Documentary: Algeria - Bloody Years

[Al-khiyal]

Documentary: Algeria - Bloody Years (2003)

Algeria’s history is dotted with bloodshed. Hundreds of thousands of people have been massacred in the decade long civil war between Islamic militants and the Algerian Army. Even now unrest, militancy and kidnapping characterise the country. It’s still more or less a no-go area for western journalists. But why is Algeria so troubled? This week’s documentary is a beautifully filmed production getting to the root of Algeria’s problems. We look back through forty years of violence to place modern day Algeria in its proper context. A high-quality look at one of the world’s forgotten conflicts.

“Why did our children die? “Why is our country like this?” despairs a grieving mother. Her daughter and 27 others had just been killed in a small village in Western Algeria. Virtually every family in the country has been touched by the violence. Algeria seems trapped in a never-ending cycle of bloodshed. But it’s impossible to understand what’s happening there today without first understanding Algeria’s history.

When Algeria gained independence, its citizens hoped their struggles would finally be over. But the independence movement quickly transformed itself into a corrupt dictatorship. Soon they were the only political party allowed. The economy collapsed and people lost all hope in the government.

By the late 80s, the situation was spiralling out of control. Labour strikes paralysed the country and riots broke out in the capital. Then, the army of liberation turned their guns on its own people. Around 500 were killed and thousands arrested and tortured. One victim recalls being electrocuted: “They’d throw water over us to act as a conductor. Then they beat us with a stick and kept increasing the current.”

But the repression only made people more determined to keep pushing for change. Finally the authorities were forced to capitulate. For the first time since independence, free speech was allowed. Instead of one political party, there were now 60. The Muslim fundamentalists, who had become ensconced in poorer areas, came out of hiding. They formed a political party and dedicated themselves to the introduction of Sharia Law. Soon, they were calling for holy war. “We will fight for an Islamic state. We will die for it!” declared leader Ali Belhadj jr.

In the first round of free elections, the extremists polled 60% of the vote. Fundamentalists were confident of victory and looked forward to the new Islamic Republic of Algeria. But the army had other ideas. “A second round would have meant an Islamic State or a real civil war. One way or another, a solution had to be found,” explains politician Ali Haroun.

The army called a halt to the elections and a state of emergency was declared as soldiers hunted down fundamentalists. At least 10,000 ordinary civilians were arrested and sent to prison camps. But these camps became breeding grounds for terrorism. “When you’re in a camp, suffering oppression you start to get ideas,” explains former prisoner Ouziala. “Many in the camps became guerrilla fighters afterwards.”

Then a new Islamic group, appeared on the scene and started carrying out acts of terrorism. The authorities met violence with more violence and it became impossible to tell who the real perpetrators were. “We’re disgusted by the government. We’ve got nothing,” complains one Algerian.

In the aftermath of September 11, the authorities found their new anti-terrorism struggle had the support of major western governments. The violence still continues as the extremists and the government fight each other. And more than 40 years after independence, the people of Algeria are still not free.

[Al-khiyal]

Algeria - Bloody Years - 60 min 00 sec [6 March 2003]

10:00:00:00

Tree

10:00:07

Woman, Ain Defla (Arabic)

Subtitles:
These victims are our children. Why did they die?
Why is our country like this?
They killed my daughter, too.
Those traitors! God will punish them.
Why are you doing this to us?
True Algerians would have protected the country.
We fed you, we gave you a place to sleep.
Why did you betray us?

10:00:41:16
Commentary
It was in September 1998 that we filmed this woman. Her daughter had been killed together with 27 other people in a small village in the West of Algeria. Her despairing plea was to become a reason to try and understand why such violence had been taking place in her country for more than a decade.

Shots: crowd, woman, photographers, coffins

Flag

FILM TITLE: ALGERIA's BLOODY YEARS

A FILM BY THIERY LECLERE, PATRICE BARRAT & MALEK BENSMAIL WITH SAMIA CHALA

SHOTS OF ALGIERS
NEWSSTAND

In the last twelve years, more than 100 000 people have been massacred in Algeria. The world has not really paid attention. Yet there are many lessons to be drawn from this conflict.

We, Thierry, Samia , Malek and I, have been trying to report it since it started. For the media, it's been difficult to cover because of limited access, censorship and danger.

This tragedy in Algeria is not over . We have just come back to Algiers and in less than a week, more than a hundred people - soldiers as well as civilians - have been murdered.

We have come to realize that you cannot understand what's happening in Algeria today without understanding first something of its history....

PHOTOS WAR OF INDEPENDENCE ARCHIVE

Violence is not something new for Algerian people. Almost every family has some personal memories of the colonial war. Napalm bumbing, torture, concentration camps, massacres.

After 130 years of french colonialism, in the fifties, Algerians had to fight for 8 years to get rid of it.

My family has kept those photos. My parents were amongst the few French people to support the liberation struggle. They were close to the leaders of the FLN, the movement which finally won independence in 1962.

Independence

The new Republic of Algeria and its 9 million citizens were embarking on a voyage of hope.

TRAIN

Very soon, the FLN would become the only party, the army would dominate the country and Islam would be declared the state religion.

