Algerian police break up conference seeking to shed light on insurgency
The Associated Press, International Herald Tribune, February 7, 2007
ALGIERS, Algeria: Police broke up a seminar Wednesday that aimed to discuss the darker chapters of Algeria’s longtime conflict between Islamic radicals and the military-backed government, organizers said.
Five associations — representing both victims of terror attacks and those believed to have been killed or kidnapped by security forces during the insurgency — had planned the seminar under the title « For Truth, Peace and Conciliation. »
But upon arrival at an Algiers hotel where they had hired a private room for the seminar, organizers found dozens of police.
Police physically blocked some participants from entering the hotel, participants said. Others got in but found that the lights and power had been cut in the room where the seminar was planned.
The Interior Ministry had no immediate comment.
The groups said they had alerted authorities to the seminar from the outset. The head of a national human rights body, who was appointed by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, had been expected to attend.
« No ministry responded to us to say that we did not have the right to hold this meeting, » said Cherifa Kheddar of the group Djazair Iruna, which represents families of victims of terrorism.
International experts invited to talk about reconciliation efforts in countries including Chile and South Africa were not granted visas or were prevented from entering the country, organizers said.
Algeria’s civil conflict began in 1992 after the military canceled the country’s first multiparty elections to prevent a likely victory by the hard-line Islamic Salvation Front. Up to 200,000 people died in the violence that followed, pitting security forces against Islamic rebels.
In 2005, Algerian voters approved a peace plan — the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation — that the government says has helped restore national unity. The plan included a broad amnesty for militants and compensation for some victims’ families.
But the charter has drawn criticism from human rights groups because of clauses limiting open discussion of the conflict.
The International Federation for Human Rights in Paris denounced the decision to block Wednesday’s seminar, noting that it came a day after nearly 60 nations — including Algeria — signed an international treaty banning forced disappearances.
« Yesterday, the Algerian justice minister was at our sides (in Paris) to sign the convention on forced disappearances, » federation president Sidiki Kaba said in a statement. « Today, it’s a real snub. Does the signature have no value in their eyes? »
