Global Voices » Algeria

Algeria: Low Turnout in Legislative Elections

Ahmed Medien — Sat, 12 May 2012 15:25:57 +0000

On May 10, Algeria's first legislative elections since the start of the Arab uprisings were held. The National Liberation Front (FLN) and sister party the National Democratic Rally won a majority of seats, defeating an Islamist alliance.

The ruling FLN has dominated Algeria's political life since independence. These elections were seen as a test of the its legitimacy, and the official turnout figure of 42.9%, an improvement on the 35% turnout for the 2007 elections, was claimed by some as an endorsement for recent political reforms. However, despite the fact there have not been the kind of anti-regime protests in Algeria as elsewhere in the Arab world, there is widespread dissatisfaction with the government. Many people expressed their political dissent through boycotting the elections.

#10MaiToz: No dessert for those who don't vote. Image posted by @beautifultango7.

On election day Algerians tweeted under the hashtag #10MaiToz, “toz” meaning nonsense.

Yasmine Bouchène wrote:

@Yaspuppchen: Si dans d’autres pays, voter est un acte citoyen. En Algérie, ne pas le faire l’est apparemment d’avantage ! #10maiToz

@Yaspuppchen: If in other countries voting is an act of citizenship, in Algeria not voting is apparently even better!

Vote here. Image posted by @copi35.

There were widespread accusations of fraud and a “manipulation of the results”.

Yanis Chalouche joked:

@Mister16Five: Les actes de citoyenneté sont tellement ancrés dans notre culture et notre éducation, que même les morts ressuscitent pour voter. #10MaiToz

@Mister16Five: Acts of citizenship are so embedded in our culture and education that even the dead rise to vote.

Blogger Baki 7our tweeted:

@7our: Proverbe algérien: “c'est quand le bureau de vote est vide que l'urne se remplit”. #10MaiToz #Fraude

@7our: Algerian proverb: “When the polling station is empty the ballot box fills up.”

Bab El Oued polling station. Image posted by @LivefromAlgeria.

Journalist Borzou Daragahi noted the lack of voters:

@Borzou: Algeria: At election center in Larbatache outside Algiers city, very, very few voters; mostly elderly. Where are youth?

A citizen-driven election monitoring website was set up to report fraud. More than 150 infractions were recorded across Algeria.

In the above video [ar], a 23-year-old man called Tarek explains that the Algerian people have had enough of politicians who have failed since 1999 (when Abdelaziz Bouteflika became president) to make life better for Algerians. One of the strongest moments of the clip is when Tarek says that he'd rather be “eaten by fish than eaten by worms (poverty)”.

Algeria: Tributes Paid to Late President Ahmed Ben Bella

Salah Almhamdi — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 10:42:35 +0000

Following the death of Ahmed Ben Bella, Arab netizens have remembered the man who was Algeria's first president.

Ben Bella died on April 11, 2012, after an illness. He was one of the symbols of the Algerian War of Independence and became president of Algeria in 1963. As hundreds flocked to Algiers to pay tribute to their former president, netizens remembered Ben Bella's rule.

Ahmed Ben Bella. Photo from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Mahmoud Siyoucef said:

@mahmoudsiyoucef: ALGER VENDREDI 13 AVRIL…IL PLEUT SUR LA VILLE COMME IL PLEUT SUR MON COEUR…

Algiers, Friday April 13…It's raining in the city as it rains in my heart

The following video from Doualia.com shows the official funeral of Ahmed Ben Bella:

FreeTunis quoted Tunisia's president Moncef Marzouki who attended the funeral:

@FreeTunis: #Marzouki: L'#Algérie n'est pas la seule à avoir perdu #BenBella. Le Grand #Maghreb l'a perdu aussi, tout comme la nation arabe.

#Marzouki: Algeria is not alone in losing #BenBella. The Greater #Maghreb has also lost him, as well as the entire Arab nation.

Lebanese journalist Hisham Melhem gave credit to Ben Bella for helping to achieve Algeria's independence but criticized his legacy:

@hisham_melhem: True, Ben Bella, Nasser & other Arab ‘revolutionaries’ gained independence, but they planted the seeds of cruel autocracy.

Blogger Issandr El Amrani wrote:

One after another, the liberation-era figures of Algerian politics are dying — the question is whether their successors will ensure that the same claustrophobic political system will survive.

Palestinian blogger Hisham Shafiq Skalla paid tribute to Ben Bella [ar]:

وبن بلة الثائر غير بن بلة السلطوي وكلاهما غير بن بلة المعارض، ومهما قيل ويقال عن بن بلة ومرحلة حكمه يبقى الرجل رمز من رموز الرجال الذين ساهموا في تحرير الجزائر من ربقة الاستعمار الفرنسي

Ben Bella the revolutionary is not Ben Bella the autocrat and they are both different to Ben Bella the opposition figure. And what ever was said and will be said about Ben Bella and his rule, the man remains a symbol among those who participated in liberating Algeria from the grip of French colonialism.

However, not everyone wanted to think about Ben Bella. Journalist Leila Beratto quoted a young man speaking on Algerian national television:

@LeilaBeratto: Obsèques de #benbella (devant la tv): commentaire d'un algérien de 26 ans : “Même mort il continue de nous emmerder” #algeriensEtPolitique

Funeral of #benbella (in front of TV): A comment from a 26-year-old Algerian: “Even dead, he continues to annoy us” #algeriensEtPolitique

In the following video [ar, fr] from Doualia.com Algerians offer their final observations about Ahmed Ben Bella:

Mali: A War, a Declaration of Independence and Conflicting Objectives

Jenny Sin — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 15:11:33 +0000

Things have been moving rapidly in the civil war that is tearing Mali apart. On Friday, April 6, 2012, Tuareg rebels of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) proclaimed [fr] the “Independence of Azawad” [fr]. In this crisis that threatens to sweep across the entire Sahel region, several actors with conflicting objectives are playing a dominant role.