In the seventies, the policy of nationalizing industry and agriculture had obviously failed.

In the eighties, the sudden privatization of the economy failed too. When the price of oil and gas, the main exports, went down, living conditions deteriorated. And people lost any kind of hope in a corrupt regime...

This investigation begins 26 years after independence when Algeria was about to face another bloody turning point.

NARRATOR IAN HOLM STARTS

1988 RIOTS IN THE STREETS

October 1988. For the first time, the army of liberation fires its guns at its own people. Around 500 are killed.

It all started with huge labour strikes that paralysed the country. Then young people rioted in the streets of Algiers. After two days, a growing Islamic movement active in the universities, tried to hijack the demonstrations. But the young people in the streets spoke for the whole population. The authorities responded with terrible brutality. The army was called in with tragic results.

Nezzar Presentation

This former officer of the French army was one of Algeria's men of power. And the bête noire of the Islamic fundamentalists. General Khaled Nezzar became a key figure when the President called on him to suppress the riots.

10:04:46:24

General Khaled Nezzar

They were huge demonstrations, as many as 75,000 people, despite the fact that a state of siege had been declared and such demostartions were illegal. That's what a state of siege is. Mass gatherings are forbidden and weapons are used to disperse people, within strictly defined guidelines. That is, you don't shoot to kill, you shoot to make people scatter... The commander gives the order to aim at the legs, after warning people to disperse...

Unfortunately, the soldiers, who weren't used to maintaining law and order, fired at the ground or into the air. And that does much more damage!

Voice-off:

Would you say your response was disproportionate?

10:05:39:03

Nezzar

No, I wouldn't say disproportionate. I'd say that I regret the casualtities, of course. But there was no alternative.

Intro Beyelles

This government minister, General Benyelles, then a minister, recognised the gulf which now divided the people and those in power. He decided to resign.

10:06:06:10

Benyelles

The security services, were unable to identify the leaders of the riots, and concluded that there was foreign influence - a foreign conspiracy, behind all these events. So they started arresting people in huge numbers and attempted to make people talk resorting to torture in order to get to the truth.

10:06:35:09:10

Torture Victim

They gave us electric shocks in the torture room. There were 6 or 7 of us. We were handcuffed, naked,and tied to a metal bedframe. Then they'd throw water all over us to act as a conductor, They'd stuff a cloth in our mouths. Sometimes it was soaked in water, sometimes they'd say it was urine. They beat us with a stick and kept increasing the electric current.

Title: EL KETTAR CEMETERY, DECEMBER 1988

(commentary)

The demonstrators buried their dead, the whole country was in a state of shock. Newspapers began to speak out and defy the censorship imposed by the much hated political police. The people were demanding change.

TRAIN commentary

After the upheaval of October 88, the regime decided to open up the political system. But at the top, there was serious disagreement on the strategy. Finally, instead of one single party, 60 were suddenly allowed.

Intro Ait Ahmed

One of the main opposition parties was run by Hocine Ait Ahmed. He was one of the leaders of the liberation struggle and had been put in prison by the French colonial government

His political base was Kabylia, a rebellious region with its own language and culture.

10:08:19:19

Ait Ahmed

This opening up was forced on them. So, the army wasn't party to this new “understanding” between the reformers and the Head of State. So it was at that point that I said, "I have to go back to Algeria!"

THE RETURN OF AIT AHMED AND BEN BELLA

(commentary)

Algeria seemed to be coming to terms with its past. Ben Bella, the leader of the liberation struggle, had been exiled shortly after independence and had been written out of history by the authorities. Now he returned to a hero's welcome.

MEN AND WOMEN'S EQUALITY DEMONSTRATION

(commentary)

Dozens of newpapers sprang up, everyone went out into the streets, from Islamic militants to extreme left-wingers. Women, too, were there on the front line.

10:09:04:01

Woman on TV

We demand the repeal of the family code - it's totally unconstitutional. We demand to live as free citizens, with rights and duties equal to men's, and within the framework of constitutional laws.

10:09:30:00

Title: Omar Belhouchet newspaper El Watan

Everyone wanted to publish their own newspaper, their own magazine. I still think of that as a golden age of the independent press in Algeria. There was something for every taste, every shade of opinion, every trend. You had to be fast and come out with your paper before the authorities changed their minds. It was a race against the clock.

10:09;55:04:

BAZIZ, VIDEO

When I was young people used to tell me
That this was a rich country, that I wouldn't suffer
Now that I’m older, I use my head
Now that I‘m older, I understand the word "democracy".

(commentary)

For the first time since independence, free speech was allowed on state radio and television.

10:10;21:02
Everyone learnt the ropes from each other.

Title: Abdou Benziane Director of Algerian television (1990-1991)

10:10:30:17
No one knew how a democratic, TV or radio should work.

10:10:35:10

BAZIZ, VIDEO

When I think about it I cry, I was going to vote like a sheep
“Yes” was all I ever said, all I did was follow
When I was young they would fill my head
Now that I’m older I understand the word "democracy".

