KABYLIA IN THE CROSSHAIRS OF ALGERIA’S AUTHORITARIAN REGIME

More than 60 years of independence had little improvement in the lives of Algeria’s populations in any significant way. The authoritarian regime that was put in place, the violence that led to its inception and the disastrous choices made by the ruling elite led to the consolidation of a police state whose arab-islamist ideology plunged this rich country into violence, economic strife and cultural alienation. Human rights violations despite Algeria’s signing of most United Nations pacts are common currency. Cornered by a population seeking more freedom and better conditions, the regime resorts to all sorts of violence, kidnapping, jailing, torture and murder. The justice system and the multitude of security agencies under the firm grip of the ruling class, are weaponized against the people to serve and maintain the system.

Kabylia, the most populous, Amazigh-speaking region of the country is at the forefront of the fight for democracy and human rights. The full Kabyle political spectrum from those who demand cultural rights, to those seeking regionalization or a federal system, to those seeking autonomy or independence, has been decidedly peaceful. From the slogan chanted at major soccer meets of the Kabyle soccer club, to the very first street protests of the Amazigh spring of 1980, to the peaceful protests of the terrifying and bloody 1990’s, to the social organization following the Black Spring 2001 carnage where the police state killed 128 youth, to the peaceful Hirak movement of 2019, Kabylia has been a peaceful political force striving for the rule of law and equity for everyone. However, the regime’s response has been nothing but repression, violence, and ostracism. Kabylia, even prior to independence, was targeted for forced assimilation for its refusal to fall into the mold of the Arab-Islamist ideology. After independence, it became the enemy within, the scapegoat to rally the rest of Algeria around the ruling mafia. To this end, everything was used to crush this rebellious region:

-    The successive gerrymandering of the territory of Kabylia in order to dilute the Kabyle element and divide and conquer. 

-    The law of Arabization (Arabic-language only policy) and the marginalization of the Kabyle and Amazigh culture.

-    The mass construction and funding of mosques despite each Kabylie village already meeting its needs for places of prayer.

-    The regime’s economic policy in Kabylia has been one of strangulation to bring it to its knees through poverty and force its population to emigrate to other parts of the country or abroad.

-    The bias against Amazigh culture is actively encouraged by the government and its institutions. This is evidenced by the suppression of any Kabyle expression in the media and literary production. The introduction of the Kabyle language in schools and television is reduced to a simple presence to prove that the Kabyles do have rights.

-    Civil society actions are completely suppressed. Conferences, meetings, literary cafés, cultural celebrations, are all prohibited, unless initiated by the system.

Following the stinging defeat of the system under the Hirak movement when President Bouteflika was removed, the regime started attacking Kabylia, considered an easy prey, jailing hundreds of people under the bogus Penal Code Article 87 bis that redefined terrorism. Arrests, torture, interdiction of travel abroad, arrests of nationals upon return to the country. In the summer of 2021, adding insult to injury, the regime watched as Kabylia burned to the ground under suspicious and most violent wildfires ever seen in history, killing nearly 100 people and reducing to ashes more than 100,000 acres of land, flora and fauna and hundreds of homes. It is in the midst of this disaster that the immolation of Djamel Bensmail took place to be blamed on Kabylia. The stigmatization of the region became ripe and calls to destroy Kabylia could be heard across Algeria and in social media. To seal its fate, the regime rounded nearly 100 people to be tried in an express trial that condemned the vast majority to death. They were blamed either for the death of Djamel Bensmail, for starting the fires, and or the usual threat to national unity or territorial integrity. The following is a summary of these events.

The events and the trial

1)     In the summer of 2021, during the month of August, the province of Kabylia suffered the most severe wildfires in its history.  Both in the Tizi-Wezzu and the Bgayet areas, numerous[1] and simultaneous fires raged for days near towns and villages, destroying everything on their path. At least 90 people lost their lives. Some reports put the figure at 220. The number of families that lost their homes and livestock is even greater. The area destroyed by the fires is estimated to be 107,239 acres. As a comparison, 186948 acres burned during the previous 10 years[2]. While climate change is a definite factor in the frequency and intensity of the fires, the human element is clearly identified even by the authorities. 

2)     The Algerian authorities performed miserably during these horrific events, which coincided with the outbreak of COVID-19 in Kabylia. While the areas affected by fire are not easily accessible, the authorities did very little to intervene. They had no emergency plan in place and added fuel to the fire by accusing the MAK (Movement for the self-determination of Kabylia) and Morocco as being behind the fires. They even refused international help (Case of Morocco and France). The villagers did their best and many perished fighting the fires.

3)     While the fire was still raging, the police arrested several individuals as suspects in starting the fires. Among them was Djamel Bensmail, a HIRAK activist who came to lend a hand in Larbaa Nat Iraten, a region that was particularly impacted by the fires. A rumor was spread that the young man was an arsonist responsible for starting the fires. He was then paraded by the police in the town of Larbaa Nath Iraten before leaving him alone in the van, where he was attacked then thrown outside to the mercy of an angry mob. This all happened within and in front of the local police headquarters, with the police bearing witness to the excruciating immolation of Djamel Bensmail. This crime was then blamed on MAK that allegedly had the support of Morocco and Israel. The MAK had just been recently classified as a terrorist organization. 94 people were arrested and accused of starting the fires, or being responsible for the death of Djamel Bensmail, unspecified terrorist acts and threats to national unity and territorial integrity.

