Public Statement

9 November 2001
AI Index MDE 28/010/2001 - News Service Nr. 198

Algeria: Relatives of the "disappeared" violently dispersed

On 8 November 2001 some 100 relatives of the "disappeared" were violently
dispersed by the security forces as they gathered to demonstrate in the
eastern Algerian city of Constantine. Four women were beaten with batons,
while others were insulted and threatened.

During the last month in Constantine, members of the security forces
have, on several occasions, prevented families of the "disappeared" from
holding peaceful protests to call on the Algerian authorities to shed light
on the fate of their loved ones. The incidents appear to indicate an
escalation in attempts to intimidate the relatives.

Amnesty International is concerned about the incident and urges the
Algerian authorities to ensure that families of the "disappeared" are
allowed to exercise their right to peaceful demonstration. In particular,
the authorities should take the necessary steps to guarantee that the
security forces do not ill-treat, threaten or intimidate families of the
"disappeared."

Between 9:30am and 10am yesterday some 100 relatives of the
"disappeared" began gathering in front of the office of the wali (governor)
of Constantine, the head of the regional administration, to hold a
demonstration that they have been organizing each Thursday for over a year.
As they did so, the relatives, who consist in the main of mothers of the
"disappeared," found that several dozen uniformed members of the security
forces were already stationed outside the office.

Security force personnel ordered the families to leave the area,
before dispersing them by force. Four women relatives of the "disappeared"
were beaten with batons. Others were insulted and threatened with reprisals
should they continue to demonstrate about their "disappeared" relatives.

One wife of a "disappeared" man, Naima Saker, was physically dragged
out of a telephone booth as she tried to alert others to the situation. Her
husband, Salah Saker, "disappeared" after being arrested by the police at
his home in Constantine in May 1994. The family managed to procure a copy
of a police statement confirming that the police of Constantine had
arrested Salah Saker and transferred him to a regional military
investigation centre. However, they have been unable to this day to obtain
any information about his fate and whereabouts. No judicial proceedings
into the case have ever been opened, despite all the evidence available.

Background
Since 1993, particularly between the years 1993 and 1998, around 4,000 men
and women have "disappeared" in Algeria after being arrested by the
security forces. Their families have been searching for information on
their whereabouts ever since. They have gone to police stations, army
barracks, prisons, morgues and cemeteries, petitioned the judicial
authorities and appealed to the government, the parliament and the
President of the Republic. Despite repeated government promises to carry
out investigations into "disappearances," not one individual case has been
fully and independently investigated.

For years most families of the "disappeared" were too afraid to
protest publicly. From August 1998, however, hundreds of relatives,
especially mothers, began to regularly hold demonstrations in the capital,
Algiers, and other cities demanding news of their missing loved ones. Even
though the protests have generally been allowed to take place, on a number
of occasions in the last three years the security forces have broken up
demonstrations by force and beaten, ill-treated and/or arrested the
relatives.

\ENDS

public document
***************************************
For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in
London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566
Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW web :
http://www.amnesty.org