[Al-khiyal]

TRAIN

Commentary

For years, the government had not allowed any kind of political opposition but they had closed their eyes to the actions of islamic radicals. They didn't prevent them from using mosques as bases for political activities. And the militants were spreading their influence with major social and welfare programmes in poorer neighbourhoods.

THE OFFICIAL CREATION OF THE FIS

Commentary

Taking advantage of the new liberalism, the fundamentalists came out of hiding. Although divided into different factions they still managed to create a united Islamic front, the FIS. Their leader, Abassi Madani, seemed modest when he met the press to announce the birth of the new party.

10:11:39:12

MADANI (Arabic)

We have considered the non-Arabic-speaking press.... But for the Arabic press, here is our programme.

Intro MADANI

(Commentary)

Abassi Madani had served time in prison for his militant activities. He was a clever politician who knew how to work the system.

10:12:02:00

This is Ali Belhadj, Professor of Arabic

Intro Ali Belhadj

(Commentary)

The FIS' second-in-command, Ali Belhadj, adopted a harder line. He
represented the radical tendency known as "Salafism", the aim of which was to implement the "charia", or holy law.

10:12:18:11

ALI BELHADJ (Arabic)

Subtitles:

Article 2 of the constitution says: "Islam is the state religion."

Does Islam allow you to denigrate its tradition and principles?

"Islam is the state religion" means that the state must function according to the precepts of Islam.

BOUYALI, TRAINING ON THE BEACH, ALGERIA

(Commentary)

Even before the creation of the FIS, fundamentalist groups had been preparing for armed struggle. Since the early eighties, they had organised training camps, on the beaches, in full view of the authorities and with the support of some western governments. Volunteers had been sent to other militant Islamic countries for training and had developed underground networks.

10:13:04:09

Nezzar

These people were prepared by indoctrination or of military preparation, to oppose the security services. In their manuals it said, "When you are arrested, here's what to say... If tortured, hold on so many days before telling the truth. They carried on the same practises, the same methods that the FLN used to use. At the same time, they were being sent to Afghanistan. it was done discreetly we knew where they were going. Hundreds of Algerians were going off to Afghanistan.

AFGHANISTAN

(Commentary)

In Peshawar, Pakistan, Algerians were welcomed as volunteers to join with Bin Laden in his US supported fight against the Soviets. Back in Algiers, these people would later become founder members of the Islamic armed groups.

10:14:06;09

Title: Sid Ahmed Ghozali - Prime Minister (1991-1992)

Most Islamic fundamentalist groups were instigated by the US. The logistical base of thee volunteers in Afghanistan, was Saudi Arabia. So for a long time the Americans got along with this notion of Islam. After all, it suited their purposes very well until they understood its international nature. Far from being an ally it is, basically, a sworn enemy of the United States. Why? Because the core of the movement is anti-Western.

10:14:44:00

Title: Hubert Védrine -French minister of foreign affairs (1997-2002)

Muslim fundamentalist movements were anti-Communist and anti-Nasser... So there was a real misconception. That’s why the Americans, at one time, supported “The Muslim Brotherhood", which became the core of many other movements. At least they were against Arab nationalism which was a threat to Israel and oil interests. This was one of the reasons for this odd sympathy, or rather, this strange complacency, about these movements.

NIGHT MEETING - MADANI, BELHADJ

(Commentary)

In Algeria, a key test of the popularity of the new fundamentalist party came in June 1990 with the first free election since independence. These were municipal elections and the FIS saw them as a rehearsal for the upcoming general election. They campaigned hard in the mosques and on the streets. Many people were surprised when the results came in. More than half the voters had chosen the Islamic Salvation Front - the FIS.

10;15:33:13

Subtitles:

"Islamic State"

They took 800 towns, including Algiers.

REPRESSION

Commentary

The FIS tried to introduce hardline fundamentalist islamic policies in some of the towns but met with stiff opposition from liberals. The response of the FIS leader Madani response was a general strike to bring the country to a standstill. The government was inclined to play for time but General Nezzar would not agree. The army was back on the streets and once more, dozens of innocent people were killed.

FIS PRESS CONFERENCE

(Commentary)

It was a personal setback for the leaders of the FIS.

10;16:18:18

Ali Belhadj (Arabic)

Subtitles:
Yes, I'm an outlaw..
They want to tell us,
"You mustn't take up arms."
So, that’s why I'll take up arms! I'll take up a Kalachnikov!
They want to frighten us.
Islam defends itself when it is attacked.
So I will take up arms, as my father did.
Here he is with his Kalachnikov, God rest his soul.
If they try to stop us, I'll take up arms,
even if I have to go to abroad for them.
But not to France.
Where do they get their tear-gas from?
The sewers of Algiers? No, they get it from Israel.
And all these lies are passed on
by the television companies filming me right now.

BELHADJ, MADANI, GUEMAZI

(Commentary)

By threatening to call for a holy war, Belhadj and Madani had gone too far for the army. Shortly after this press conference they were both thrown in prison, They would remain there throughout the whole conflict.

FIS MEETING

(Commentary)

Just before the general election the Gulf War created many new sympathizers for the FIS. Ali Belhadj's son picked up where his imprisoned father had left off.

