 December 1993 in the hospital where he worked. Other victims of such killings belonged to certain professional groups which have been particularly targeted by the armed Islamist groups. The national television (ENTV) journalist Smail Yefsah was stabbed and shot dead outside his home in the Bab Ezzouar district of Algiers on 18 October 1993, and Ferhat Cherkit, a journalist for the daily newspaper El Moudjahid, was shot dead in the centre of Algiers on 7 June 1994.

Another journalist, and editor of a new astrology magazine, Brahim Taouchichet, was abducted by the AIS on 14 August 1994. He was reportedly "tried" by his captives in an "Islamic court" which "did not find him guilty of having participated in the campaign against the moujahidin". He was released the following day and left on a road blindfolded and with his hands and feet tied. He was reportedly given a message warning journalists "for the last time to either repent or accept the consequences which they will bring upon themselves". A communiqué from the AIS later warned journalists to stop going to the Maison de la Presse(Press House) in Algiers.

Among those killed or threatened by armed Islamist groups were several women. Some belonged to targeted professional groups such as teachers, journalists and magistrates, while others were relatives of members of the security forces. One of the first women to be killed, in January 1993, was Karima Belhadj, a 20-year-old archivist in the youth and sports department of the Direction Générale des la Sûreté Nationale, DGSN (General office of national security); she was killed by an armed group reportedly for refusing to provide them with information relating to the work of the security forces. In October 1993 a beautician received a letter signed by the MIA threatening to kill her unless she closed her shop; similar threats were issued to beauticians and hairdressers in letters and in Communiqués posted on walls. The wife and two children (aged nine and 23) of a retired gendarme were knifed to death on 16 June 1994 in El Hachemia, near Bouira; the gendarme and two of his other children (aged eight and 20) were injured in the attack.

In April 1994, two cousins who had just completed their military service were taken from their home by an armed group and were found dead the following day. They had been killed and mutilated with an axe. Several weeks later their family received a letter signed by the GIA threatening to kill them if they did not stop criticizing the GIA and threatening to kill their other son unless he stopped singing in the local music group.

In addition to the armed groups calling themselves Islamic groups, an anti-Islamist organization by the name of Organisation des Jeunes Algériens Libres, OJAL (Organization of Young Free Algerians), began issuing death threats to civilian Islamists in the autumn of 1993. At the end of December 1993 the OJAL announced the creation of several regional commandos, with the aim of "ridding Algerian society of terrorism and of all those who support it". In February 1994, after a 17-year-old high school student was killed reportedly by an armed Islamist group for not wearing the hidjab, the OJAL issued a statement threatening to kill 20 veiled women and 20 bearded Islamists for every woman killed for not wearing the veil. On 29 March, soon after the statement was issued and published by the Algerian media, two veiled high-school students were shot dead at a bus stop in the suburbs of Algiers.

The OJAL has claimed responsibility for the abduction and killing of Islamists, including that of Mohamed Tedjini Boudjelkha, a founding member of the FIS, who was abducted at the beginning of November 1993. He was held and tortured for five days and then released. Scores of FIS members and other Islamists have received letters containing death threats by the OJAL. There have been allegations, including by individuals who received death threats or survived attempts on their lives by the OJAL, that this group operated in conjunction with the security forces. Some of those who received death threats from the OJAL have since been arrested by the security forces. Some of those killed by the security forces were reported to have previously received death threats by the OJAL, but Amnesty International has not been able to confirm these reports.

The OJAL had claimed responsibility for the abduction on 26 November 1993 of Mohamed Bouslimani, the President of the Islamic charity El Irshad wa el Islah (Guidance and Reform), and a founding member of the Islamist party HAMAS. He was found dead at the end of January 1994. He had had his throat slit and had been buried. His abduction had also been claimed by the GIA.

To date the Algerian authorities have failed to condemn such activities by anti-Islamist groups. On the contrary, some government officials have made statements which appear to have encouraged the activities of these anti-Islamist groups and human rights violations by the security forces. In April 1994 the then Prime Minister Redha Malek stated in a speech in which he referred to the need for the civilian population to organize itself to resist "terrorism", that "fear had to shift to the other camp".

Torture of detainees in incommunicado detention

Since 1991 the Algerian security forces have increasingly resorted to the torture of detainees in their custody, a practice which had been virtually eradicated in Algeria after 1989. Detainees are tortured during garde à vue detention, which is often illegally prolonged beyond the maximum 12-day period permitted by the anti-terrorist decree of September 1992. Whilst in garde à vue for weeks or months, detainees are completely cut off from the outside world, and their families and lawyers are unable to locate their place of detention.

