AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

EU OFFICE PRESS RELEASE

AI Index: MDE 28/011/2005 (Public)

News Service No: 235

31 August 2005

EU-ALGERIA ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT:

EU SHOULD SPEAK OUT AGAINST WHITEWASH FOR SERIOUS ABUSES

EMBARGO: 07.00 GMT WEDNESDAY 31 AUGUST 2005 (09.00 BRUSSELS TIME)

(Brussels 31 August 2005) With the EU-Algeria Association Agreement due to enter into force tomorrow, Amnesty International today called on the European Union to send a strong message to Algeria not to enact legislation that will exonerate those responsible for serious human rights abuses.

On 15 August President Abdelaziz Bouteflika issued a decree on a “Draft Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation”, which outlines a framework for future measures ostensibly aimed at bringing closure to a decade of violent conflict. The Charter will be put to a popular vote on 29 September.

Amnesty International is concerned that the Charter paves the way for laws exonerating both security forces and armed groups from accountability for crimes committed in the country's brutal internal conflict. This would be a permanent and final denial of justice for the victims and their families, including the thousands who have been arrested since 1993 and have since "disappeared".

"The European Union needs to show there is real substance in the Association Agreement's provisions. They commit both sides to a relationship based on respect for human rights, the rule of law and democratic principles," Dick Oosting, Director of Amnesty International's EU office said.

"By enacting its planned general amnesty, Algeria would not only violate its own international human rights commitments, but it would also pose an immediate challenge to the credibility of the human rights commitment the EU assumes in its Association Agreements," Dick Oosting said.

President Bouteflika has stated publicly that 200, 000 people have been killed during the conflict. Tens of thousands were civilian men, women and children killed in violent attacks. Thousands have been tortured in detention. Thousands more have "disappeared" after arrest by Algerian security forces or have been abducted by armed groups and summarily executed. Some of these abuses, Amnesty International says, amount to crimes against humanity.

But the vast majority have never been investigated and the perpetrators have not been identified.

It is so far unclear whether the Charter will lead to the passing of a general amnesty law or a series of other measures. It proposes measures of exemption from prosecution or clemency for current and former armed group members, and maintains that security forces and state-armed militias acted in the interest of the country, thereby refuting that they may have been responsible for serious crimes. It specifically denies that the security forces have been responsible for committing thousands of “disappearances”.

After years of bloody conflict in Algeria the EU should do all it can to ensure that justice and accountability become part of a transition to peace. To honour the commitment to human rights in the Association Agreement, it should take a clear stance against any laws that grant impunity to those responsible for grave human rights abuses, which contravene international law. Amnesty International fears that such laws would leave the legacy of the past unresolved and risk permanently undermining the rule of law and full human rights protection.

Amnesty International urges the EU to call on Algeria:

Not to enact legislation which will prevent the emergence of the truth about serious crimes committed during the internal conflict, a final judicial determination of guilt or innocence and full reparation for victims and their families;

To facilitate without further delay the long-requested visits by the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture;

To ensure full participation of human rights groups and organisations of victims in addressing the legacy of the conflict.

See also Amnesty International Public Statement "Algeria: President calls referendum to obliterate crimes of the past".

For further comment/background and interviews:

Amnesty International EU Office (Brussels):

Tel: 32-2-5021499

Fax: 32-2-5025686

Email: AmnestyIntl@aieu.be

Web-site: http://www.amnesty-eu.org