In a post published on camer.be, Valère MBEG presents the issues [fr] behind this war:

Le Mali est un vaste pays de 1.241.238 km² et une population galopante de 15.000.000 d’habitants selon le recensement de 2009, la région de l’AZAWAD couvre les 2/3 de la superficie pour une population ne représentant que 10 % des habitants avec d’énormes richesses naturelles qui sont actuellement peu exploitées en raison de l’absence de financement en infrastructures de transports qui renchérissent le coût des exploitations. Le Mali est également le troisième producteur africain d’or après l’Afrique du Sud et le Ghana, de quoi aiguiser les appétits des multinationales qui verraient bien dans l’AZAWAD un nouveau Sud Soudan avec peu de populations pour beaucoup de richesses naturelles ….

Mali is a vast country of 1,241,238 km² with a growing population of 15,000,000, according to the 2009 census. The AZAWAD region covers two-thirds of the area and has a population representing only 10% of people and also enormous natural resources which are currently underexploited due to a lack of funding for transport infrastructure which increase the cost of operations. Mali is also the third largest African producer of gold after South Africa and Ghana—something to whet the appetites of many multinationals that could easily see AZAWAD as a new South Sudan with a small population and vast natural resources….

Territory claimed by the MNLA by @twitafrika on twitpic

Sabine Cessou wrote [fr] about the military situation on Slate afrique:

La donne est complexe dans le désert: les rebelles touaregs du MLNA disent ne pas poursuivre les mêmes objectifs qu’Aqmi. Ils ne se battent pas pour une République islamique de l’Azawad, mais pour la création d’un État laïc.

The issue is complex in the desert: Tuareg rebels of MLNA say they do not pursue the same objectives as AQIM. They are not fighting for an Islamic Republic of Azawad, but for the creation of a secular state.

In a posting on malijet.com, Nouhoum DICKO reviews the situation and introduces the actors [fr] on the ground:

Le mouvement islamiste Ansar dine, (l'Armée de la religion), est l'un des autres groupes armés de la région dirigé par Iyad Ag Ghaly, principal artisan de la prise de Kidal, dont il est originaire. Celui qui fut le principal chef de la rébellion touareg des années 1990, aurait subi l'influence des islamistes pakistanais. Ansar dine serait composé de jeunes radicalisés au contact d'Al-Qaïda au Maghreb islamique (Aqmi).

Un nouveau groupe islamiste a fait irruption en décembre 2011, le Mouvement pour l'unicité et le jihad en Afrique de l'Ouest (Mujao). Se présentant comme une dissidence d'Aqmi, il serait dirigé par des activistes maliens et mauritaniens. Il avait revendiqué l'enlèvement des trois humanitaires européens dans un camp de réfugiés sahraouis. Ce groupe revendique sa participation à la prise de Gao, le samedi dernier.

The Islamist movement Ansar Dine, (The Religion Army), is one of the region's other armed groups, led by Iyad Ag Ghaly, main architect of the capture of Kidal, his home district. This man, the principal leader of the Tuareg rebellion of the 1990s, would have been influenced by Pakistani Islamists. Ansar dine would be made up of of radicalized young people who have come into contact with Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

A new Islamist group, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Afrida (Mujao), sprang up in December 2011. Describing itself as a breakaway faction of AQIM, it would be run by Malian and Mauritanian activists. It had claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of three European humanitarian workers in a Sahrawi refugee camp. The group also claims to have participated in the capture of Gao last Saturday.

The blue men of the desert by Aysha Bibiana Balboa on Flickr ( License CC-NC-BY)

The leaders of Ansar Dine wasted no time in displaying their true colours. Indeed, maliactu.net reports [fr] that:

Le leader d’Ansar Dine, Iyad Ag Ghaly, ex-figure des rébellions touareg des années 1990, a rencontré lundi soir les imams de Tombouctou, une ville d’environ 30.000 habitants où il compte instaurer la loi islamique, selon un fonctionnaire de l’agglomération. A la faveur de l’avancée foudroyante des rebelles touareg dans le nord du Mali, le groupe Ansar Dine et des éléments d’Al-Qaïda au Maghreb (Aqmi) ont pris lundi le contrôle de Tombouctou, aux portes du Sahara, à environ 800 km au nord-est de la capitale Bamako. Tombouctou, grand centre intellectuel de l’islam et ancienne cité marchande prospère des caravanes, surnommée “la perle du désert”, est inscrite sur la liste du patrimoine mondial de l’Unesco.

