ALGERIA

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Vol. 15, No. 2 (E) – February 2003

In February 2002 the prosecutor summoned me and asked if I had any new information about Riad. I replied, “No. But it is not my job to conduct the investigation into a person who ‘disappears.’ It is your job.” The prosecutor opened Riad’s file and said, “I see that your son is a terrorist.” I replied, “Of course he’s a terrorist – to you, anyone who ‘disappears’ is a terrorist. But this country has a judicial system. If someone is a terrorist let him be put on trial.” Since then, there have been no traces of Riad. Still, I will never stop looking for my son, until my last breath. Human Rights Watch interview, Algiers, October 25, 2002. In Algeria, relatives of the "disappeared" hold photographs of their missing loved ones at a weekly demonstration held on their behalf in Algiers. (c) 1998 Agence France Presse

TIME FOR RECKONING: ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES AND ABDUCTIONS IN ALGERIA

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February 2003

Vol. 15, No. 2(E)

ALGERIA TIME FOR RECKONING: ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES IN ALGERIA TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Summary.................................................................................................................................................. 3 II. Recommendations .................................................................................................................................. 3 To the Government of Algeria................................................................................................................ 3 To Political Parties in Algeria................................................................................................................. 6 To Armed Groups Implicated in the Abduction of Civilians ................................................................. 6 To the European Union and its Member Nations ................................................................................... 7 III. About this Report.................................................................................................................................. 7 Acknowledgments................................................................................................................................... 8 A Note on Terms: “Disappearances” and “Abductions” ........................................................................ 8 Algeria’s International Human Rights Obligations ................................................................................ 9 IV. Introduction......................................................................................................................................... 12 The Political Setting.............................................................................................................................. 16 Counting Cases, Identifying Perpetrators ............................................................................................. 17 V. Cases .................................................................................................................................................... 19 “Disappearances” Decline but Secret Detentions Continue ................................................................. 29 Persons Abducted by Armed Groups and Still Missing ....................................................................... 31 VI. Mass Graves........................................................................................................................................ 34 VII. The Evolution of Government Discourse