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More than 100,000 Algerians were killed and 7000 were disappeared in the 1990s during armed conflict between the Algerian security forces and armed Islamic militants. To date, neither Algerian authorities nor Islamic groups have acknowledged responsibility in cases of enforced disappearances, and a cloak of denial shrouds massacres and executions. Some state-appointed institutions have been charged with addressing the issue of the disappeared, including the National Observatory for Human Rights (ONDH) and the National Consultative Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (CNCPPDH), but neither has made significant headway. The Interior Ministry and the judicial system have offered families little, if any, recourse.
In September 2003, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika established a commission with an 18-month mandate to determine the fate of the disappeared, draft proposals for compensating victims’ families, and provide families with social assistance. However, the group is intended to be merely an interface between the state and the victims’ families, and several groups have questioned what they see as weak investigative powers.
Algerian lawyers, NGOs, and family groups approached the ICTJ for assistance on justice-related issues in late 2003 and early 2004. Middle East and North Africa Program Director Hanny Megally, Eduardo Gonzalez, and Federico Borello attended meetings with Algerian activists and conducted capacity-building seminars. The Center participated in the formation of an advisory group around the Committee of Families of the Disappeared in Algeria, based in Algeria and France, and has established links with other organizations, including those working under the aegis of the Algerian League for Human Rights.
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