L’état d’urgence en Algérie :

[Al-khiyal]

Algeria’s of state of emergency:
The more things change...

Long demanded by the opposition, the abrogation of the 19-year old emergency decree in Algeria was published on February 24 in the north African country’s Journal Officiel. Nonetheless, political freedom still remains a no-go territory in a country where the army retains an overbearing control in the area of counter-terrorism. So what has really changed since the lifting of the emergency decree in Algeria? A demonstration called for by La Coordination nationale pour le changement et la démocratie (CNCD: National Coordination for Change and Democracy) on February 26, two days after the abrogation of the state of emergency decree (in force since 1992), was brutally repressed by police. "Marches are not banned, they are subject to authorization. To be authorized, marches should provide maximum guarantees as to the risks. It does not seem like the right time to allow marches in Algiers," said Interior Minister, Dahou Ould Kablia, on Algerian radio. Calling for a systemic change, the CNCD organized protest marches on February 12 and 19. Both were heavily repressed by the authorities.

The lifting of the emergency decree lacks an opening in terms of a wider political involvement as the licensing of new political parties are conspicuously absent on the agenda. "This does not mean they will not appear when the opportune time presents itself. No approval has been granted for the time being," continued the Minister of Interior. Recent news reports had mentioned that several political parties were soon to receive their legal status. The parties include, Parti de la liberté et de la justice (PLJ) headed by Mohamed Saïd, Front démocratique (FD) led by Sid Ahmed Ghozali, a former head of government, and Union pour la démocratie et la république (UDR) whose torchbearer is Amara Benyounes. Records of license applications for these political parties have been gathering dust on the Interior Ministry’s shelves for nearly ten years.

Early February, President Bouteflika promised, in his first media address following the January riots, that both state television and radio will "ensure equal coverage for all legal parties and national organizations". But apart from parties that form the presidential alliance (FLN, RND and MSP) and political movements that favor them, such as Le Parti des Travailleurs (PT, Workers’ Party) under the leadership of Louisa Hanoune, no opposition party has so far appeared on television to discuss the present political situation in the country. Moreover, in spite of unrelenting demands from the opposition, spanning several years, for the opening of the audiovisual sector to private operators, the authorities have not displayed any will to effect a change. No concessions have been made in that area.

Nonetheless, exceptional procedures granted to the Interior Ministry under the emergency decree have been repealed. And the 12-day police custody has now been reduced to 48 hours, renewable by the prosecutor. Similarly, arrests, searches and wiretapping are henceforth to be done under the supervision of a magistrate. The Algerian military, a political and economic powerhouse with extensive police powers under the state of emergency, remains in charge of counter-terrorism. Several opposition parties believe that the lifting of the state of emergency decree in Algeria is in reality intended to re-brand the political image of Algeria and also to please superpowers at a time when an unprecedented wind of revolt and call for change is shaking the foundations of the Arab speaking world.

[Al-khiyal]

Suite à la levée de l’état d’urgence :
Hattab en lieu sûr et El Para incarcéré

Mardi 8 Mars 2011 -- Hassan Hattab, le fondateur de l’ex‑GSPC, a été placé en lieu sûr et Abderazak El Para, l’un des ex‑responsables du même groupe, est en prison, a déclaré mardi 8 mars le ministre de la Justice Tayeb Belaiz. Le ministre n’a pas précisé le lieu exact où se trouve Hattab, ni la prison où El Para croupit. La décision d’incarcérer El Para et de placer Hattab en résidence surveillée intervient après la levée de l’état d’urgence, a expliqué M. Belaiz. «Nous avons aussitôt appliqué l’instruction du président de la République en mettant Hattab dans un lieu sûr. El Para est en prison depuis lundi dernier, après avoir été entendu par un juge d’instruction», a expliqué le ministre.

[Al-khiyal]

Algeria's ex-Islamist leader moved to 'safe place'

ALGIERS, March 9, 2011 (AFP) - The former head of an Algerian Islamist group that became the regional Al-Qaeda offshoot has been taken to a "safe place" and his ex-deputy formally imprisoned, the justice minister announced. This was in line with the lifting last month of a 19-year-old state of emergency imposed during a two-decade fight against Islamists, Justice Minister Tayeb Belaiz said in comments reported late Tuesday. The ex-leader of the Salafist Group for the Preaching and Combat (GSPC), Hassan Hattab, had handed himself over to authorities in September 2007 after breaking ties with the movement that aligned itself with Al-Qaeda in 2006. His one-time deputy Abderrezak El Para was handed to Algerian security services in 2004 by Chadian rebels who had captured him.

