Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared of Algeria,
International Service for Human Rights,
FEDEFAM (Latin American Federation of Associations of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees)

"Three quarters of the disappearances occurred after an arrest at residence or at work"

In July ant September 1998, the Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared m Algeria, together with FEDEFAM, OMCT and the International Service for Human Rights, submitted 477 original dossiers of documented cases of enforced disappearances to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, accompanied by a summary list, a statistical summary and a description in detail of the working methods of the Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared in Algeria, in collecting information, documenting the cases and making the follow-up of each of them.

On this background, we are able today to make the following observations based on analysis of the mentioned dossiers:

On the years of occurrence and local enquiries and complaints: The Working Group will notice that most of the denounced occurrences of disappearances happened between the years of 1994 and 1996, after the period of the closure of the custody centres, created under the state of emergency. In 1997 and 1998, enforced disappearances continues to be registered but m a lower degree.

On the over hand, the relatives of the victims began to make enquiries and file complaints only one, two or more years after the disappearance happened. This was usually because the family maintained hope that the disappeared detainee would be released alive, and/or they felt immobilised by fear, in particular, of State authorities.

On the social profile of the victims: Beside three women, all the victims are male. The average is 305 years old and nearly half of them are married or married with children. Together with their professions - a lot of employees, traders, technicians, students, even executives and liberal professions - we have a high profile of middle class victims, including many fathers of families already established. This profile is clearly different from the situation we find in other countries of the world, where the disappearances have taken place. In particular, it is incompatible with the profile of young guerrilla fighters acting clandestinely.

Moreover, it should be noticed that an important number of victims are working in the public sector or even in the administration of the State, fulfilling an important public function, such as teachers, doctors, or employees of the judiciary (more than 70 cases).

Particular activities, where the victim has been involved, are rarely mentioned. In the cases where information was reported, the religious, trade union or civil activities are as much represented as the political activities (22 and 22 cases).

On the modus operandi: The grouping of the cases by type of occurrence, shows that three quarters of the disappearances occurred after an arrest at residence or at work. Within the arrests at residence, the most common practice is the arrest between midnight and 3 o'clock IN the morning. Arrest in the street occurred in one quarter of the cases. Thirteen men disappeared from their place of detention (Police station, Military barrack or Prison). The abduction, made violently by unknown armed men in civilian clothing, only occurred in 5 cases.

On the alleged forces responsible: State actors, namely the Military, the Police, the Gendarmerie and the Security forces (combined Military, Police and eventually other forces), are accused to be responsible in 434 of 477 cases. Often, the Security forces acts together with civilians or militia; the militia - defined as the self defence groups legitimated by the government, such as the GLD acted alone only in 9 cases. Often, the complainants have submitted specific information on the alleged force involved, such as the base or station of the neighbourhood, in several cases even the name(s) of the official(s) who conducted or participated in the operation.

On witnesses during and after the arrest: In four fifths of the cases (409), the arrest was witnessed by one or more persons: family members, neighbours, colleges at work or pedestrians in the street; in one third of the cases (153), the disappeared detainee was seen after the date of arrest, either in the Police station where he was conducted to in custody detention, either in prisons as El Harrach, or other places as Chateauneuf denounced as a centre of torture by the Algerian human rights defenders. These witnesses provide evidence that many disappeared continue alive and clandestinely detained during several weeks, months or even years.

On actions undertaken in Algeria: In 321 cases, the relatives filede complaints to the competent authorities or tribunals. In the majority of cases, until today these complaints have been without consequences. Nevertheless, it should be noted that an important number of complaints have been investigated by the Police, with procedures which appear sometimes more in complicity with those responsible for the arrest/disappearance and a new harassment of the family, than a criminal investigation, as it should correspond to the Algerian Penal Law and to the Declaration for the Protection of All Persons against Enforced Disappearances.

On impunity: We can conclude that the authors responsible for the enforced disappearances act in total impunity, with the capacity not only to operate freely at any hour of day and night but also with the capacity to avoid any action by the judiciary. The responsible forces violate constantly the Algerian Law, particularly art. 45 of the Constitution and art. 51 of the Code of Criminal Procedure on police custody, and the provisions for the punishment of violations concerning holding persons in custody, as established in art. 110 of the Penal Code, are not applied. Beside this, the instances called by the government to prootect human rights, such as the Observatoire de Droits de l'Homme or the Médiateur de la République don't operate. The Observatoire for instance, in the few answers X has given to the relatives, informs them in two lines that a search for the missing person has been without result or gives credibility to the information submitted on the case by the same force alleged to be responsible for the enforced disappearance, without any initiative for independent investigation.

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