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PUBLIC
AI Index: MDE 28/08/99
UA 62/99
Fear of Ill-treatment
1 April 1999
ALGERIA
Relatives of the "disappeared"
Amnesty International is concerned for the safety of relatives of the "disappeared", who were beaten, ill-treated and threatened by security forces when they tried to demonstrate on 31 March 1999.
Mothers, grandmothers, wives, fathers, children and other relatives of the "disappeared" had assembled in front of the Observatoire National des Droits de l'Homme (ONDH, the official human rights body) for their weekly demonstration. Because of the school holidays more children than usual were there with their parents. A group of about 20-30 relatives had arrived at about 8:30am and found the space where they usually gather cordoned off by police, who told them to leave. They protested in vain and eventually moved to a small public garden across the street. After about half an hour, as more and more relatives of "disappeared" were arriving to join them, the police again told them to leave and, when they refused, they beat and pushed some of them to the ground. A 65-year-old grandmother told Amnesty International, "A policeman grabbed and twisted my arm and pushed me violently and my arm and shoulder still hurt now. But nothing can be more painful than not knowing what has happened to my grandson who has been missing since his arrest more than two years ago. The police told us to go away but we weren't doing anything wrong; we were only demonstrating peacefully. If they gave us back our children we wouldn't need to demonstrate".
Although since August 1998 the families of the "disappeared" have been able to demonstrate every week, this is the third time that they have been beaten, ill-treated and threatened by the security forces. On 2 December 1998, as the ONDH was holding a meeting to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, at the time of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's visit to Algeria, relatives of the "disappeared" who tried to demonstrate outside the venue were forced to disperse by police who beat and injured some of them. On 7 January 1999 the police again used force to disperse the families. Amnesty International fears that in the run-up to the presidential elections (scheduled for 15 April), with more foreign journalists in Algeria, the security forces may again use force to prevent the families of the "disappeared" from demonstrating and drawing the attention of the foreign press to the plight of the "disappeared".
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
More than 3,000 men and women from all walks of life have "disappeared" after being arrested since 1993. Their families have been searching relentlessly for information on their whereabouts. They have gone to police stations, army barracks, prisons, morgues and cemeteries looking for any trace of them and have petitioned the judicial authorities and appealed to the government, the parliament and the President of the Republic. For years most families of the "disappeared" were too frightened to protest publicly but since August 1998 hundreds of families have been demonstrating every week in front of the ONDH, and outside government buildings and the parliament to demand news of their missing loved ones. The Algerian government promised last September to investigate all cases of "disappearance" and provide answers to the families of the "disappeared", but they have done nothing, and the families of the "disappeared" continue to live in anguish, wondering if their missing relatives are dead or alive.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send telegrams/telexes/faxes/express/airmail letters in French, Arabic, English or your own language:
- urging the authorities to take concrete measures to ensure that the security forces do not beat, ill-treat or threaten the families of the "disappeared" who demonstrate peacefully;
- urging the authorities to investigate all cases of "disappearance" and clarify the fate of all the "disappeared".
APPEALS TO:
M. Abdelmalek SELLAL
Ministre de l'Intérieur
Ministère de l'Intérieur
18 rue Docteur Saâdane
Alger
Algérie
Fax: + 213 2 73 61 06
M. Ghouti MEKAMCHA
Ministère de la Justice
8 Place Bir Hakem
El Biar, Alger
Algérie
Faxes: + 213 2 92 25 60 or + 213 2 92 55 57
213 2 79 65 57 or + 213 2 72 25 60
COPIES TO:
M. Kamel REZZAG-BARA
President
Observatoire National des Droits de l'Homme (ONDH)
Palais du Peuple
1 Av. Franklin Roosevelt
Alger
Algérie
Faxes: + 213 2 239005 / 239037
and to diplomatic representatives of Algeria accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 13 May 1999.