"We have started to apply the presidential orders (on the lifting of the state of emergency)," Belaiz said in a report by the APS news agency. "Hassan Hattab has been put in a safe place while Abderezak El Para was on Monday put under a committal order" for his imprisonment after his case was brought before a judge, he said. The two men had been held in "administrative detention", a provision under the state of emergency imposed in 1992 that had allowed authorities to hold them without trial, lawyer Mokrane Ait Larbi told AFP.

The former chief of GSPC, which renamed itself Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), had been held since taking advantage of a February 2006 pardon for Islamists who gave themselves up, media reports said. He was opposed to the group's alignment with Al-Qaeda and in 2009 called on Islamist insurgents to give up their fight. He was meant to have been tried in 2007 for "the creation and membership of a terrorist organisation, premeditated killing and the use of explosives in public places," but his case was dismissed.

Abderrezak El Para was responsible for the 2003 kidnapping of 32 European tourists and had been in custody since being handed to Algerian authorities, with his court case repeatedly delayed. Algeria lifted its state of emergency on February 24, bowing to demands in unprecedented protests that threatened President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's decades-old regime. The state of emergency gave free rein to security forces that effectively served to repress political freedom.

[Al-khiyal]

Vote sur les ordonnances présidentielles :
Les députés disent oui massivement

Dimanche 13 Mars 2011 -- Les députés ont adopté ce dimanche 13 mars à la quasi unanimité les trois ordonnances présidentielles portant respectivement sur la levée de l’état d’urgence, des mesures additives au Code de procédures pénales (essentiellement la résidence protégée) et l’implication de l’ANP dans les missions de protection de l’ordre public en dehors des situations d’exception. Les députés RCD ont boycotté la séance, tandis que les élus d'Ennahda se sont abstenus sur les deux derniers projets de lois. Lors de sa présentation, le ministre de la Justice, Tayeb Belaiz, a expliqué que l’état d’urgence a été institué au moment où des biens et des citoyens algériens étaient menacés par la violence intégriste. Il a affirmé que sa seule raison d’être était la lutte contre le terrorisme. De ce fait, la décision du Conseil des ministres du 3 février dernier de lever «définitivement» l’état d’urgence est motivée par l’amélioration de la situation sécuritaire, et ce grâce selon lui «aux résultats extraordinaires obtenus par la politique de réconciliation nationale». Il a soutenu néanmoins que le pays n’est nullement à l’abri des risques et dangers induits par le terrorisme, qui transcende désormais les frontières, et que les autorités nationales sont astreintes à une collaboration internationale dans la lutte contre ce phénomène. «Nous sommes appelés à compléter les mesures de contrôle dans le code de procédures pénales. Les nouvelles mesures judiciaires ne sont applicables que sur les crimes qualifiés de terrorisme ou actes de destruction», a précisé le ministre.

[Al-khiyal]

Algeria's parliament lifts emergency law

March 13, 2011 -- The lower house of Algeria’s parliament has voted to completely lift emergency law. It was initially suspended late February during mass anti-government protests. By voting to lift the emergency law the authorities commit themselves to easing the domestic political climate in the country. A state of emergency in Algeria was introduced in early 1990, with a view to combating terrorism and political extremism. At the time, the government’s struggle against the Islamists claimed the lives of at least 200,000 people.

[Al-khiyal]

État d'urgence :
Après les députés, le Conseil de la Nation adopte son abrogation

Mercredi 16 Mars 2011 -- Le Conseil de la nation a adopté ce mercredi 16 mars à l'unanimité l'ordonnance portant levée de l'état d'urgence, en même temps que deux autres ordonnances. Toutes trois avaient déjà été adoptées le 13 mars par l'Assemblée nationale populaire suite à la décision le mois dernier du président Abdelaziz Bouteflika qui tournait ainsi la page d'une situation instaurée en 1992 pour lutter contre les violences islamistes. Ces ordonnances étaient déjà entrées en vigueur depuis leur parution au Journal officiel le 23 février. Les deux autres textes adoptés sont l'ordonnance complétant celle de 1966 portant code de procédure pénale ainsi que l'ordonnance relative à la participation de l'Armée nationale populaire à des missions de sauvegarde de l'ordre public hors des situations d'exception.