Algeria: Forced recruitment by the "arouch" (or "aârouch", "arch" or "aarch") Berber groups; their presence and influence in Algiers; protection offered by the authorities to a person being threatened by "arouch" members; treatment of these groups by the authorities

No information on forced recruitment by the arouch Berber groups, or on the protection offered by the authorities to a person being threatened by arouch members could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints for this Response.

Only limited information on the presence and influence of the arouch in Algiers could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. However, on 14 June 2001, an arouch (Berber tribes) group protested in the streets of the Algerian capital, demanding that their democratic and socio-economic rights be respected, as stated in the El Kseur Platform (ICG 10 June 2003, 20). According to the International Crisis Group (ICG), this demonstration was the only one organized by the arouch, who generally do not hold demonstrations outside their homeland region of Kabylia (ibid.). The ICG also reported that arouch demonstrators were "presented as aggressive and threatening by the state-controlled media [that] were able to mobilise sections of the Algiers population against the demonstrators" (ibid.).

A delegation of the arouch movement appealed to French President Jacques Chirac during his visit to Algeria in March 2003 with their concerns about what they considered to be government repression against Berber citizens (Liberté 3 Mar. 2003). According to the delegation, this government repression has been carried out through "premeditated killings with real bullets, arbitrary arrests, imprisonment without trial, while the killers go unpunished or are being promoted" (ibid.).

Country Reports 2003 indicated that the Algerian government prevented certain members of the arouch from visiting Tunisia" (25 Feb. 2004, Sec. 2.d.). However, these restrictions were later lifted as part of an agreement between the government and Kabylia (ibid.).

The April 2001 death of a Berber teenager while in the custody of the gendarmerie "sparked massive riots . . . and demonstrations throughout the country against abuses by the security forces" (Freedom House 2003). The death toll from these riots varies depending on the sources; one reported the deaths of 80 protesters (ibid.), while another indicated that more than 100 had been killed (Mail & Guardian 31 Mar. 2004). The government, for its part, refused to meet any of the core demands made by the Coordination of Arouch, Dairas and Communes (Coordination des arouch, dairas et communes, CADC), the organization behind the riots (Freedom House 2003). According to Freedom House, scores of CADC leaders and hundreds of their supporters were arrested in 2002 (ibid.).

Also in 2002, four members of the arouch mouvement were arrested and detained while demonstrating against the court proceedings of participants in the recent riots in Kabylia (AFP 13 oct. 2002), who had protested the lack of government reparations for the Black Spring violence (Radio Algérienne 14 Oct. 2002; Country Reports 2003 25 Feb. 2004, Sec. 1.d). One of the members arrested, Belaid Abrika, was held for four months until his trial on charges of "inciting violence" (ibid.). In December 2002, he and other activists started a 42-day hunger strike (ibid.). Abrika had previously been arrested during a public rally in protest of government actions against the independent press; after refusing to give his name to the police, he was beaten so severely that doctors ordered him to undergo 21 days of bed rest (ibid., Sec. 2.b).

Several sources reported the arrests of other arouch members between 2002 and 2004 (Africa News 3 Apr. 2002; Radio Algérienne 14 Oct. 2002; Le Matin 20 Jan. 2003). Africa News indicated that several arouch members had been detained "without knowledge or clarification of the accusations against them" (3 Apr. 2002). In January 2003, eight arouch demonstrators in Takrietz and 13 other in Bejaia and El Kseur were arrested for having demanded the release of protesters; according to their lawyers, they faced sentences of one to two years in prison (Le Matin 20 Jan. 2003).

Also in January 2003, ICG officials went to Algeria to meet with arouch members, who informed them of

[translation]

[...] the Algerian government's response to arouch members' peaceful protests against repression, intimidation and manipulation. One member pointed out that 122 innocent youths had been assassinated by the government since the beginning of the events in Kabylia, and that the march in Algiers on 14 June 2001, organized by the arouch to reinstate the El Kseur Platform, had ended in bloodshed (Le Matin 27 Jan. 2003).

On 4 February 2003, Le Matin reported that a CADC demonstration had been broken up by the police with teargas. On 27 March 2004, arouch sympathizers and anti-riot police clashed in Aqbu (El-Khabar).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Africa News. 3 April 2002. "Algeria: Death in Tigzirt After Rampage By Gendarmes; MAK Supporter Among Delegates Arrested." (NEXIS)

Agence France Presse (AFP). 13 October 2002. "Algeria: Four Leading Members of Berber Protest Movement Arrested." (Dialog)

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2003. 25 February 2004. United States Department of State. Washington, DC. [Accessed 5 Aug. 2004]

El-Khabar [Algiers, in Arabic]. 27 March 2004. "Algeria: Clashes Between Police and Berbers Over Election Meeting." (BBC/Dialog)

Freedom House. 2003. Freedom in the World 2003. "Algeria." [Accessed 5 Aug. 2004]

International Crisis Group (ICG). 10 June 2003. "Algeria: Unrest and Impasse in Kabylia." [Accessed 5 Aug. 2004]

Liberté [Algiers, in French]. 3 March 2003. "Algerian Berbers Appeal to Visiting French President on Human Rights." (BBC/NEXIS)

Mail & Guardian [Johannesburg]. 31 March 2004. "Algerian Election Campaign Leads to Riots." (NEXIS/AFP)

Le Matin [Algiers]. 4 February 2003. "Le meeting des aârouch réprimé." (NEXIS)
_____. 27 January 2003. "Le représentant d'une ONG internationale rencontre les aârouch." (NEXIS)
_____. 20 January 2003. "La répression continue en Kabylie : les détenus de Béjaïa arrêtent la grève de la faim." (NEXIS)

Radio Algérienne [Algiers, in Arabic]. 14 October 2002. "Algeria: Four Berber Citizenship Movement Representatives Arrested." (BBC/NEXIS)

Additional Sources Consulted

Internet sites, including: Amnesty International (AI), The Economist, European Country of Origin Information Network (ECOI), Human Rights Watch (HRW), World News Connection (WNC).