| President
Liamine
Zeroual,
a
former
general,
was
elected
in
November
1995
to
a
5-year
term.
Zeroual
had
previously
served
as
president
of
a
transition
government
established
by
the
army
in
1994,
which
included
a
National
transition
Council
(CNT)
as
a
surrogate
parliament.
The
President
controls
defense
and
foreign
policy,
appoints
and
dismisses
the
Prime
Minister
and
cabinet
ministers,
and
may
dissolve
the
legislature.
The
presidential
election
was
competitive.
Three
opposition
candidates
had
some
access
to
state-controlled
television
and
radio
and
also
received
heavy
coverage
in
the
independent
press.
According
to
government
figures,
Zeroual
received
61
percent
of
the
votes;
losing
candidates
claimed
that
there
were
instances
of
fraud
but
did
not
contest
Zeroual's
victory.
The
Government
does
not
always
respect
the
independence
of
the
judiciary.
After
gaining
independence
in
1962,
Algeria
had
a
single-party
state
dominated
by
the
country's
military
leadership
and
supported
by
the
bureaucracy
and
the
National
Liberation
Front
(FLN).
Under
the
1989
Constitution,
there
was
to
be
a
transition
to
a
pluralist
republic
with
a
strong
president.
The
democratization
process
was
suspended,
and
the
FLN's
rule
ended
in
1992
when
the
Army
forced
President
Chadli
Benjedid
to
resign,
canceled
the
second
round
of
parliamentary
elections
which
the
Islamic
Salvation
Front
(FIS)
was
poised
to
win,
and
installed
a
ruling
five-man
High
State
Committee
that
banned
the
FIS
and
jailed
many
of
its
leaders.
The
cancellation
of
the
elections
in
1992
escalated
fighting
between
the
security
forces
and
armed
Islamist
groups
seeking
to
overthrow
the
Government
and
impose
an
Islamic
state,
which
still
continues.
In
a
flawed
popular
referendum
in
November
1996,
the
Government
obtained
approval
of
proposed
changes
to
the
Constitution,
including
provision
of
a
second
parliamentary
chamber
and
greater
presidential
authority.
In
June
Algeria
held
its
first
parliamentary
elections
since
January
1992,
and
elected
the
first
multiparty
Parliament
in
Algerian
history.
Provincial
and
municipal
elections
were
held
in
October.
Although
the
election
campaigns
were
marked
by
an
increase
in
the
openness
of
television
and
radio
to
political
debate
and
discourse,
international
observers
and
political
parties
pointed
out
numerous
problems
with
the
conduct
of
the
elections.
The
Government's
security
apparatus
is
composed
of
the
army,
air
force,
navy,
the
national
gendarmerie,
the
national
police,
communal
guards
(a
local
police),
and
local
self-defense
forces.
All
of
these
elements
are
involved
in
counterinsurgency
and
counterterrorism
operations
and
are
under
the
control
of
the
Government.
The
security
forces
were
responsible
for
numerous
serious
human
rights
abuses.
The
economy
is
slowly
developing
from
a
state-administered
to
a
market-oriented
system.
The
Government
has
successfully
implemented
stabilization
policies
and
structural
reforms.
However,
privatization
of
state
enterprises
and
the
restructuring
of
the
banking
and
housing
construction
sectors
have
just
begun.
Uncompetitive
and
unprofitable
state
enterprises
constitute
the
bulk
of
the
industrial
sector.
The
state-owned
petroleum
sector's
output
represented
about
a
quarter
of
national
income
and
about
95
percent
of
export
earnings
in
1997.
The
agricultural
sector,
which
produces
grains,
fruit,
cattle,
fibers,
vegetables,
and
poultry,
makes
up
10
to
12
percent
of
the
economy.
Algeria
is
a
middle-income
country;
annual
per
capita
income
was
approximately
$1,600
in
1997.
Officially,
about
28
percent
of
the
working-age
population
was
unemployed
in
1997,
and
about
70
percent
of
the
people
under
the
age
of
30
could
not
find
adequate
employment.
