In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

Algeria: Just who are really responsible for the massacres? by Abu Khalid

Who is killing whom?

In January 1992 Algerian experienced a military coup, before the coup, the Algerian election polls showed that an Islamic party, FIS Algeria, was about to gain victory in the voting polls held that year. After the countries secular army generals came to to be aware of this, they staged a military coup to stop the Islamic party from coming to power. This led to the bitter civil war which we see today, a war so brutal that it makes even the most die-hard of persons sick at the description of the kind of atrocities committed on innocent civilians. "Over the past year the civilian population has been targeted in an unprecedented manner, with the emergence of a pattern of massacres of large numbers of civilians, many of them women and children, in rural areas. The pattern has become increasingly widespread - often a daily occurrence. Villagers have been massacred in the most brutal ways; slaughtered, decapitated, and mutilated with knives, machetes

and saws; some have been shot dead and others burned alive as their homes were set on fire. The massacres have systematically been committed at night, by large groups of men who attacked the inhabitants, often in their sleep, killing entire families and villages and pursuing and killing whoever attempted to escape. No one is safe from the brutality. Men, women, children, small babies and elderly people have been hacked to death, decapitated, or mutilated and left to bleed to death. Pregnant women have been disembowelled. Survivors, relatives of the victims and medical personnel are traumatized by the horror they are forced to witness." - Amnesty International report on Algeria for 1997. This is largely blamed on the Islamic FIS, yet when we analyse just who are the victims and why were they killed, we see some glaring contradictions. Firstly, when massacres do take place, we see that the Algerian government does not allow independent investigators go on a fact finding mission, also, the massacres take place in areas controlled by the Algerian government or places where they have a significant troop presence, this begs the question, are the Algerian armed forces this incompetent? We also hear that most of these massacres happen in areas which voted for the Islamic FIS in 1992, it is hard therefore to reason why they'd want to kill their own supporters. Interestingly, we never see these massacres in areas which are secular. In these matters, Amnesty International has something interesting to say: "Most of the massacres have taken place around the capital in the Algiers, Blida and Medea regions - in the most heavily militarized part of the country. In many cases massacres, often lasting several hours, took place only a very short distance, a few kilometres or even a few hundred metres' away from army and security forces barracks and outposts. However, in spite of the screams and cries for help of the victims, the sound of gunshots, and the flames and smoke of the burning houses, the security forces have not intervened - neither to come to the rescue of those who were being massacred, nor to arrest those responsible for the massacres, who got away on each occasion. Survivors and neighbours have told of telephoning or running to nearby security posts seeking help, with the security forces there refusing to intervene, claiming that they were not mandated to do so. In at least two cases, several survivors described how people who had tried to escape from villages where a massacre was taking place had actually been turned back by a cordon of members of the security forces who stood by while the villagers were being slaughtered and did not come into the village until after the attackers had left. That army barracks and security forces outposts are located next to the sites of several massacres is an undisputable fact. That the security forces have not intervened during the massacres is also a fact, which is not disputed by the Algerian authorities. The question which remains unanswered is why was there no intervention? The Algerian authorities have not commented officially on any specific incidents, but newspapers close to the authorities have often

reported that the security forces could not intervene because the terrain around the villages where the massacres were committed had been mined by those who committed the massacres to prevent the security forces' intervention. However, this seems to be unlikely given that during the massacres villagers managed to flee from the villages and after the massacres survivors, ambulances, helpers, and security services have gone in and out of the villages without stepping on any mines. If such movements have been possible both during and after the massacres, it should also have been possible for security forces to go into the villages to stop the massacres. The largest massacre of civilians reported to date was committed during the night of 28 August 1997 in Sidi Rais, south of Algiers. According to a wide range of sources, including medical personnel, up to 300 people, many of them women and children, and even small babies, were killed and more than 100 injured. The authorities did not issue any information on the massacre until late that afternoon, when they announced that 98 people had been killed and 120 injured. Sidi Rais is located in close proximity to the army barracks of Sidi Moussa, about three kilometres away, the army barracks of Baraki, about six to seven kilometres away, the security forces outpost of Gaid Kacem, about four kilometres away, and other security forces posts a few hundreds metres away. Survivors told Amnesty International that in addition to the security forces barracks nearby, security forces' units were also stationed just outside the village, and were aware that the massacre was being committed because those who were able to flee at the beginning of the attack had gone to seek help and refuge with the nearby security forces. Yet the security forces never intervened, either to stop the massacre, or to prevent the attackers from getting away. A survivor of this massacre told Amnesty International: "Why did this happen? Why didn't anyone stop it? There is no law any more. The army and the security forces were right there; they heard and saw everything and did nothing, and they let the terrorists leave.... They [the army] waited for the terrorists to finish their dirty task and then they let them leave. What does this mean to you? ...... I had been threatened by the fundamentalists but I almost got killed by the army. Even my friends in the army don't understand anything anymore these days...". Testimonies of survivors gathered by Algerian journalists, some of which were cited in Algerian newspapers, have also emphasised how massacres have occurred close to army barracks. "...People banged on my door screaming. Frightened neighbours wanted to pass through my house to run to the army barrack, which is not far - about 100 metres - to alert the army and seek their protection. Many neighbours were thus able to get away and be safe. Just as I was letting through an elderly woman a terrorist shot me and wounded me in the shoulder but I managed to run to the army barracks..." In the evening of 5 September 1997, more than 60 men, women and children were massacred in Sidi Youssef (Beni Messous), on the western outskirts of Algiers. Many of the victims lived in makeshift homes built next to the residential district of Beni Messous. According to testimonies received, people from a nearby neighbourhood, who were alerted by the screams and