On Monday night, the leader of Ansar Dine, Iyad Ag Ghaly, former figure of the Tuareg rebellion of the 1990s, met the imams of Timbuktu, a city of about 30,000 inhabitants, where he plans to introduce Islamic law, according to an official of the city. On Monday, through the lightning advance of the Tuareg rebels in northern Mali, the Ansar Dine group and Al-Qaeda elements in the Maghreb (AQIM) took control of Timbuktu, the gateway to the Sahara, about 800 km northeast of the capital Bamako. Timbuktu, a leading intellectual centre of Islam and ancient commercial city which prospers from merchant caravans, dubbed “the pearl of the desert”, is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Ibrahima Lissa FAYE, in a post entitled “Mali: Tuareg Rebels and Ansar Dine Islamists Each Claim Control of Timbuktu,” wrote [fr] on pressafrik.com:

Le chef du mouvement Ansar Dine, Iyad Ag Ghali, semble en effet contrôler la ville après avoir fait reculer les rebelles touaregs du MNLA qui étaient entrés les premiers dans Tombouctou dimanche. Alors contrairement au MNLA qui ne s'intéresse qu'au nord du Mali, dont il réclame l'indépendance, Iyad Ag Ghali, lui, veut imposer la charia, la loi islamique, à tout le pays et à Tombouctou on signale même la présence de dirigeants d'Aqmi.

The leader of the movement Ansar Dine, Iyad Ag Ghali, indeed appears to have control of the city after having caused the the MNLA Tuareg rebels who first entered Timbuktu on Sunday to retreat. So, unlike the MNLA who are interested only in northern Mali, where it calls for independence, Iyad Ag Ghali, himself, wants to impose Islamic Sharia law in the country and in Timbuktu, where there is even a presence of AQIM leaders.

There are major concerns among Malians regarding the respect for human rights. Rape and looting are reported in several towns under rebel control. According to a post on afriquinfos.com, at a special general meeting held in Bamako, Malick Alhousseini, president of the Collective of Residents of Northern Mali (COREN) said [fr] that:

cette rencontre se tient à un “moment douloureux de notre histoire, avec notre pays occupé, notre terroir natal aux mains des envahisseurs et des terroristes”.

Il a rappelé que depuis dimanche dernier, le Mali est un pays coupé en deux, de fait que les assaillants et les terroristes ont tout dévasté dans les localités qu'ils occupent : banques cassées, administration pillée, centres de santé vandalisés, entre autres.

this meeting was held at a “painful moment in our history, with our country occupied, our native lands in the hands of the invaders and terrorists”.

He recalled that since last Sunday, Mali has been a country divided in two, because the assailants and terrorists have destroyed everything in the communities they occupy: banks broken, administrative buildings looted, health facilities vandalized, among others.

The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), indicating that its objectives were achieved, put an end to hostilities for a few days before proclaiming its independence.

But there is proof of the differing objectives of the groups who participated in the fighting: according to atlasinfo.fr (the Algerian consulate in Gao, one of the conquered cities), while the MNLA made these statements, another movement and six of its officials were abducted and taken [fr] to an unknown location:

L’attaque s’est produite en fin de matinée. Un groupe armé a attaqué le consulat. Il a remplacé le drapeau algérien par un drapeau noir avec des écritures arabes, emblématique des mouvements salafistes.

The attack occurred in the late morning. An armed group attacked the consulate. It replaced the Algerian flag with a black flag with Arabic writing, emblematic of the Salafi movement.

Condemning the abduction and all acts of vandalism and attacks against civilians in the liberated towns, the MNLA, in a press release signed by [fr] Bakaye Ag Hamed Ahmed, Communications, Information and Media Relay Officer, made the following statement:

Le Mouvement National de Libération de l’Azawad se désolidarise de toutes les organisations mafieuses s’étant introduite ces jours-ci dans l’Azawad, contribuant à instaurer un climat de chaos et de désordre, après la libération du territoire.

The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad dissociates itself from all mafia organizations that are being introduced in Azawad these days, contributing to a climate of chaos and disorder, after the liberation of the territory.

This imbroglio is complicated by the fact that severe sanctions have been imposed upon Mali by the Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union and the United Nations, following the military coup that overthrew President Amadou Toumani Touré and helped precipitate events.

Beyond Mali, there are all the neighbouring states where Tuareg populations threatened with collapse are found. The demographic structures are identical: a Sahelian area in the north where the Tuaregs and other black minority populations dwell, many of whom are nomadic, and a more hospitable area inhabited by sedentary populations. In all countries, this second area is the one that absorbs the most investment and is inhabited mainly by blacks, causing resentment on the part of the first area's inhabitants, who believe that the distribution of resources is inequitable.

This complex situation is a threatening one for the civilian population, and is further complicated by Boko Haram's [fr] potential to do harm, the flow of arms from the Libyan arsenal [fr], the chronic shortage of water and the risk of famine.

Mali: An Introduction to the Tuareg Population

Abdoulaye Bah — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:06:12 +0000

The blog of the Tuareg movement Temoust Survie publishes a post (via information from l'Express [fr]) that provides [fr] a brief introduction to the Tuareg culture : “we are a nomadic people living from farming and trade. The Tuaregs are estimated to be about 1.5 million in a region that spans across Mali, Niger, Algeria, but also Libya, Burkina Faso and Mauritania. The common language Tamashek is related to the Berber language. With the Ethiopian population, the Tuaregs are one of the few African people with their own calligraphy. The distinguishing features of the Tuareg clothing are the indigo veil they wear hence their nickname “the men in blue”.

Algeria: 2012 Election Watchdog launched by Internet Activists

Jane Ellis — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 15:27:49 +0000

With the upcoming Algerian Legislative Election scheduled for May 10, 2012, one of the many elections taking place in 2012 [fr] within the continent of Africa, a collaborative website called Nahrag [ar] has just been launched by internet activists. Putting the case for more transparency in an election threatened with widespread boycott, the creators are using a collaborative map tool called Ushahidi (Swahili for ‘witness'). This map will be updated to include descriptions by Algerian citizens, exposing any irregularities which might occur during the election. There are 42,000 polling stations in the country.