10:17:41:21

Ali B. Jr (Arabic)

Subtitles:
May Allah chase the tyrants from our country!
May Allah free our prisoners;
Abassi Madani and Ali Belhadj.
May Allah grant victory to the FIS.
My final prayer is to give grace to Allah.
Repeat after me:
There is no other God
There is no other God but Allah
And Mohammad is His Prophet
We will fight for an Islamic state,
we will die for it!

10:18:22:16

CROWD

We will fight for an Islamic state,
we will die for it!

[Al-khiyal]

VOTE

(Commentary)

The first round of the general election was on December 26 1991. Almost one voter in two would not vote. But the FIS made sure that their supporters turned out.

10:18:45:03

Title: Islamic Militant Front (FIS) Office

Interview with militant:

We get the voter turnout every two hours. We get the voters turnout for each station. We record it on a computer, so that we know the numbers of voters. Here it is - at 12 o'clock we had 160 voters, a percentage of 20.49% of the 781 registered.

FLN Office

FIS Office

10:19:21:16

(Subtitles):
It's the FIS!
God is great!

FIS VICTORY, outside

(Commentary)

The FIS got 60% of the vote. Militants were confident of victory in the upcoming second round and looked forward to the future Islamic Republic of Algeria.

TRAIN COMMENTARY

But would the second round of the elections take place? For a couple of days, nobody knew what was going to happen.The democratic opposition was divided. The government itself was torn. But the army, the "real power", as Algerians say, was making plans.

10:20:09;12

Nezzar

In the army, we knew the FIS was going to win. Those who set it all up may have thought they weren’t going to get a majority. But we knew that there'd be a landslide - we knew it.

10:20:23:24

So why didn't you tell President Chadli, who expected a majority for the ruling FLN?

10:20:29:18

Nezzar

I've told you, we sent a report. What else could we do? We're soldiers. We couldn’t stage a coup d'Ètat. I believe in the law. You want me to lead a coup d'Ètat?

10:20:46:20

Title: Ali Haroun, member of the higher state committee (1992-1994)

A second round would have meant an Islamic State, or a real civil war. So, one way or another, a solution had to be found. But what a dilemma! Do you find a way of stopping the electoral process and cancelling the second round? Or do you let a party which claims, "One man, one vote, but only once! We won't have any elections after this because democracy is non-religious. Once we're in power we'll stay there forever because we and we alone are the keepers of religious truth, and we are the ones who shall apply the Qur'an"? Can you let these people take power in the name of democracy?

DEMOCRATS' DEMO

(Commentary)

The countdown had begun. Two weeks to go before the second round of voting. In response to an appeal by the left, 500,000 thousand people marched in favour of democracy and against fundamentalism. Some believed that the election should be called off - that the FIS had to be stopped by any means. Others agreed with President Chadli that democracy meant that the election should go on.

PRESIDENTIAL RESIDENCE

(Commentary)

But the army intervened to stop the election. General Nezzar forced the President to resign, live, on television.

Title: Chadli Bendjedid, President of the Republic of Algeria (1979-1992)

10:22:05:05

CHADLI's resignation (TV news, live voice-over)

I am not deserting my responsibilities. But my decision seems inevitable in view of the grave situatioin I’ve opted for this decision for the good, the unity and security of the country.

ARMY IN THE STREET

(Commentary)

Parliament was dissolved. The second round, scheduled for 16th January 1992, would never take place. The army was back in charge and the country needed a President.

The army had two favourite candidates; one was Mohamed Boudiaf a distinguished leader in the struggle for independence now in exile in Morocco, the other was Ait Ahmed.

10:22:50:00

Ait Ahmed

The coup d'Ètat was such an assualt on democracy that only a figure from the past could compensate for it. Hence the choice of me or Boudiaf. Well, I refused, the next day. I held a press conference at the Aurassi hotel, where I said, "Let's call a spade a spade. This was a coup d'Ètat!"

10:23:15:04

Nezzar

I call it "that infernal week". For a start off, I was ill. I had pains in my leg... And then there was the problem of organising the army, deploying the army so as to deal with the political problem. We were hard pressed, trying to find a president, We tried everything we could, then we got this idea: Boudiaf. And I jumped at it. It all happened in that room over there. The decision was made in that room.

BOUDIAF, AIRPORT

(Commentary)

Boudiaf knew that the army was calling on him to save the regime. After independence in 1962 he had been pushed aside and had spent the next 30 years in exile. He had a reputation for integrity and he had the authority and the prestige needed. But he was returning to a country he no longer knew. He found himself surrounded by powerful army officers some of whom many ordinary Algerians suspected of corruption.

BOUDIAF, meeting

(Commentary)

Boudiaf now presided over a higher state committee, which had been set up as an emergency measure to replace the presidency. Algeria had trampled all over its constitution.

STATE OF EMERGENCY, ARRESTS

(Commentary)

A state of emergency was declared, and would continue to be renewed, right up to the present day. Every Friday, the mosques became the scenes of clashes between the army and the militants of the FIS who felt they'd had victory stolen from them. Soon, all public meetings would be forbidden. The army combed the working-class areas. Elected representatives of the FIS, party activists, and many ordinary young people were arrested at random and sent to prison camps.