banging of pots and pans (a means of attracting attention for those in danger), telephoned the security forces to alert them but were told that they could not intervene as the matter was under the mandate of the gendarmerie. They called the gendarmerie but received no reply. Beni Messous hosts the largest army barracks and military security centre of the capital, as well as three other gendarmerie and security forces centres from which the site of the massacre is clearly visible. The army barracks of Cheraga is also only a few kilometres away. However, as with all the other massacres, there was no intervention by the security forces to stop the massacre and the attackers left undisturbed. The authorities did not issue any details about the massacre nor did they provide information on the number of fatalities. In the night of 22/23 September 1997, more than 200 men, women and children were massacred in Bentalha (Baraki), south of Algiers. Bentalha is near five different army and security forces outposts, including the army barracks of Baraki, about three kilometres away, the army barracks of Sidi Moussa, about five kilometres away, the Gaid Kacem security forces post, less than one kilometre away, the communal guard barracks about one kilometre away, and the security forces posts at the entrance of Bentalha. Survivors have told Amnesty International that at the time of the massacres armed forces units with armoured vehicles were stationed outside the village and stopped some of those trying to flee from getting out of the village. Similar reports have been received from journalists who have interviewed survivors. A survivor told Amnesty International: "I don't understand; the army was surrounding Bentalha but they did not intervene; we had been worried for some time, and especially since the massacre at Rais a few weeks before. We had asked the authorities for weapons but we were told we had to wait. When we realized that we were being attacked we tried to resist, we got onto the terraces and rooves and threw stones and objects at them, whatever we could find. Some patriots [local militias] came from Baraki to help us when they heard that the massacre was happening, but the army did not let them into Bentalha. The terrorists had lists of people to kill, but they also killed at random. It's beyond comprehension. The massacre went on for several hours and then the terrorists left and no one stopped them; then the ambulances came in and cleared the bodies. I don't know what is going on, but I know it is not safe. After the massacre the authorities gave us weapons; I've now got a gun, but we don't envisage going back to live in Bentalha for the time being; I'll stay with relatives and try to keep my family safe. Even talking about it is risky; my neighbour who lost all his family in the massacre was telling a journalist what had happened and a policeman told him to shut his mouth or else he'd see. Who can help us? Nobody cares." Amnesty International is gravely concerned by such testimonies, which add further weight to reports that armed groups who carried out massacres of civilians in some cases operated in conjunction with, or with the consent of, certain army and security forces units. The scale, frequency and geographical concentration of the massacres in the past year raise serious questions about the apparent inability or unwillingness of the military and security forces to take adequate

measures to protect the civilian population, and about the lack of investigations into such incidents. In the absence of thorough, independent and prompt investigations in accordance with the minimum international standards for such investigations, such as the UN Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-Legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions, it is difficult to establish responsibility for these massacres. The massacres fall within a pattern whereby large groups of men have been able to come from their supposed hiding places in the mountains and forests into the villages, which often entails crossing main roads, carry out killings lasting several hours, and leave to return - undisturbed - to their hiding places. The sound of gunfire and bomb explosions, the screams of the victims, and the flames and smoke of the houses on fire are audible and visible from a distance. The lack of response by security services to calls by residents alerting them to night-time attacks taking place is not new. Over the past three years scores of individuals have reported to Amnesty International that the security forces had either not responded or refused to intervene when they had called at night, either by telephone or in person, to report attacks on their homes, killings of their relatives, attacks on neighbours, or shootouts. Daytime roadblocks, checkpoints and patrols are withdrawn at night, when the population is most vulnerable to attacks and when massacres are committed. The army and security forces usually do not come to the site until several hours after the massacres, and often not until the following morning. The reason most frequently cited in the past for their lack of response is the security forces' fear of being trapped by a false alert and ambushed. Understandably it may often not be possible for them to intervene in time to stop individual attacks, which tend to happen very quickly, or to arrest the attackers, who may easily hide and escape. However, the situation of massacres is fundamentally different in so far as the massacres often last for several hours, during which nearby security forces should have ample time to intervene to stop the massacres and to apprehend the attackers, who up to now have always been able to leave undisturbed. Whether or not certain units of the army and security forces have been actively involved in the massacres must be investigated. In the meantime it is clear that there has been a conscious abdication by the Algerian authorities of its responsibility to protect the civilian population in areas whose position and security and communications network should make such protection possible." - Amnesty International report on Algeria for 1997 These massacres are blamed on the GIS and other Islamic groups, such as the FIS, the report continues to say: "Many massacres have taken place in areas where a large percentage of the population had voted for the FIS in the 1990 municipal elections and in the 1991 legislative elections. Amnesty International has received reports that many of the victims of recent massacres were relatives of members and supporters of armed opposition