The method of torture most commonly used by the security forces is the "chiffon" (cloth), whereby a detainee is tied to a bench and a cloth is stuffed into his mouth and large quantities of dirty water mixed with detergent or other chemicals is poured in his mouth; in some cases instead of being tied to a bench, the detainee is suspended on a bar inserted between the back of his knees and his hands and feet which are bound together. Other methods of torture used are burning of the skin with a blowtorch (chalumeau); electric shocks to the ears, genitals and other sensitive parts of the body; suspension by the wrists or in contorted positions for prolonged periods; sexual abuse using bottles and sticks; beatings, especially on the head and genitals; death threats and mock executions. Detainees have also had holes drilled in the back, feet or legs with a drill. Amnesty International has received reports that scores of detainees have died in custody as a result of torture since the beginning of 1992. The organization's requests to the Algerian authorities to investigate these cases and to provide clarifications regarding the causes and circumstances of the death of these detainees have been ignored.

Information received by Amnesty International over the past three years from detainees, their families and lawyers, and from medical personnel who have seen or examined victims of torture, concerns hundreds of cases and indicates that the use of torture is widespread across the country, and is practised by police, gendarmerie, and military security personnel. Such methods are used by the security forces mainly to extract confessions from detainees of their alleged participation and that of others in killings and other attacks against individuals or properties. Such "confessions" extracted under torture are regularly used, often as sole evidence, to convict the detainees in question and others named by them during interrogation.

In hundreds of cases known to Amnesty International, members of the security forces carrying out arrests never produced an arrest warrant, or any official documentation confirming that they were in fact members of the security forces, and the security forces holding the detainees have systematically refused to give any information to their families. Consequently, when people are taken from their homes, their families have no way of knowing if they have been arrested by the security forces or abducted by members of an armed group posing as security forces personnel. It is only in cases where the families recognize those who carry out the arrests, when the detaining authority acknowledges holding the detainee, or when the detainees reappear weeks or months later in front of a magistrate or in prison, that the fate and whereabouts of these detainees can be ascertained.

Saâdane Hassani, the 20-year-old son of a lawyer, was arrested on the night of 13 November 1993 from his home in Algiers and taken to a detention centre in Chateauneuf. He remained there for over two weeks, and was then transferred to the Commissariat Central, where he remained until 10 January 1994, when he was transferred to prison. During these two months he was allegedly tortured with the chiffon method, burned on his chest, had electric shocks administered to his ears, and was beaten. He was also reportedly taken to isolated places at night and told he would be executed. During his prolonged secret detention his father repeatedly contacted the Algerian authorities but was unable to obtain any information on his place of detention.

A 20-year-old man arrested on 25 May 1994 at 9.30am from his place of work told Amnesty International that he was blindfolded and taken to the gendarmerie station, where he was tortured with the chiffon method and beaten whilst being suspended on a bar with his hands and feet tied together. He was then transferred to the Commissariat Central in Algiers, where he was held for 13 days, and was again repeatedly beaten and tortured with the chiffon. During this period he was taken to hospital for treatment after he lost consciousness for several hours, and was also taken to another detention centre for one night and interrogated. He was held in garde à vue for a total of 39 days during which his father went to several police and gendarmerie stations to look for him, but neither he nor his lawyer were able to find out where he was being detained. He was later released on bail on medical grounds. He stated that he was not allowed to read the procès verbal (police declaration) before signing it. The procès verbaldoes not bear a reference number and does not contain any record of the dates and times of the interrogations. He stated that in the Commissariat Central he saw other detainees who had been held there in garde à vuefor up to five weeks; some were said to have been tortured and beaten, while others had never been interrogated although they had been detained for over three weeks.

Noureddine Lamdjadani, a medical doctor, was arrested on 17 May 1994, when he went to the police station in Algiers after receiving a summons. He was held in garde à vue until 17 July. He stated in a testimony that he was held for the first three days in the Commissariat Central, where he was blindfolded, undressed and tied to a bench; his vest was stuffed into his mouth. While one officer poured large quantities of liquid into his mouth, others beat him with sticks on his head and feet, and another officer inserted a stick between his handcuffed hands and pulled his hand apart. He said that he was subjected to this treatment several times during the first three days, after which he was transferred, blindfolded and in the boot of a car, to the detention centre of Chateauneuf. He said that he was again repeatedly tortured by the same methods and threatened with death during the remaining 57 days he spent there.