Some
made
a
living
from
petty
smuggling
or
street
peddling.
The
Government's
human
rights
performance
in
1997
reflected
improvements
in
some
areas,
but
serious
human
rights
abuses
continued.
Citizens
do
not
have
the
effective
right
peacefully
to
change
their
government.
The
security
forces
carried
out
extrajudicial
killings,
were
responsible
for
numerous
disappearances,
routinely
tortured
or
otherwise
abused
detainees,
and
arbitrarily
arrested
and
detained
or
held
incommunicado
many
individuals
suspected
of
involvement
with
armed
Islamist
groups.
On
some
occasions,
security
forces
failed
to
intervene
to
prevent
or
halt
massacres
of
civilians.
Questions
have
been
raised
about
security
forces'
indifference
to,
or
complicity
in,
civilian
deaths.
Although
the
Constitution
provides
for
an
independent
judiciary,
executive
branch
decrees
restrict
some
of
the
judiciary's
authority.
Poor
prison
conditions,
lengthy
trial
delays,
illegal
searches,
and
infringements
on
citizens'
privacy
rights
also
remained
problems.
The
Government
heavily
censored
news
about
security
incidents
and
the
armed
groups.
The
Government
also
continued
to
restrict
freedom
of
speech,
press,
assembly,
association,
and
movement.
During
the
June
legislative
elections
and
the
October
municipal
and
provincial
elections,
there
were
credible
reports
of
irregularities
such
as
government
harassment
of
opposition
party
observers
and
fraud
in
vote-tally
procedures.
The
Family
Code
limited
women's
civil
rights,
and
domestic
violence
against
women
remained
a
serious
problem.
Armed
groups
and
terrorists
also
committed
numerous
serious
abuses,
killing
thousands
of
civilians.
Armed
Islamists
have
conducted
a
widespread
insurgency
since
legislative
elections
were
canceled
in
January
1992.
Islamist
groups
targeted
government
officials
and
families
of
security
service
members,
as
well
as
people
whose
lifestyles
they
considered
in
conflict
with
Islamic
values.
Increasingly
in
1997,
armed
groups
massacred
large
groups
of
civilians,
including
infants,
often
in
apparent
retaliation
against
villages
or
families
that
had
ceased
providing
support
to
them.
Armed
Islamists
particularly
targeted
women;
there
were
repeated
instances
of
kidnapping
and
rape.
Bombs
left
in
cars,
cafes,
and
markets
killed
and
maimed
people
indiscriminately.
Some
killings
were
also
thought
to
arise
from
revenge,
banditry,
and
land
grabs.
By
year's
end,
there
were
estimates
that
6,000
to
7,000
people
were
killed
in
1997,
and
that
a
total
of
70,000
people
had
been
killed
during
6
years
of
turmoil.
RESPECT
FOR
HUMAN
RIGHTS
Section
1
Respect
for
the
Integrity
of
the
Person,
Including
Freedom
From:
a.
Political
and
Other
Extrajudicial
Killing
There
were
credible
reports
that
security
forces
killed
political
opponents,
particularly
people
suspected
of
being
sympathizers
of
armed
groups.
In
February
Rachid
Mudjahid
died
while
in
police
custody.
Authorities
refused
to
release
his
body,
which
observers
said
bore
marks
of
torture,
to
his
family.
Shortly
after
Algeria's
top
labor
leader
was
killed
in
January,
Mudjahid
appeared
on
the
government-owned
television
and
claimed
that
he
had
been
behind
the
killing.
His
claim
appeared
to
have
been
made
under
duress.
One
week
later,
he
was
dead.
In
addition,
there
were
credible
reports
that
three
citizens
were
killed
by
security
forces
in
Beni
Mered
in
February,
that
two
citizens
were
killed
by
local
self-defense
forces
in
Tablat
in
March,
and
that
a
dozen
citizens
were
killed
by
communal
guards
in
el-Oumaria
in
April.