groups, people who had in the past been detained on charges of "terrorist activities" and their relatives, and people who had in the past refused to take up arms and set up militia groups. Members of the security forces and militias are reported to have said to local inhabitants and journalists that the victims of some of the massacres had met the fate they deserved because they had supported the "terrorists", and thus deserved no protection." - Ibid. With these reports in mind, it is unwarranted to blame the Islamists when we have no proof, and in fact the proof shows the opposite, with the Algerian security forces actually having a part to play in the violence. Recently, a former member of the Algerian security forces, called Habib Souaidia released a book titled "The Dirty War" where he accuses the Algerian army of committing the massacres in order to discredit the Islamic groups, he states that he was a witness to some of these massacres. "But the visit comes at a delicate time with the publication of a book in France by a former Algerian army officers alleging Algerian forces committed massacres blamed on Islamic fundamentalists. "I saw colleagues burn alive a 15-year old child. I saw soldiers disguising themselves as terrorists and massacre civilians," writes Habib Souaidia in his book, The Dirty War. Speaking on French radio on Tuesday Souaidia called for an international inquiry to investigate the allegations. "Everybody thinks it's the terrorists who do the killing, but the reality is different -- the generals have done the same thing," he told Inter radio. "All I ask for is an international inquiry so the truth can come out and justice be done." - CNN He also claims: "I believe the US and French secret services know exactly what is going on. But the Americans profit from the oil wells in Hassi Messaoud (Algeria's largest desert oilfield). They got what they wanted and now they're keeping quiet," he alleged." Independent Online (Africa) And: "Mr Souaidia says his first experience of the "dirty war" came in spring 1993, when he had just left the special forces college. His platoon picked up a group of 20 officers from a supposedly pro-Islamist village where it had dropped them off an hour earlier. Back in barracks, one showed Mr Souaidia his blood-stained bayonet, and mimed drawing it across his throat. "The day after next, the local and national papers announced a dozen deaths in a terrorist attack in that village," he said. "I understood. I

had just taken part, indirectly, in a massacre." He also recalls accompanying commandos from the army's anti-terrorist squad to Lakhdaria, a reputed rebel stronghold 50 miles from Algiers. Disguised as bearded fundamentalists, the soldiers' mission was to kidnap six suspected activists. "All the suspects of course ended up being killed," he wrote. "We arrested people, we tortured them, we killed them and then we burned their bodies." In that region, he added, "I must have seen at least 100 people liquidated"." - The Guardian. These were all in the context of what he himself witnessed, thus his claims that "the generals have done the same thing", with reference to the fact that Islamists have done massacres also involves speculation as no proof for these allegations have been given by any Human Rights groups. This article explains in detail some of the errors committed when the blame goes to the Islamic groups: ____________________________________________ Murders, most foul and diabolical; Junta's way to blame and to eradicate by Mustapha Shirazi Taken from: http://www.aliasoft.com/themes/alger3.htm August and September were the darkest months in the Algerian junta's war against its people since the pro-French military coup of 11 January 1992 which thwarted victory of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) at the poll. Large-scale massacres have been carried out against civilians since August 1996 with impunity, without any 'terrorist' being apprehended. At least 300 people were massacred on the night of 28-29 August 1997 at Rais, in the Sidi Moussa area, near the capital city of Algiers. The night before, over 50 people were decapitated in Blida, in the vicinity of Algiers. At both Rais and in Blida, the victims' heads were perched on people's doorsteps. A bomb in a commercial street of Central Algiers killed an unspecified number of people and injured more than a hundred, according to eyewitnesses, on 27 August; 45 people were slaughtered at night in Hadjout, near Algiers, and 45 others in Jelfa, on 29. Various concordant popular reports said that several hundred people were massacred on the night of 7/8 September in the village of Sidi Youcef very close to Beni Messouss, the western end of Algiers. Beni Messouss houses the headquarters and torture centre of the notorious secret service, Scurit Militaire, as well as several military centres including two major garrisons. Fifty-three people were butchered in