Said Moulay, a university professor of mathematics, was arrested by members of the security forces on the afternoon of 19 June 1994 while he was out driving in his car with his two children, aged four and nine. All three were taken to an unknown destination, and he was kept there while his children were taken back and left in a street near their home. In November 1993 he had received a letter containing death threats from the anti-Islamist group OJAL, and his family did not know whether he had been abducted by this group or arrested by the security forces. After his arrest on 19 June his family tried unsuccessfully for one month to find out where he was being held. He was eventually brought before the juge d'instruction (examining judge) on 17 July. He stated in a testimony that during the month of secret detention he was tortured with the chiffon method, beaten with rubber hoses and sticks, including on the soles of the feet, kicked and punched. He repeatedly asked for medical treatment but was denied it until the day before he was brought to the juge d'instruction, when he was taken to hospital and received some treatment, including stitches on his head and right hand. A medical examination requested by his lawyers was ordered by the juge d'instruction at the end of July, but over three weeks later he had not yet been examined by a doctor.

Amnesty International has repeatedly expressed its concern to the Algerian authorities about the increasing and widespread practice of torture by the security forces. The use of torture violates both the Algerian Constitution and international treaties to which Algeria is a state party. Article 33 of the Algerian Constitution states:

"The State guarantees the inviolability of the human person. Every form of physical or moral violence is proscribed".

Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) states:

"No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment...".

Article 4 of the same treaty provides that this right cannot be derogated from under any circumstances, even in a "time of public emergency which threatens the life of the nation".

Article 2 of the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) states:

"No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture".

Amnesty International has repeatedly called upon the authorities to fulfil Algeria's solemn treaty obligations and to take all necessary measures to stop and prevent the torture and ill-treatment of detainees, to ensure that all torture allegations are thoroughly, independently and impartially investigated, and to bring to justice any member of the security force found to have been responsible for such practices.

The organization has raised with the authorities a number of individual cases of detainees who alleged that they had been tortured, and urged them to investigate these allegations. However, to date the Algerian authorities have not provided Amnesty International with details of a single investigation into any of these reports of torture, and have failed to take the necessary steps to prevent and investigate torture. Thus, members of the security forces have been allowed to continue using torture with total impunity.

The failure of the Algerian judiciary to comply with their obligations under algerian and international law

Amnesty International has in the past expressed its concern at the systematic breaches of procedures at all stages of pre-trial investigation and during trials in the special courts, before which detainees' right to defence had already been curtailed under the 1992 anti-terrorist decree.

Between February 1993 and June 1994, at least 10,194 people were tried by the three special courts (3400 of which in the first six months of 1994). Of these, 1,127 defendants were sentenced to death (964 of which were in absentia), 6,507 to terms of imprisonment (including life imprisonment), and 2,560 were acquitted. Although executions were suspended at the end of 1993, 26 people were executed before then.

Trials in the special courts have been characterized by a pattern of systematic violations of procedures and disregard for the accused's right to defence and for international standards for fair trial. Judges in the special courts have consistently failed to order investigations into torture allegations, even in cases when the detainees were brought to court with visible injuries and bruises. Lawyers' requests for medical examination of detainees who alleged that they were tortured have been systematically ignored or refused by the juge d'instruction on the basis that such requests should have been made to the security forces responsible for the detention. When these complaints were raised by lawyers and the accused in the subsequent stages of the trials the judges have refused to take any action on the basis that such matters should have been raised before the juge d'instruction.

Procès verbaux (police statements) which have been denied by the accused on grounds that confessions had been extracted from them under torture, and which bore a falsified date of arrest or no date of arrest and no dates and times of each interrogation session, have been accepted as evidence. Such practices violate Algerian obligations under international standards. Article 13 of the UN CAT states:

"Each State Party shall ensure that any individual who alleges he has been subjected to torture in any territory under its jurisdiction has the right to complain to and to have his case promptly and impartially examined by its competent authorities."

Article 15 of the UN CAT states:

"Each State Party shall ensure that any statement which is established to have been made as a result of torture shall not be invoked as evidence in any proceedings, except against a person accused of torture as evidence that the statement was made."

In one case known to Amnesty International, Noureddine Bouamama confessed in September 1992, allegedly under torture, to having received a bomb from another individual and having hidden it in the laundry room (buanderie) on the terrace of his house in Algiers. The procès verbal stated that the police officers searched the house and found the bomb in the laundry room on the terrace of his house. However, the report of the bailiff (huissier judiciaire), which was requested by the defence lawyer and ordered by the court, stated that there was no laundry room on the terrace of the house. The bomb which the police officers claimed to have found was never brought to court as evidence. Despite the doubts cast on the veracity of the information contained in the procès verbal, this was accepted as evidence in court. Noureddine Bouamama was convicted of terrorist activities and sentenced to death. Amnesty International could not confirm at the time of writing whether he remains in prison.