There
were
also
reports
that
on
some
occasions
security
forces
failed
to
intervene
to
prevent
or
halt
massacres
of
civilians.
Questions
have
been
raised
about
the
security
forces
indifference
to,
or
complicity
in,
civilian
deaths.
Amnesty
International
(AI)
reported
that
security
forces
did
not
intervene
to
stop
the
killings
in
three
terrorist
massacres
near
Algiers.
In
Has
Rais
on
August
28,
hundreds
of
persons
were
attacked,
although
an
army
barracks
is
about
300
feet
away
and
other
security
forces
were
nearby.
Security
forces
neither
came
to
the
assistance
of
the
villagers
nor
apprehended
the
killers
when
they
left.
In
Beni
Messous
on
September
5,
at
least
60
persons
were
killed.
When
villagers
telephoned
the
nearby
army
barracks
for
help,
security
forces
refused
to
intervene,
saying
the
matter
was
under
the
mandate
of
the
gendarmerie.
Telephone
calls
to
the
gendarmerie
received
no
reply,
and
the
attackers
escaped
without
any
difficulty.
In
Bentalha
on
September
22,
some
200
persons
were
killed
over
the
course
of
several
hours.
Survivors
reported
that
security
forces
with
armored
vehicles
were
stationed
outside
the
village
and
stopped
some
villagers
trying
to
flee.
However,
the
attackers
were
able
to
leave.
The
Government
asserts
that
security
forces
cannot
respond
to
attacks
against
civilians
because
an
attack
might
be
a
setup
for
an
ambush,
because
the
security
forces
lack
night-fighting
equipment,
and
because
terrorists
might
have
mined
the
area.
The
Government
maintains
that
the
security
forces
resort
to
lethal
force
only
in
the
context
of
armed
clashes
with
terrorists.
The
Government
also
contends
that,
as
a
matter
of
policy,
disciplinary
action
is
taken
against
soldiers
or
policemen
who
are
guilty
of
violating
human
rights.
The
government-linked
National
Observatory
for
Human
Rights
(ONDH)
reported
several
instances
in
which
military
and
security
personnel
were
punished
for
abuses
during
the
year.
Armed
groups
targeted
both
security
force
members
and
civilians.
Terrorists
attacked
civilians
whom
they
regarded
as
instruments
of
the
State
or
whose
lifestyles
they
considered
in
conflict
with
Islamic
values.
Sometimes
they
killed
in
the
course
of
armed
robberies
or
to
enforce
local
protection
rackets.
Some
terrorist
bombings
seemed
intended
only
to
create
social
disorder
by
causing
a
high
number
of
civilian
casualties
without
any
apparent
concern
for
the
particular
target.
Increasingly
armed
groups
killed
large
groups
of
civilians,
including
infants,
often
in
apparent
retaliation
against
villages
or
families
that
had
ceased
providing
support
to
them.
In
September
a
number
of
teachers
were
murdered
in
front
of
their
students.
In
September
the
terrorist
Armed
Islamic
Group
(GIA)
issued
an
official
communique
in
which
it
claimed
responsibility
for
the
ongoing
violence,
terming
the
massacres
"an
offering
to
God"
and
pledging
to
continue.
Activists
from
several
political
parties,
including
the
two
legal
Islamist
opposition
parties,
were
killed
in
1997,
as
were
cultural
and
media
personalities
such
as
a
popular
filmmaker
and
a
television
station
employee.
During
the
municipal
and
provincial
electoral
campaign
in
October,
eight
candidates
were
killed
by
terrorists.
There
were
also
instances
throughout
the
year
of
terrorists
stopping
buses
and
cars
and
murdering
civilian
passengers.
In
some
cases
the
victims
apparently
were
murdered
merely
because
they
were
young
men
of
draft
age
eligible
for
military
service.
Terrorists
also
were
responsible
for
the
large
massacres
of
civilians
in
Haouch
Boughlef
in
April,
El-Oumaria
in
May,
and
Larbaa
in
August.