Medea, west of Algiers in the night of 19/20 September and at least 200 people were slaughtered in the night of 22/23 September. Starting with Msila massacre of 17 August 1996, over 42 major massacres have been committed against innocent Algerian villagers by 6 September 1997. The Algerian people have never seen such dreadful, cold-blooded, macabre killings of innocent citizens, and daytime bombings of populous areas, except under French colonialism. These atrocities have escalated noticeably from the month of Ramadan (January 1997). They have shot up, astonishingly, after the 5 June 1997 parliamentary elections to culminate to the present unprecedented degree of atrocity after the release of Abbasi Madani, the leader of the FIS, on 15 July, amid secret negotiations between the President, General Zeroual, and some elements of the FIS, including its eastern region's armed branch (AIS) leader, Madani Merzaq. The assailants, who number a few scores to a hundred, according to witnesses, would invade villages by night and attack relentlessly, for several hours, the inhabitants making no distinction of age or gender. The corpses are usually decapitated, mutilated or burnt. The targets are strongholds of the Islamic Salvation Front with no exception. Invariably, these horrors have mostly occurred within the government-designated cordon sanitaire, Greater Algiers and its vicinity: the area where the junta has the largest concentration of troops and security services. Invariably, the Algerian Francophile press and the Algerian News Agency APS, which all belong to various clans of anti-Islamic military eradicators, have systematically attributed such grim and savage acts to the Islamists. The daily Le Matin (27 August 1997) went even further in its usual psychological warfare by claiming that the attackers called themselves 'A1-Ghadhiboon 'Alaa Allah' (The Angry Against God), supposedly because God did not grant them victory. Invariably and consistently, the French and other western media, with very few exceptions, acted as a more efficient relay of the Algerian Francophile media to cover up the truth, turning the victims into the butchers. The voice of the real representatives of most of the Algerian people, the Islamists, has been suppressed in favour of the conspicuous propaganda of a group of notorious Francophiles like Rashid Mimouni and Rashid Boudjedra, Said Saadi and Khalida Messaoudi; they all have easy access to the French media and prime time television programmes. Invariably, the integral role of France in the sinister tragedy being played out in

Algeria has been systematically occulted. Only very few sincere, but unpublicised voices rose in France to denounce the dishonourable French official involvement alongside the Algerian junta. Many questions can be asked. Why is it that journalists have not been allowed to go to the scenes of the carnage each time? Why is it that the massacres keep going on for several hours, audibly, with no intervention by the security or military forces which in many cases happen to be very close to victims (see map)? Why is it that only the Algerian political police Scurit Militaire can release information related to these massacres? Why is it that the junta turned down, at the beginning of last month, the UN SecretaryGencral's appeal for 'an urgent solution' to the nightly massacre of the population? Why did the generals re-incarcerate Abbasi Madani for responding positively to the UN Secretary-Gencral's message? Why have they ignored the same stand taken by major, independent opposition? Why is the West silent? French press reports, sociologists and anthropologists have deviously explained away the 'violence' as inherent to the fighting mentality the Algerians developed in a 132year resistance to French colonialism. In reality the whole issue revolves around one fundamental fact, namely that some interests see Islam as a an impediment to their imperialist goals not only in Algeria, but also in all the Maghreb. In this context, the macabre atrocities committed against innocent civilians, have one goal: discredit Islam as a social, economic and political ideal in the eyes of the ordinary Algerian. This explains the entire psychological warfare by the media accusing the Islamists for the massacres. They know these are carried out by the anti-Islamic eradicators led by General Lamari. Lamari is France's man par excellence in the Algerian army. The imprisonment of Abbasi Madani soon after his recent parole also seems to fall within the same game plan: while President-General Zeroual, in his scheme to sabotage the Islamic movement, saw Abbasi Madani - not the outspoken FIS co-leader Ali Belhadj - as the interlocuteur valable, the eradicators feared Zeroual's move might give a fresh opening for Islam on the political scene. ____________________________________________

In sum, we have sufficient evidence to show that the mere claims of the Algerian regime and the succeeding media repetition of the claims are by most standards, weak. And yet we continue to see the Islamic groups get demonised even though only claims

are made to show that they did it. This apparent double-standard by many Western nations, namely the USA and France, when they give monetary, political and military aid to Algeria does indeed have an explanation, namely, the continuing supply of Algerian oil. A further detailed study of the entire situation, with it's vested interests by Western nations can be found on this study: http://www.mediamonitors.net/mosaddeq4.html

Related links: Algerian policemen confess they killed Algerian killings highlight Algerian regimes continuing war on it's own people Ex-officer: Algerian troops carry out massacres

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