10:25:24:00

Title: Messaoud Ouziala - FIS mayor of Ain Taya (1990-1992)

Ouziala

We were taken to the Boufarik military air base and sent in Hercules planes, to the south of Algeria. There we were so frightened that some people did silly things, like attacking the soldiers or trying to escape. We knew the soldiers were armed and we were afraid but our conscience wouldn't allow us to give in and just to let things happen, so we got organised. We formed several committees We started a college, a school, a small university, where various sciences were taught, Islamic science first and foremost.

CAMP IN THE SOUTH

(Commentary)

At least 10,000 militants were imprisoned in the Sahara. Some would stay a few months, others several years, without any sentence being passed. But the authorities had made a strategic error. The camps would become breeding grounds for terrorism.

10:26:19:09

Ouziala

When you’re in a camp, suffering oppression, when you experience all that, you start to get ideas, to take decisions and many in the camps become guerilla fighters afterwards.

Terrorist attack on policemen

Super/ February 10, 1992

(Commentary)

Terrorist groups were now starting to strike . Six policemen were killed in their car in the Kasbah. The terrorists belonged to a new organisation calling itself the GIA - the Armed Islamic Group.

BOUDIAF, press conference

Commentator: The new President called a press conference .

10:27:01:00

Yesterday, you talked to the national press, about dialogue. Would this dialogue go so far as a discussion with the FIS or with its imprisoned leaders?

Title: Mohammed Boudiaf - President of the higher state committee (1992 )

10:27:13:23

Boudiaf:

We should have dialogue with people who discuss problems of democracy in a sane and clear way. But not with people with machine-guns.

COURT: outlawing of the FIS/Sentencing of Ali B and Madani

(Commentary)

Boudiaf took responsibility himself for the anti-fundamentalist fight that the army had begun. The FIS was outlawed. Its leaders, Ali Belhadj and Abassi Madani, were put on trial, defended by the lawyer and human rights activist, Ali Yahia. But everything that happened at the military court had been decided well in advance. The authorities sentenced the accused to twelve years in prison.

10:27:58
Title: Ali Yahia, lawyer, Algerian league for the defence of human rights (LADDH)

Yahia

In Algeria, its the judges who read out the sentence. But behind the judges are military intelligence officers who dictate the sentence. As elsewhere, we have the president , the government, the assembly... what we call "the visible power". But the military decisioin-makers have the real power.

10:28:16:18

Belhouchet

They put in puppets. We no longer know the names of the ministers in our... We no longer know the names of the ministers. In the decade from 1990 to 2000, we had, I think, if I've counted right, some ten prime ministers. We had 5 or 6 presidents. And the army is always there, behind the scenes. They're the ones who make the strategic choices.

[Al-khiyal]

Commentary TRAIN

After his first few months in power, Mohamed Boudiaf had already tried to tackle corruption and had made many moves which were unpopular with the generals. It was as if, having being exiled for so long, Boudiaf was prepared to ignore the secret rules of Algerian politics

What happened next was a terrible shock for most Algerians watching the event on television.

10:29:19:00

Title: June 1992

Boudiaf (Arabic)

We realise that other nations have surpassed us. In what? In knowledge. And Islam...

BOUDIAF, assassinated

(Commentary)

Mohammed Boudiaf had been in power for only five months when he was assassinated. Who was responsible? The official version said it was the isolated act of a fundamentalist, a member of the presidential guard who had shot Boudiaf in the back. But most Algerians started to ask : who really wanted the president dead?

10:30:30:24

Title: Ait Ahmed -Social Forces Front (FFS)

Ait Ahmed

When he was murdered, shot like some Chicago gangster, I wanted the earth to swallow me up. It was unbearable.

BOUDIAF'S FUNERAL

10:30:40:03

Ghozali

I was at the funeral of three million people. Each time an official car went by, what did people say? "You brought him back, then you killed him!"

10:30:50:10

Yahia

No autopsy was done on Boudiaf. Why? Because an autopsy would have shown bullets in his back but also bullets shot from the front which lodged in his heart. But the courts didn’t get the police to do an autopsy, as is the norm. You do an autopsy to find out how the bullets went in. Boudiaf's was a suspicious death and I will state here and now, that he was killed by decision-makers in the army.

Title: June 1992

CROWD

10:31:16;09

Hope is not dead! Sincerity is not dead! Let's wipe out the damn Mafia! We have to eliminate them all!

SHOTS OF CROWDS - "YOU KILLED HIM WITH HATE" -

(Commentary)

Angry demonstrators held up a newspaper with the headline "You killed him with hate". Ten years later, very high up officials are still accusing each other of the murder. Political violence at the top, armed groups starting to murder regularly: the country was on the brink of chaos. Algeria was also sinking into the worst economic recession of its history. Even basic products like sugar and oil were becoming scarce and housing conditions were appalling.