These
collective
massacres
often
resulted
in
the
displacement
of
large
numbers
of
survivors.
The
press
reported
that
at
least
313
persons
were
killed
by
terrorists
within
a
30
mile
radius
of
greater
Algiers
during
the
last
3
months
of
the
year.
On
December
31,
over
300
persons
reportedly
were
killed
in
the
western
province
of
Relizane.
Terrorist
bombs
also
killed
hundreds
of
persons.
In
some
cases,
the
terrorists
targeted
government
buildings.
In
others
they
sought
to
retaliate
against
the
families
of
members
of
the
security
services
by
exploding
car
bombs
outside
their
homes.
Terrorists
also
left
bombs
at
several
street
markets
during
the
year.
In
rural
areas,
terrorists
continued
to
plant
bombs
and
mines,
often
to
prevent
security
forces
from
pursuing
them
following
an
attack.
In
January
Algeria's
top
labor
leader,
Abdelhak
Benhamouda,
the
Secretary
General
of
the
General
Union
of
Algerian
Workers
(UGTA),
was
killed
in
front
of
UGTA
headquarters.
Benhamouda
was
well-known
for
being
anti-Islamist,
and
he
had
been
at
the
forefront
of
the
calls
for
the
cancellation
of
the
1991
legislative
elections
won
by
the
FIS.
Since
1993
at
least
59
journalists
and
120
foreigners
have
died
in
terrorist
attacks.
b.
Disappearance
There
continued
to
be
credible
reports
of
disappearances,
and
security
forces
appear
to
have
been
involved
in
numerous
cases.
For
example,
in
April
journalist
Aziz
Bouabdallah
was
taken
forcibly
from
his
apartment
by
men
in
civilian
clothing.
He
has
not
yet
reappeared.
A
university
professor
was
kidnaped
as
he
left
the
university.
His
whereabouts
also
remain
unknown.
In
July
a
surgeon
who
had
been
released
from
prison
in
1995
after
4
years
of
detention
without
trial
was
abducted
a
few
weeks
after
having
been
summoned
by
the
police
for
questioning.
In
addition,
many
previously-recorded
cases
remain
unresolved.
The
Government
asserted
that
terrorists
disguised
as
security
forces
perpetrated
numerous
incidents.
Terrorist
groups
kidnaped
hundreds
of
civilians,
including
family
members
of
security
service
members.
Sometimes
the
mutilated
corpses
of
such
victims
were
later
found.
In
many
other
instances,
however,
the
victims
disappeared,
and
their
families
could
obtain
no
information
about
their
fate.
c.
Torture
and
Other
Cruel,
Inhuman,
or
Degrading
Treatment
or
Punishment
Both
the
Constitution
and
legislation
ban
torture
and
other
cruel,
inhuman,
or
degrading
treatment.
However,
according
to
human
rights
groups
and
lawyers,
the
police
regularly
resort
to
torture
when
interrogating
persons
suspected
of
being
involved
with,
or
of
having
sympathies
for
armed
Islamists.
There
were
several
credible
reports
of
torture
at
the
Algiers
police
facility
called
Chateau
Neuf.
There
were
repeated
reports
that
police
applied
to
prisoners
a
technique
called
"le
chiffon,"
in
which
a
cloth
soaked
in
noxious
fluid
was
put
in
the
victim's
mouth.
There
were
also
reports
that
the
police
applied
electric
shocks
to
sensitive
body
parts
and
sexually
molested
female
prisoners.
Police
beatings
of
detainees
appeared
to
be
common.
Many
victims
of
torture
hesitate
to
make
public
allegations
due
to
fear
of
government
retaliation.
The
Interior
Ministry
in
1992
said
that
it
would
punish
those
individuals
who
violated
the
law
and
practiced
torture,
but
it
has
never
revealed
whether
any
of
those
individuals
responsible
for
torture
have
been
punished.