In none of the cases of complaints of illegally prolonged garde à vue detention known to Amnesty International have the judges ordered investigations to establish the actual dates of arrest and other relevant information. Moreover, they have failed to take measures to penalize the security officers responsible for violating the law, even in cases where the dates on the procès verbaux proved that garde à vue had been prolonged beyond the maximum period permitted by the law. When asked about the criteria used for deciding whether to order medical examinations or investigations, special court judges have told Amnesty International that detainees systematically say they have been tortured as part of their defence, but that they had never come across any cases where there were indications that a detainee had been tortured or ill-treated. However, Amnesty International knows of cases where detainees appeared before the courts with obvious physical marks of torture, and has seen copies of requests for medical examination which were either refused or ignored by the court.

The consistent failure of the judiciary in the special courts at all levels to ensure that the rights of defendants under national and international law are respected at all stages of proceedings, their failure to investigate serious allegations of human rights violations and breaches of procedures committed by the security forces, and their willingness to accept as evidence confessions allegedly extracted under torture and police statements fraught with irregularities, seriously calls into question their independence and impartiality. In particular the participation of judges in special courts which do not use regular procedures is inconsistent with their obligations of independence and impartiality.

Conclusions and recommendations

Amnesty International believes that the growing number of killings and other grave human rights violations and abuses which have become widespread in Algeria for almost three years will not end unless the Algerian authorities and the armed political groups act immediately to stop those who act in their name from committing such gross violations and abuses.

Amnesty International has repeatedly raised its concerns with the Algerian authorities about the deteriorating human rights situation in the country. However, the Algerian authorities have never responded to requests for information or clarification concerning any of the cases of torture, prolonged garde à vue detention, death in custody and extrajudicial executions raised by Amnesty International. No independent and public inquiry has been carried out into the numerous cases of human rights violations brought to their attention, and no information was made available regarding any internal investigation which may have been carried out.

Repeated calls by Amnesty International to FIS leaders to condemn all killings of civilians by armed Islamist groups have been ignored.

Amnesty International has noted that President Liamine Zeroual stated on 25 August that human rights violations will not be tolerated and asked for reports of such violations to be brought to his attention. However, the failure of the Algerian authorities to investigate reports of human rights violations by the security forces and to bring those responsible to justice has created a situation where victims of human rights violations and their families have no confidence that their cases will be impartially investigated and that they will not suffer reprisals for putting forwards their complaints.

Amnesty International is therefore calling on the Algerian authorities to:

1. Publicly condemn the practice of extrajudicial executions and use of torture and ill-treatment of detainees by the security force, and to state clearly that:

A. Under no circumstances should the security forces resort to extrajudicial executions either as an alternative to arrest, or for any other reason.

B. Under no circumstances should the security forces resort to the use of any form of torture or ill-treatment against detainees in their custody, either to extract confessions, or any other reason.

C. Under no circumstances should detainees be held by the security forces beyond the period permitted by Algerian law. The security forces should immediately inform the judicial authorities and the families of detainees of their arrest and place of detention.

D. Any member of the security forces responsible for extrajudicial executions or for the torture and ill-treatment of detainees will be brought to justice.

E. Under no circumstances should judges accept confessions extracted under torture as evidence against the detainees. Judges should ensure that all reports or complaints of torture are promptly investigated and that detainees who allege that they were tortured or ill-treated are promptly examined by a doctor of their choice.

2. Set up an independent commission of inquiry to investigate:

A. All cases where the circumstances of death of individuals known or alleged to have been killed by security forces are unclear or disputed and where there are grounds to believe that they may have been extrajudicially executed.

B. All reports or allegations of torture and ill-treatment of detainees.

Guidelines for the criteria for the composition, terms of reference and procedures of a commission of inquiry have been sent to the Algerian authorities with this report.

3. Amnesty International also urges the Algerian Government to invite the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture to Algeria to investigate past and present cases of alleged torture.

4. Amnesty International urges the United Nations to provide adequate resources to the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions to visit Algeria and investigate past and present cases of alleged extrajudicial executions.

Concerning abuses by All Armed political groups:

1. Amnesty International calls on all armed Islamist groups to immediately put an end to the practice of killing, hostage-taking and other abuses of civilians.

2. The organization calls on the OJAL and any other anti-Islamist groups not to kill civilians or take them on hostage.

3. The organization also urges FIS leaders to publicly condemn all killings and hostage-taking of any civilians by any armed Islamist groups, and to call on these groups to immediately cease the killing of any civilians or the issuing of death threats to them, regardless of their political views or activities.