4)     At the November 24, 2022, trial at the Dar El Beida Court near Algiers, which lasted only 5 days: 49 Kabyle people were sentenced to death, 28 others were sentenced between 2 and 10 years of prison, 17 were acquitted. The accused were charged with « terrorist et subversive acts against the state and national unity » and « voluntary manslaughter with premeditation ». Ferhat Mehenni, the leader of the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia was sentenced to life in prison in absentia, with charges including the murder of Djamel Bensmail. Four other leaders of the MAK in exile received a similar sentence: Aksil Bellabaci, Mourad Itim, Rachida Idder and Yacine Drissi.

5)     On October 23, 2023, the appeal took place at the Algiers court. After only 5 days of hearings, 38 people were sentenced to death for: 

1)     Voluntary manslaughter with premeditation

2)     Torture et incitation to torture

3)     Voluntary burning of cultures leading to the death of several persons.

4)     Creation and belonging to a group or organization conducting acts of sabotage

5)     Assaulting police agents

6)     Publication of hate and racist speech.

Irregularities of the Trial

In general, one can say there was no effort made by the authorities to try to get to the truth behind the horrific crime that was committed on this grim day of August 11, 2021, nor to determine the cause of the fires. The crime, as horrific as it was, was a pretext to arrest as many people as possible and punish an entire region. As expected, there was no investigation per se and the authorities used the State controlled media to spread the idea that the accused were guilty, putting forward false testimonies of fictional scenarios on the crime scene. The authorities were clearly not interested in truth and justice but rather in constructing a narrative that allowed them to punish the rebellious Kabylia and point at the MAK as the enemy of the nation. Below are several examples of the judicial shortcomings before and after the trials: 

1)     Before the trial, while in police custody, some of the suspects were paraded in front of cameras visibly forced to confess to their crimes. The suspects were not allowed to seek legal advice.

2)     The trials were conducted behind closed doors, which is an attempt to limit the media and public attention and control the narrative.

3)     Several of the accused stated to the presiding judge that they were coerced or tortured to make false confessions, but the judge did not investigate or take this into account. 

4)     Many individuals who were sentenced to death were not present in Larbaa at the time of the events or even in the country at all. This is the case for instance of Mohand Laskri and Azwaw Hadjaz who were nowhere near the events that day. It is also the case of Ferhat Mehenni, Rachida Idder, and Aksel Bellabaci who all reside in France as well as Mourad Itim who resides in Canada. 

5)     On the other hand, there were individuals who entered the van and struck the victim then forced him outside and others who led the crowd to lynch the victim. These individuals were not brought to trial.

6)     The autopsy report was not presented during the trial. There have been reports and videos posted online indicating that the victim Djamel Bensmail may have been stabbed while in the police van, i.e., before he was delivered to the crowd.

7)     The accused were not provided with the evidence that showed they killed Djamel Bensmail. While some of them may have been involved in the lynching, but it certainly could not be proven that anyone of them actually delivered a death blow or caused him severe injuries. 

8)     The police were not called in to testify. Not a single police officer was questioned. The circumstances of the arrest of Djamel Bensmail to this day are not clear. The reasons for the police to abandon him in the van and then let the crowd pull him out and kill him could not be explained either. The chief of police was not called to testify either. There were other arrests across Algeria in other areas affected by fires, but the reason for their arrests became known to the public and to the justice system. In the case of Djamel Bensmail, it remains a mystery. 

9)     The presence of such a large crowd before the arrival of the police van to the headquarters at Larbaa is very suspicious. This was not investigated by the police and not addressed by the court.

10)  The Province Forest conservationist and fire fighters were not called to report on the cause of the fires and to determine if a crime was committed. The focus was rather on the murder of Djamel Bensmail and not on the more than 90 victims of the fires.

11)  Given the context of the fires, not one victim of the fires was brought in to testify about the events.

12)  The accusation of assault against police officers was fabricated just to add insult to injury to many of the suspects. No evidence was presented to that effect, especially given that the police had left the scene after “delivering” Djamel Bensmail to the furious mob.

13)  The defense was not given access to certain evidence against the accused and the trials were more about handing out sentences than searching for truth and establishing the responsibilities of those involved.

14)  The lawyers of the accused took the case to the Algerian supreme court and recently (at the end of November 2024), the supreme court accepted to take on the case. This is probably good news for the accused and their families as this provides an opportunity to shed light on all the irregularities of the trial and the investigations and the clear violation of the rights of the defendants.

Kabylia engulfed in criminal fires–Summer 2021

[1] There are some reports stating that there were as many as 70 fires in the space of a few days in the two provinces of Tizi-Ouzou and Bgayet.

[2] Figures by Youcef Ould Mohand, Tizi-Ouzou Forest Conservationist cited in the El Watan newspaper: https://elwatan-dz.com/selon-le-conservateur-des-forets-a-tizi-ouzou-la-carte-de-sensibilite-aux-incendies-a-ete-actualisees