Arab World: Arabisk Best Blog Competition Begins

Mohamed Adel — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:41:48 +0000

Algerian blogger Maamar Ameur, an organiser of the annual Arabisk competition to select the best Arabic blogs, announced the launch of the competition. This is the third year the event is held. To submit your blog, click here. You can also follow the competition on Twitter and read a full announcement here [Ar].

Africa: Algiers and Dakar Competing for Cultural Leadership in Francophone

Dieyna Ba — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 11:36:45 +0000

The blog edouardtamba.com has published a note by Maurice Simo Djom, from the University of Yaounde stating [fr] that: ”Through two competing festivals, the Fesman and the Panaf, the two countries (Senegal and Algeria) battle for the cultural leadership in Francophone Africa. In fact, this cultural battle underscores a harsh ideological struggle between two different approaches to escaping colonial cultural influence and taking control of a nation' s own identity”.

From Sidi Bouzid to Kinshasa: Francophone Africa in 2011

Lova Rakotomalala — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:53:05 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage:

Algeria Protests 2011

Cameroon Elections 2011

Côte d'Ivoire Unrest 2011

Gabon Unrest 2011

Morocco Protests 2011

Tunisia Revolution 2011

Marwane Ben Yamed of Jeune Afrique sums up succinctly but accurately the year that was for Francophone Africa when he writes [fr]:

Quelle année !

What a year!

Indeed, it would be an understatement to say that 2011 was an eventful year for the African continent. The usual year-end review would hardly do justice to the epic changes that have turned the continent upside down, driven by the collective courage of its citizens, who often faced violent repression while striving for emancipation from various dictatorships.

Through the eyes of local citizen media, here are some of the highlights of what transpired in the year 2011, a year that has left many citizen media contributors breathless, hopeful and disillusioned all at once.

Tunisia

It all started in Sidi Bouzid where protesters decided against all odds and 40 years of the authoritarian police regime of Ben Ali that they “are not afraid anymore“.

Sidi Bouzid banner illustration from Nawaat.org

The prescient words of Mohamed Ali Chebâane took a whole new meaning when he wrote on December 29, 2010 [fr]:

Vos jeunes se sont soulevés et il sera difficile de les faire taire : Ils s’immolent, s’électrocutent, et je ne pense sérieusement pas que des coups de matraques ou des longues nuits dans les commissariats vont leur faire peur.

Your youth has risen up and it will be difficult to shut them up now: they set themselves on fire, electrocute themselves so I don't think that getting beaten up with sticks or long nights at the police station will scare them either.

The uprising across Tunisia resulted in the fall of the Ben Ali regime, the initiation of the process towards a new constitution and the election of a new interim president.

The spirit of Sidi Bouzid was carried over in many other nations in Northern Africa and the whole continent in general.

Gabon

A few weeks after the fall of Ben Ali, the West African nation of Gabon also erupted in protests against the rule of President Ali Bongo Ondimba, son of long-time strongman Omar Bongo. Citing allegations of election fraud, opposition leaders formed a breakaway government on January 26, 2011, with former presidential candidate André Mba Obame as the self-declared president.

After weeks of protests that were repressed violently by the government, the uprising did not result in political change but the Tunisian revolution clearly inspired Gabonese citizens. This sign below held by protesters summarize in a few witty words the inspiration that Tunisia provided to other countries:

Meyo-Kye, North Gabon, 2 February, 2011. Banner reads: "In Tunisia, Ben Ali left. In Gabon, Ali Ben out." Image provided via Julie Owono

Algeria

Algerian citizens also followed up on holding the authorities accountable for the high levels of corruption, unemployment and the rise in basic goods prices. Inequalities are growing wider even though the country is the fourth largest exporter of crude oil in Africa and an important producer of natural gas.

Protests were initiated shortly after the ones in Tunisia and climaxed on February 12, 2011 (#Feb12). Additional demonstrations followed for a week in several cities and all were violently repressed by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika regime. Eventually, the protests fizzled, sapped by the violent repressive measures and national media blockade.

As the status quo remained, a few Algerian bloggers were left disillusioned about the idea of an “Arab revolution”. Khaled Satour wrote in February of 2011:

We have to free ourselves from this harmful siren call of the “Arab revolution” that deludes us into thinking the slate has been wiped clean and all alliances are possible. Sadly, we already know some of the apostles of “democracy” who are protesting once again

Morocco

Another democracy-driven movement grew from streets protests in Morocco. The demands of the February 20 movement centered around reforms that would promote a better democracy and reduce corruption. The youth-based movement has not resulted in fundemental structural change in the Moroccan Kingdom but some reforms were granted by the King.

In the following video, members of the movement provide the details of who they are and why they are protesting [ar]:

Cote d'Ivoire

Following a contentious presidential election in 2010 opposing incumbent Gbagbo against Ouattara, Côte d'Ivoire was rocked in 2011 by its second civil war in less than a decade that resulted in the arrest of then President Gbagbo at his residence on April 11.

Protests at the French embassy in Berlin, against French military intervention in Cote d'Ivoire. Image by Thorsten Strasas, copyright Demotix (09/04/2011).