10:32:12:17

YOUNGSTER ON HOUSING ESTATE (Arabic)

This isn't a life. The curfew starts at 11 p.m.
We live in one room.
We take it in turns to sleep.
If everyone wants to sleep at the same time,
someone has to sleep in the toilet, someone else in the corridor...
We're disgusted by the government. We've got nothing.
They decide everything. We have to be in by 11 p.m.
We're sick of it. What do they want?
Do they want us all to join the armed groups?
OK, then, we’ll join them
You can only get by if you've got a gun.
Poor sods like me just get crushed.
They walk all over us.

CAMP

The FIS,was now an underground organisation.But it was being challenged by mysterious terrorist groups with anonymous leaderships - the so-called GIAs - (The Islamic Armed Groups). So the FIS secretly created its own military wing, the AIS - the Islamic Salvation Army

10:33:19:14

AIS TAPE (Arabic)

We invite all young people
serving their country
to desert and rebel
against those who govern outside the divine law.

10:33:33:18

CAMP

Youngster

Subtitles:
Let us ask Allah to give us strength
and thank him for this gift
that He has seen fit to bestow on us: the Jihad.
May Allah grant us victory over the evil-doers,
if such be His wish.

SHOTS OF BENHAJAR IN MAQUIS

For some people, the AIS was not militant enough. They preferred the more extremist policies of the GIA. This ex-teacher and FIS election candidate joined up after coming out of jail and stayed seven years.

10:34:16:07

Title: Ali Benhadjar -Armed Islamic Group (GIA )

It’s the struggle against oppression. God almighty said, "It is permitted for those who are oppressed to go and fight." He also said, "Why do you not fight to help the weakest among the women, the old and children?"†

SHOTS OF CAMP

10:34:43:13

So you joined the largest armed group in Medea?
- Yes

That was the GIA?

- There was an armed group, that of Sheikh Attaya, and it was affiliated to the group known as the GIA.

TRAIN

(Commentary)

One year after the election was cancelled, entire regions were now out of the army's control.

YEFSAH'S BURIAL

Title: October 1993

(Commentary)

Every day, as many as twenty police were assassinated. Some of the terrorist groups also started to target civilians. Doctors, artists and journalists known for being hostile to the FIS were executed. In October 1993 hundreds gathered for the funeral of Ismail Yefsah, a television news presenter.

10:35:31:15 (Arabic)

Subtitles:
Ismail, one of the first!
Ismail, one of the last!
Ismail, symbol of Algeria!

MORGUE

(Commentary)

The journalist was assassinated simply because he worked in television. Two years earlier, a militant of the FIS had already threatened him, in front of the cameras.

10:35:58:00 THREAT, 1991

You are a communist!
I'll say just one thing to you: I know you...
We all know you!

10:36:13:01

Dhina

-Why haven't you condemned the murder of some of these intellectuals?

INTRO DHINA

Title: Mourad Dhina - Islamic Salvation Front (FIS)

(Commentary)

Mourad Dhina was one of the leaders of the FIS He belonged to a group made up of former academics. He now lives in exile in Switzerland.

10:36:13:01

Listen, we're not going to be bogged down by selective media coverage of the killings. No one mourned our deaths. In fact, everyone applauded. I think that on one level, we must be quite sure who killed whom and when. But I would say that some people have chosen the path of confrontation, the path of provoking young people, and have paid the price. These intellectuals on the Left should have the courage of their convictions. They should say, "We are at war and some of us will pay with our lives." They should create their own martyrs!

MILITARY OPERATION IN TOWN

(Commentary)

The state was surviving but at what cost? In order to eradicate terrorist violence, the army was stopping at nothing. People were disappearing without trace. At times simply having a beard or being in the wrong place could get you arrested.

ARRESTS

(Commentary)

An emergency judicial system was set up, with special courts and rapid judgements.The authorities retained only the appearance of legality.

NINJAS

(Commentary)

At first the police and army lost many men. Then special anti-terrorist units, the feared Ninjas, were set up. They were not overly concerned about their methods, which included torture and assassinations.....

[Al-khiyal]

GIA camp

Title: May 1994

(Commentary)

The GIA was now at the height of its power. It grouped together hundreds of killers: young and very violent radicals with little in the way of ideology.

TRAIN

TERRORIST ATTACK, SCOUTS

(Commentary)

There were attempts to negotiate with the terrorists but they always broke down. Each time the armed fundamentalist groups stepped up the violence. In Mostaganem, on 1st November, people were celebrating the anniversary of the war of independence, with young scouts in the front ranks. A bomb explosion killed 5 children and wounded 17.

10:39:23:08

Man (Arabic):

Subtitles:
All these innocents, what did they ever do?
Legs torn off!
Such horror! Even the French extremists never did things like this.
Why? What have we done? What have our children done?
Leave me alone! I want to die.

TRAIN

Underground Algerian fundamentalist networks were now being set up in western countries. In 1996 they committed two acts of terror in France, bombing a Paris train and hijacking an Air France plane. Meanwhile in Algeria the violence was getting worse.

10:40:08:23

Louisa(Arabic)

Hocine, pass me a colour film
I'm out of stock.
Black and white, then.

Title: Louisa Ammi - Photographer

10:40:15:12

- (French) Are you going there?
There was a massacre in Ain Defla, last night. 27 dead.
Thanks.

