Book Description

"Algerian security forces made 'disappear' at least 7,000 persons, more than the number recorded in any other country during the past decade except wartime Bosnia, Human Rights Watch said in a new report. To date, the Algerian authorities have utterly failed to investigate these 'disappearances' or to provide families with answers about the fate of their loved ones. None of the missing has returned and no one has been held accountable for their 'disappearance.' The report, Time for Reckoning: Enforced Disappearances in Algeria, also accuses armed groups that call themselves Islamist of kidnapping perhaps thousands of Algerians during the armed strife that ravaged the country since the early 1990s and cost over 100,000 lives. These armed groups, as well as state security services that carried out massive 'disappearances, ' are guilty of crimes against humanity and should benefit neither from any amnesty or statute of limitations. At a time when Algerian authorities are seeking warmer relations with the United States and European Union, there are indications they want to 'turn the page' on this problem. Notably, the new human rights commissioner, appointed by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, has spoken about a possible official apology and compensation to the families, but also amnesty for perpetrators."--Publisher website.