Social networks such as Twitter and Facebook played an important role in sharing information in real-time from the ground during the crisis, but citizen media was also often used as vectors for hate. To counter this ill-use of information technology, Ivorian social media contributors undertook multiple citizen media-driven actions to promote peace and humanitarian efforts during the crisis and in the post-crisis recovery period.

Edith Brou, a community manager in Abidjan, explains how curated social media can make a difference [fr]:

@edithbrou: Let's tweet usefully and tweet efficiently, to save lives, vi@ [via] the Ivorian Web. #civsocial… one tweet can make the difference -

A concrete example of such action was described by blogger Cartunelo who tweeted [fr] in April of 2011:

@cartunelo: #civsocial, We need a doctor at the Star 6 area, the sister of a friend has just been shot!! If you know one, we urgently need his/her contact details!!!#civ2010

@cartunelo: Thanks to your help, the bleeding has stopped. Now we need xylocaine. Contact 10003480/03784354

Cameroon

Despite a diverse showing of candidates for the presidential elections in Cameroon that took place on October 9, the status quo remained as incumbent Paul Biya remained in power. The campaign prior to the elections lacked intensity has many Cameroonians seemed resigned to the foregone re-elections of Paul Biya, in power since 1982.

Bloggers seemed to mostly blame the lack of alternative in Cameroonian politics on the inability of the opposition to present a credible united alternative to Biya:

18 individuals gather in total 5.01% ! What a joke! Give us back our dozen millions that you received for the so-called campaign! We don't know you! The whole opposition together doesn't even reach 25% of the ballots, what a shame!

Democratic Republic of Congo

The outcome of the presidential election in DR of Congo that took place on November 28, 2011, is still disputed by the opposition candidate Étienne Tshisekedi. The official results announced that the incumbent Joseph Kabila won the elections but the electoral process was marred with fraud allegations.

The official results prompted riots and violence in Kinshasa and other cities in DR of Congo. Outrage even spread in the Congolese diaspora abroad where unrest rocked several cities of Europe and North America. The Wikipedia page of the DR of Congo as of January 2, 2012, even lists Tshisekedi as the current president.

Congolese bloggers documented many irregularities during the pre-electoral campaign. Alex Egwete details one of the issues that was encoutered during the pre-elections period:

The electoral commission is in the midst of yet another controversy, this time over the discovery of phantom polling stations in the “cartography” of polling stations CENI recently published. Some opposition groups and journalists have given CENI Chair Rev Daniel Ngoy Mulunda 72 hours (commencing yesterday) to come up with a coherent explanation for those phantom polling stations.

Senegal

Senegal has also experienced its share of protests in 2011. The demands were spurred on by perceived nepotism by President Wade in favor of his son Karim and by frequent power outages throughout the year. Presidential elections are set for February 26, 2012, and many observers fear that additional unrest may follow.

Recent protests in December have focused on the legal case of Barthelemy Dias [fr], a member of the opposition who was arrested for an alleged homicide:

Une situation née des violentes manifestations produites à Dakar par des jeunes de l’opposition pour réclamer la libération de Barthélémy Dias.
Les forces de police comme celle de la gendarmerie sont aux aguets pour parer à toute éventualité.

Violent protests begun in Dakar when youth from the opposition demanded freedom for Barthélémy Dias. Police forces are preparing against any additional unrest.

This post is part of our special coverage:

Algeria Protests 2011

Cameroon Elections 2011

Côte d'Ivoire Unrest 2011

Gabon Unrest 2011

Morocco Protests 2011

Tunisia Revolution 2011

Mauritania: Earth's Bulls Eye

Amira Al Hussaini — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 10:53:14 +0000

Algerian-American Kal, or The Moor Next Door, shares this interesting geographical tidbit about Mauritania: “f readers ever get into space, they may find themselves looking for Mauritania, or its enormous Richat Structure, sometimes called ‘Earth’s Bulls-Eye.’”

Algeria: What Independence means

Amira Al Hussaini — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 10:35:53 +0000

Algerian algerianna, at Patriots on Fire, asks readers to share their views on the true meaning of their country's independence.

World: “Faithbook”, a Project Against Religious Intolerance

Ahmed Medien — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 20:42:45 +0000

Two young “faith-trotters” Anne-Laure and Frederic launched ”faithbook” [fr], a project that will take them across the world to meet similar pro-peace initiatives. They look to start a dialogue between people of faith who believe in peaceful coexistence through initiatives in various domains such as sports, education, culture and environment. They will shortly travel to Algeria after a trip in Tunisia.

Algeria: A News Site's Founder on the State of Citizen Media

Thalia Rahme — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 19:01:41 +0000

Note: all links are in French, unless otherwise stated.

Launched in November 2008, Algérie-Focus is an online interactive site. Following the basic premises of Web 2.0, Algérie-Focus features a wide range of multimedia offerings, allowing its readers to interact in real time with each other as well as with the guests of the site. Algérie-Focus provides members of the local Algerian community as well as those of the Algerian diaspora and the Maghreb with a platform for exchanging and sharing information, and also for debate.

Thalia Rahme of Global Voices interviews Fayçal Anseur, founder of the site, in order to gain a better understanding of Algérie-Focus's goals and to review the state of citizen media in Algeria.

Fayçal Anseur from'Algerie Focus

Thalia Rahme: How and when did the idea for Algérie-Focus arise? And what makes Algérie-Focus's distinctive and different from other similar media?