ROAD

(Commentary)

The Algerians thought they'd plumbed the depths of horror. But then the GIAs began to kill anybody who would not support them. Massacres destroyed whole villages. Reporters were not welcome.

10:40:47:09

(Woman)

You always come and film afterwards. You have no right!
Go away! Clear off!

10:40:58:00

(Man 1)

We worked together. They burned him.

- Are you running away?

Stay here and die? What would you do? Would you stay and die?

10:41:20:21

(Man 2)

These are the names of those they massacred.
There were two children: one 3, the other 8.

10:41:30:04

(Woman)

I've lost my grandfather, my aunt, my uncles, my cousins...
We were raised together. They were like my brothers.
All of them dead. Who have I got left? No one!

10:41:56:07

(Louisa)

It's the same scenario every time. If you take the massacres from
one year ago, it's exactly the same as now. I mean it's the same setting, the same method. It's the same scenario.

PRAYERS

TRAIN & BARRACKS

What was the army doing during all this chaos? The statistics were
frightening. In Rais, 300 dead. In Benthala, also 300. 250 massacres in two years, often close to army barracks. Why did the soldiers not intervene to save the people? Rumors were circulating that the army itself was involved in some of the killings...

10:42:56:00

Title: General Khaled Nezzar - Minister of Defence (1990-1993)

We had army officers, who chased their brothers in the armed groups. Their own brothers, There was one case, This guy doing his national service, went home on leave - somewhere around Orléansville. His brother was in the guerillas and he killed him in front of their mother! That's the sort of situation we're living in. There's no way out. That's why there have been some excesses. I'm the first to admit it. When we learn about such excesses, we do take measures.

10:43:34:22

What do you mean by "excesses"?

Some who have even ended up killing. Over a hundred names have been given to the UN Commision.

10:43:50:22

Title: Omar Belhouchet newspaper editor El Watan

The armed Islamists knew the soldiers weren't going to venture out. In many cases, when there are terrorist attacks near barracks -and I know what I’m talking about- they always put bombs outside the barracks. They always booby-trap the routes the soldiers are going to use. There was a lot of damage done. 80% of the Algerian army is made up of young conscripts. Some of them are near to the end of their service. So there were many who thought I'm not going out there to get killed, I've got only a few weeks to go, while some generals are lining their pockets. That was the mood in the barracks.

10:44:31:18

Title: Ali Benhadjar - Armed Islamic Group (GIA)

The GIA has attacked civilians and members of the FIS, and even members of our own group who had given up the fight. The GIA is definitely behind certain massacres, there's no doubt about that. But there have also been massacres carried out by the authorities, people snatched from their work or their homes, who were later found murdered, dumped in the street.

TRAIN

RELIZANE

(Commentary)

Towards the end of 1997, throughout Algeria there was a feeling of total despair. In Relizane, several terrorist groups blamed each other for the same massacre. The AIS, the armed branch of the FIS, shot this unbearable footage to use against their rivals in the GIA. It was the end of 1997. Algerian newspapers came up with the figure of 412 dead, making Relizane the most outrageous of all the mass murders.

ZEROUAL, ARMY ON THE TERRAIN

(Commentary)

Faced with these terrible atrocities the government started to strike back. President Zeroual, a general himself, decided to ignore growing international criticism of the army's appalling record on human rights.

State television, which had previously denied that there was any war, was suddenly full of propaganda images.

The bodies of terrorists killed in the fighting were displayed like hunting trophies. The state was winning the war.

10:47:17:06

(Arabic)
Subtitles:
As you can see, the operation was a 100% success. Bravo to the army's special forces!

TRAIN, MAQUIS, LAMARI and MEZRAG

(Commentary)

Now in a position of strength, the army decided to negotiate with the fundamentalists. The head of the AIS, the military wing of the FIS, met with the powerful second-in-command of the secret services. The army offered an amnesty to all terrorists prepared to lay down their arms. Several thousands of AIS men agreed to the deal and gathered together in camps. But there still remained the GIA, now giving themselves up to an orgy of limitless violence.....

[Al-khiyal]

NEWSPAPERS

(Commentary)

But President Zeroual had been told nothing about the negotiations with the terrorists. At the same time he and his circle were being deliberately undermined by the army. At the end of 1998, he resigned.

10:48:13:18

FOOTBALL SUPPORTERS

The telephone rang
The President had resigned
It’s just another, what can I say?
It's a heavy weight on my heart
The guy I see there is alright
But I don't care, I've shut the door
If the country was stable for one hour
We'd escape on a merchant ship
We'd escape the famine
We'd escape Zeroual’s face
I'll call myself Michel
And spend the evening at the Eiffel Tower

PRESIDENTIAL PALACE

(Commentary)

To fill the vacuum, the army once again nominated their candidate as front man, the new president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

BOUTEFLIKA, press conference.

10:49:08’13

Will you open the Military Security cells to Amnesty International?

10:49:18:03

What Military Security cells? Where are you from? Who are you working for? What Military Security cells? Our house is made of glass. Anyone can come and visit, including Amnesty International. And you, too.

10:49;35:04

- The army had always played a major role in the destiny of this country.