On
more
than
one
occasion,
however,
the
police
have
stated
in
writing,
in
response
to
specific
complaints
filed
by
human
rights
organizations,
that
they
would
punish
individual
policemen
found
guilty
of
committing
torture.
In
March
the
National
Observatory
for
Human
Rights
(ONDH),
which
is
affiliated
with
the
Government,
announced
that
"over
sixty"
soldiers,
policemen,
communal
guards,
and
local
self-defense
forces
members
would
soon
face
charges
in
regular
criminal
courts
of
violating
individual
liberties
and
committing
torture.
Specifically,
the
ONDH
mentioned:
The
case
of
a
group
of
local
self-defense
force
members
who
had
abused
a
group
of
citizens
in
Bougara;
the
case
of
a
policeman
accused
of
having
killed
a
civilian
in
Merouana;
and
the
case
of
a
communal
guard
who
had
used
his
weapons
"for
his
own
purposes"
in
Boufarik.
The
outcome
of
these
cases
is
unknown.
On
December
31,
ONDH
President
Rezzag
Bara
told
the
Arabic-language
daily
newspaper,
El-Khabar,
that
the
ONDH
registered
several
dozen
individual
cases
of
human
rights
violations
during
the
year.
Judicial
proceedings
were
conducted
in
courts
of
military
justice
for
military
personnel
and
members
of
local
self-defense
forces
and
in
civil
courts
for
members
of
the
security
services.
Rezzag
Bara
said
the
courts
meted
out
very
stiff
sentences.
There
were
unconfirmed
reports
that
security
services
personnel
were
responsible
for
several
instances
of
rape.
Armed
groups
also
committed
many
abuses
such
as
beheading,
mutilating,
disemboweling,
and
dismembering
their
victims,
including
infants
and
pregnant
women.
There
were
also
credible
reports
of
children
being
forced
to
drink
the
blood
of
their
murdered
parents.
There
were
frequent
reports
of
young
women
being
abducted
and
repeatedly
raped,
often
for
weeks
at
a
time.
The
terrorists
sought
to
justify
this
sexual
abuse
by
referring
to
it
as
"temporary
marriage,"
but
all
other
observers,
including
Islamic
scholars,
uniformly
condemned
the
practice
as
rape.
Armed
Islamist
terrorists
committed
hundreds
of
rapes
of
female
victims,
most
of
whom
were
subsequently
murdered.
Prison
conditions
are
poor,
and
prisons
are
very
overcrowded.
According
to
human
rights
activists,
cells
often
contain
several
times
the
number
of
prisoners
for
which
they
originally
were
designed.
Medical
treatment
for
prisoners
is
available
but
is
also
severely
limited.
The
Government
does
not
permit
independent
monitoring
of
prisons
or
detention
centers
by
groups
such
as
the
International
Committee
of
the
Red
Cross
(ICRC)
or
Amnesty
International.
d.
Arbitrary
Arrest,
Detention,
or
Exile
The
Constitution
prohibits
arbitrary
arrest
and
detention;
however,
the
security
forces
continued
arbitrarily
to
arrest
and
detain
citizens.
The
Constitution
stipulates
that
incommunicado
detention
in
criminal
cases
prior
to
arraignment
may
not
exceed
48
hours,
after
which
the
suspect
must
be
charged
or
released.
According
to
the
Antiterrorist
Law
of
1992,
the
police
may
hold
suspects
in
prearraignment
detention
for
up
to
12
days;
they
also
must
inform
suspects
of
the
charges
against
them.
In
practice,
however,
the
security
forces
routinely
ignore
this
12-day
limit.
The
most
prominent
case
involving
a
prisoner
held
incommunicado
is
FIS
Vice
President
Ali
Benhadj;
his
family
has
heard
nothing
about
him
since
mid-1995
despite
repeated
approaches
to
the
Justice
Ministry
by
Benhadj's
lawyers.
In
addition,
a
number
of
lawyers
who
had
defende |