Faycal Anseur: Algerie-Focus was launched on November 1st, 2008. We had a tremendous challenge to take up: proving that we were able to create an online Algerian journal with few financial and human resources (150 euros as start-up capital, five journalists and one webmaster). Still, we believed we could succeed against all odds in attracting readers with fresh and original content, produced according to the premises of new technology.

Given that from the start our editorial choice rested upon reporting news in a similar fashion to traditional media outlets such as newspapers and magazines, i.e. with analyses, interviews, etc., we managed to secure the loyalty of a diverse readership, ranging from students to executives.

We offer decompartmentalized news, i.e. less “Algero-Algerian” news and more “globalo-Algerian, if I may put it that way. We try to offer content that is in line with the spirit of online philosophy, a window open to the world, with its interconnections and transformations. Algerian netizens are gradually acclimatizing to this reality, i.e. that Algeria is not an isolated village but rather part of a whole, and therefore that decisions taken by some (in the developed world), impact directly or on indirectly on the future of others (mainly in developing and Third World countries).

Algérie-Focus also presents exclusive news as well as about 40 or so special topics illustrated with interviews, guests, cartoons and surveys. We have offered a platform to well-known personalities who might be considered controversial or even censored or banned elsewhere. We might not necessarly agree with our guests, but our main goal is to inform, to trigger debate and resolve crises. In short, to promote freedom of expression by humbly performing acts of traditional journalisn while encouraging citizen journalism. The reader becomes a player by being offered the opportunity to pose questions to our guests via our interactive forums and to participate in the editorial process and contribute through our op-ed section.

Nevertheless, given the lack of financial support, since the site is boycotted by most advertisers—a predictable consequence of its independent editorial line—our staff today is only composed of two journalists: myself, writing from France and a friend living in Algeria.

TR: What is the current state of the Algerian blogosphere and social/citizen media in Algeria? Were those media influenced by the Arab Spring? Are we witnessing their emergence?

FA: The Algerian blogosphere is expanding; however, its growth remains insufficient and centered on certain mainstream media outlets at the expense of others. According to a new report published by a group comprising Tunisian researcher Yamina Mathlouthi of the Institut de recherche sue le Maghreb contemporain, and others, Algeria is ranked 6th in the Arab world with regard to Facebook use. 2.1 million Algerians are subscribed to the service, which puts Algeria in 52nd place in its network of users, according to a study by Younes Grar, an Algerian ICT expert. It is obvious that the Arab Spring acted as a catalyst and that this wind of liberation created a dynamic in the Algerian population who, like their neighbors, yearn for change, progress and openness.

However, there are many challenges. The numbers of netizens remains relatively low, compared to the overall population (there are more than 36 millions inhabitants in Algeria). Internet penetration in Algerian is low due to the high cost of the service (approx 2300 DA or US$31/month, compared with a minimum monthly wage of 15 000 DA or US$201), and the state holds the monopoly on Internet service provision. The Internet is a new medium in a Algeria that is closed to the world. Algerians need time to adapt and make up for lost time and above all to demand the basic right to free expression that's been denied them until now.

That said, the new generation of 20- to 30-year olds, which forms the majority in Algeria, is catching up and assimilating the tools for optimal use of this media, especially through observing their contemporaries in Egypt and Tunisia.

TR: What do you think distinguishes Algerian social media from others in the Arab World? What are their topics of interest? Are they are focused on local news or do they also address the latest developments on the regional and international scene? What is their language of choice?

FA: Algerian media are newborn, they are still in the apprenticeship phase. Algerian netizens speak a lot, which is normal when one has been deprived for so long of outlets for expression. Topics are varied but revolve mainly around Algeria and its problems. Some are are already speaking out, and with time, everyone will learn to listen to each other so as to get along and then, one day, act.

Arabic language is the primary language in Algeria and Arabic-speaking sites are the most visited ones. French-speaking netizens are mainly present on Facebook, the ”in” place for the time being.

TR: What are the challenges facing citizen and social media? Is there any form of pressure from the government on bloggers or Twitter users? Has anyone been arrested because of online activity? Do politicians also use those platforms to communicate with the public?

FA: The first challenge lies in continuing to express ourselves and most of all in organizing ourselves in a way that will prevent political manipulation. Abderaouf Madani, a member of the national committee to protect unemployed people's rights, was arrested last September in Ouargla, a city in the south of Algeria, while shooting a video of protests in support of the unemployed held in the city's administrative complex. Updates posted via smartphone and the Internet have so far been able to circumvent censorship but the authorities are aware that, one way or another, the information is going to end up online.

With the Arab Spring, the Algerian government has become conscious of the importance of the Internet as a free medium and of the potential risks. The government created legislation in attempt to contain it, restrict it and even control it. Others countries have tried that before (Tunisia, Egypt, Syria) and it didn't work. However, the state retains the monopoly on Internet access to and can resort to filtering of certain opposition sites. One can cite many cases of ”technical censorship”.

Deprived of access to national media, and even sometimes to private media, the opposition is trying to organize itself on the web. Government politicians, as well official opposition are not too fond of this medium, the workings of which they don't really understand. They still use the mainstream media that reach the majority of Algerians.

TR: What is the attitude of traditional media toward those sites? Are there journalists that also use those media? In other countries, for instance, newspapers have their own blogs where their journalists are invited to contribute?

FA: Algerian journalists are not the ones who have driven the dynamic of online media. They have been overtaken by their readers. There are perhaps 20 blogs run by journalists; the majority are merely following the movement. Journalists are present on Facebook, but they rarely interact with their readers. We often slam the Algerian intelligentsia for its resignation, and the Internet is increasingly highlighting their absence.