Often too great a role. Will the same be true today?

No, it will never happen.
Never!
If it were to happen, we would take measures.
If anyone should claim that the President of the Republic has no political power, it isn't true!

10:50:11:19

Sid Ahmed Ghozali -prime minister ( 1991-1992)

Ghozali

Our country still hasn't constructed all its necessary institutions. Today, just as we were 10 years ago, we’re run by one institution and that's the army.

BOUTEFLIKA VOTE

(Commentary)

Now the generals with Bouteflika as their spokesman launched a new policy which he called Civil Harmony. Algerians were asked to take part in a referendum calling for an end to violence. But behind the scenes the army was once again secretly negotiating . They offered an amnesty to the GIA. The proposition: a return to civilian life in exchange for laying down their arms.

SURRENDER

(Commentary)

Several hundred GIA fighters came out of the mountains. According to the law, they should have gone before a commission to examine their past.

BENHADJAR in town

(Commentary)

But in Medea, people soon discovered what the agreement really meant. Customers at a herbalist's shop found themselves being served by the emir Benhadjar. This former GIA chief, taking advantage of the new amnesty, simply took up his old life as if nothing had happened.

10:51:30:10

Benhadjar (Arabic)

The national or international press write about us, as if we’ve "repented". In fact, we don't approve of that word and we don't accept it. Because we’ve never admitted to committing errors and have never asked the State for a pardon. It was the authorities who sought dialogue with us and came looking for us. We never asked to see them.

BOUTEFLIKA, meeting

(Commentary)

Thousands of families had been victims of terrorism The relatives of others had disappeared They all blamed the security services. Bouteflika's Civil Harmony campaign was foundering on the suffering of its victims.

10:53:26:17

MEETING (Arabic)

Woman:

We want our children returned to us.
Don't be afraid, Mr President.
If they're wounded we shall nurse them.
If they are dead, just tell us.

10:552:47:00

Bouteflika:

Where do you expect me to find the 4,000 disappeared?
In my pockets, perhaps?
My dear lady,
do you think I'm doing a trade in them?
Sit down like everyone else.
You have no more rights than anyone else.
How can we leave the war behind
with all this whining?
How can we leave the war behind
if all the widows of terrorism
act like you?
How can we leave the war behind
if all the grief-stricken victims ,
all million of them,
rush out and act irresponsibly?
How can we leave the war behind
if you're unable to say, "The past is dead! The past is dead!”

RIOTS

(Commentary)

In the spring of 2001, rioting began again, as it had in October 1988. It started in the troubled region of Kabylia, then it spread to the young people in the capital Algiers. Demonstrators claimed that they had no future - that they had no fear of death because they were already dead. And in the face of a growing outcry abroad it now seemed inevitable that the Algerian military authorities would have to face international justice to answer for their human rights record.

10:54:29:04

The authorities are killers!
Yes to democracy, yes to freedom, yes to our own identity.

10:54:35:15

We're sick to death of those in power. We're sick of them.
They hate us and we can’t touch them, they repress us.
We want those in power to go! Go, go! We're sick of those in power.

FLAG

Commentary:

But suddenly, September 11th changed everything. The Algerian army, The Power, found their anti-terrorist struggle now had the support of major western governments.

CONFERENCE, LAMARI

Title: July 2002

(Commentary)

So, in July 2002, the generals finally decided to come out of the shadows. For the first time ever, Mohammed Lamari, the army chief for ten years, responded to accusations live on television.

Title: Mohammed Lamari, chief of staff since 1993

10:55:39:08

They called us killers. The only insult they didn't throw at us is that we weren't true Algerians They were forgetting that this army is our country's army. They were forgetting that these generals, the members of the high command that you see here, are the children of Algerians. If the question is whether in the past the army got involved in the political problems of our country then I will answer, yes. We also said: We have defeated terrorism even if it still continues to kill some of our citizens. But terrorism is defeated. On the other hand, fundamentalism is untouched This is a political struggle, an economic struggle, but, unfortunately, we haven't yet achieved all our goals.

10:55:24:00 GSPC

(Commentary)

Today, General Lamari 's claim that terrorism has been defeated in Algeria is hard to sustain. GIA dissidents have formed a new group,: the Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC). Closer to the Al Quaeda network it mainly targets the military and police. Elsewhere, the GIA goes on killing civilians. Every week families in isolated areas have their throats cut. Terrorism, banditism and score-settling are becoming increasingly difficult to tell apart.

PIX: ALI B, MADANI, ALI B JNR

(Commentary)

The FIS leaders, Ali Belhadj and Abassi Madani are due to be released from prison this year. Algerians are wondering what will happen if they reclaim their leadership of the fundamentalist Islamic movement? How will the younger generation respond to them?

TRAIN INTO TUNNEL

(Commentary)

More than 40 years after gaining its independence, the Republic of Algeria has reached an impasse... A land in mourning... A people without a voice.... Yet, many Algerians hope that some kind of democracy can still emerge from the ashes of this first Algerian republic.....And though they desperately want reconciliation, they know it can only come about when the truth is finally told about what really happened during those bloody years.