Further reading (in French):
Quand algerie-focus.com inaugure le journalisme interactif (El Watan)
Algerie-Focus.com sur El Watan. (Interview)

Entretien (censuré) avec Fayçal Anseur, fondateur et rédacteur en chef du journal électronique « Algerie-Focus.Com »

Presse en Algérie : la liberté passe par le Net

Catalonia: From Arab Spring To Islamic Autumn

Claire Ulrich — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 16:20:35 +0000

Pepe Nieto from SODEPAU, a Catalan international aid organization, published a post entitled: “From the Arab Spring to the Islamic Autumn“ [cat]. Nieco forecasts that political Islam will be the great benefactor of the recent events unfolding in the Arab world, after the elections in Tunisia and the statements from the new Libyan leaders. He adds that media should not be surprised by the turn of event given that similar outcomes took place in Algeria, Palestine and Turkey, where repressions never succeeded in stifling Islamic movements.

Gaddafi's Lost Arsenal, a Threat to the Sahel Region

Lova Rakotomalala — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:53:54 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Libya Revolution 2011.

Since the beginning of the conflict in Libya that toppled the Gaddafi's regime, weapon trafficking has been on the rise in the Sahel region. The consequences of this trafficking threatens peace in a region that is already destabilized by poverty and vast uncontrolled areas.

The Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS in French) is an international organization whose mandate is to invest in research for food security and the fight against the effects of drought and desertification in the region. Its country members include Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Chad. All of them are on high alert regarding the potential impact of weapons on the loose reaching their borders.

Africa Boyebi repost a report from the AFP on his blog that describes an uncontrolled weapons site [fr]:

L'arsenal compte quelque 80 bunkers de béton peints couleur sable destinés au stockage de munitions, essentiellement de fabrication russe et française.
Dans un seul de ces bunkers, l'AFP a compté environ 8.000 obus de 100 mm. Dans d'autres, des centaines de bombes de 250, 500 et 900 kg larguées par avion, sont empilées sur plusieurs mètres de haut, mais aussi des roquettes, des bombes à fragmentation, des obus d'artillerie et de mortier de tout calibre, des munitions de canon antiaérien…

The arsenal includes about 80 bunkers painted sand color that were used to stockpile ammunitions, mostly made in Russia or France.
In one of those bunkers, AFP counted as many as 8,000 100 mm long shell bombs. In other bunkers, hundreds of 250, 500 and 900 kg bombs were also piled up to several meters high, as well as rockets, artillery shells and mortars of any caliber, and anti-aircraft gun ammunitions…

Peter Bouckaert, Human Rights Watch's emergencies director and an expert in humanitarian crises provides the details of the weapons [fr] that were found unguarded 100 km south of Syrte in the following video. He states that some of weapons here were retrieved in the Sinaï desert and even Gaza later:

Way before conflict broke out in Libya, there were weapons circulating throughout the Sahel region at the unguarded borders of many countries, but these weapons were much smaller in size and range. However, more sophisticated weaponry has been introduced in the past few months.

However, more sophisticated weaponry has been introduced in the past few months. Samuel Benshimon on Sahel Intelligence explains that AQIM (Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb - a radical Islamist militia) may have claimed some of these heavy weapons [fr]:

According to reliable sources from the capital cities of Chad, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Algeria and Mauritania, heavy weaponry, including anti-aerial missiles abandoned in Libya were seized by mysterious terrorists groups. A military source in Bamako states that many of these weapons were already transported towards AQMI bases in the north of Mali by African mercenaries.

Samuel Benshimon adds that a high level officer has confirmed the accuracy of this information and that he also said [fr]:

The authorities of his country are very worried about AQIM reloading on weapons in such manner and that it presents a very palatable threat fro the entire region. He adds that amongs the weapons are Sam7, anti-aerial missiles made in Russia. Similar concerns were expressed by the president of Chad Driss Deby. The weapons were retrieved by African mercenaries or AQIM elements and were transported overnight to their final destination. The branches of AQIM based in the north of Mali are controlled by Algerian emirs Mokhtar Belmokhtar and Abdelhamid Abou Zaid

What ought to be even more worrisome are the issues that author and blogger Thérèse Zrihen-Dvir has listed in the following post [fr] :

The revolution is now over and Libya is free. However, the former rebels are not ready to let go of their weapons right away. Just in case, you know. The region is still not stabilized, the police is still composed of volunteers for half of them. No national army has been fully set up so the population feel like they ought to protect their communities themselves and hold on to their weapons.

In an article on elkhabar.com blog, Moroccan scholar Mohamed Drif (specialized in Islamic movement), predicts that the region will be controlled by three groups that sprung from the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya [fr]:

The first group will be composed of the Gaddafi's loyalists, the tribes that fought by his side and that went home in the North of Niger. The group is experienced with combat and that owns weaponry that allows to pursue the fight against the new regime in Libya and will target western interests in the region.

The second group will be composed of the many Africans that were linked to the Gaddafi regime. This group will start to destabilize the region not because they want to avenge Gaddafi but because they want to regain the financial loss they incurred when the support from Gaddafi ran dry. Guerilla warfare from this group is likely in order to claim some quick financial spoils.

The third group will be composed of Gaddafi partisans in Libya or in neighboring nations who are striving to destabilize the region for tribal reasons.

Cafe Aboki blog posts an AFP report, which claims that the National Transitional Council of Libya has found yet another stockpile of weaponry [fr], this time, of the chemical type. Chemical weapons are very mobile [fr] and have a great capacity to kill and destroy the surrounding environment.

A study by Olivier Lepick for Recherche Stratégique indicates the multiple angers that chemical weapons [fr] can present:

Some characteristics of chemical weapons are tailor made for terrorist activities, most notably the fact that there are no reliable detectors of chemical and biological weapons, they are not easily traceable and the relative ease with which one can procure such substances. Evidently and unfortunately, these weapons also have a tremendous capability to spread fear and panic among the civilian population.

This post is part of our special coverage Libya Revolution 2011.

France: Calls for Official Recognition of 1961 Paris Algerian Massacre

Patricia Worth — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:13:20 +0000

On October 17, 1961, in the midst of the Algerian war, the security forces from the Paris Prefecture of Police, under orders from Maurice Papon, cruelly suppressed a peaceful demonstration in the city by Algerians organized by the Fédération de France du FLN (National Liberation Front) [fr] to protest against the curfew specifically imposed upon them.

According to the historian Jean-Luc Einaudi [fr], at least 200 people of Algerian origin were killed - either thrown from bridges, shot, or bludgeoned to death. The press statement from the police chief reported the next day two demonstrators dead and several injured.

Fifty years later, these reported figures are the object of a controversial argument between the historians [fr] Einaudi and Brunet, and are still played down [fr] by right-wing politicians and historians, amid a deafening official silence.

17 October, 1961, tribute by illicomache on Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

The later police charge on the Charonne metro station on 8 February, 1962, which left eight dead, received much more attention. Now, people everywhere are speaking out and calling for the French government's admission of the 1961 tragedy.

Calls for government admission

On 12 October, 2011, the website Mediapart launched its online ‘Call for the official admission of the tragedy of 17 October 1961 in Paris‘ [fr], signed by a number of personalities as well as the full contingency of the French political left. The petition is still open:

The time has come for an official acknowledgement of this tragedy, the memory of which is as much French as Algerian. The forgotten victims of 17 October 1961 were working, residing, living their lives in France. We owe them this basic justice, that of remembering.

This 17 October (2011) some of the press were on the same wavelength. Le Monde.fr published online previously unseen photos [fr] from 1961, while OWNI published ”accusing archives from the Prefecture of Police” [fr] under the heading “A French Shame 17 October 1961″, and on OWNI.eu, a graphic of the arrests made on that day.

Public radio service FranceInter devoted its broadcast “The March of History” to “The Police and North Africans in France, 1945-1961″, available on podcast here [fr], and France-Culture called its special report [fr] “The scar of the suppression of 17 October 1961″.

In an opinion piece published by Rue 89, the American historian Robert Zaretsky wrote [fr] as an introduction to his detailed account of the day of 17 October, 1961, and of its aftermath:

On 17th October, Nicolas Sarkozy's Gaullist government will not be aware of the fiftieth anniversary of a murderous event, shrouded in silence and confusion even today, that sheds crucial light on the complex relationship between the past and present, between the French and the Algerians in contemporary France.

In an interview with the historian of French colonialism, Gilles Manceron, the site bastamag.net tried to clarify the reasons [fr] for the French government's silence. According to Manceron, there had been a real desire to cover it up; he explains how the veil has gradually been lifted:

This was done on several occasions. In 1972, in his book La Torture dans la République (Torture in the Republic), Pierre Vidal-Naquet recalls the massacres of October 1961: “In 1961, Paris had been the scene of a real pogrom.” On 17 October 1980, Libération devoted a special report of several pages to it, entitled, “19 Years ago: a racist massacre in the centre of Paris”. In 1981, for the twentieth anniversary, Libération returned to the fray, followed by Le Monde. And for the first time, the events of 17 October 1961 have been discussed on television: Antenne 2 broadcast a report from Marcel Trillat and Georges Mattéi. In 1984, the novel by Didier Daeninckx, Meurtres pour mémoire (Murders for the record), also looked back on these events.

But it was so preposterous that these writings had no effect. It seemed implausible. Then came the 1990s, with the publication of the key work by Jean-Luc Einaudi, La Bataille de Paris – 17 octobre 1961 (The Battle of Paris - 17 October 1961), and the release of the film by Mehdi Lallaoui, Le Silence du fleuve (The Silence of the River). Young people who were children of immigrants picked up on this issue. All these factors and the different players led to the truth finally re-emerging.

Blogger BiBi was made aware of these events when reading Meutres pour mémoire, and commented [fr]:

Through those in power, France makes herself an arrogant sermoniser on history, the most recent lesson coming from Sarkozy. He rants and raves about the Turks and the Armenian genocide but there's no doubt at all that he has forgotten the murders perpetrated on 17 October 1961, the day when French Police, under orders from a certain Police Chief from the Seine by the name of Maurice Papon, threw Algerian opponents into the Seine when they came to protest against the unjust curfew which affected only them.

On the Bondy Blog, Chahira Bakhtaoui provides a commentary on a documentary [fr] by Yasmina Abdi, Ici on noie les Algériens (Here they drown Algerians), and Sarah Ichou interviewed [fr] her grandmother who was 27 years old at the time of the massacre, and her aunt who was eight:

When did you know what had happened? The next day and the following days, because there was no television. We knew then that there had been some deaths, that they had thrown Algerians into the Seine. I remember the sadness of the people surrounding me. Some men who went to demonstrate for their country, their independence and rights were killed and tossed into the water. So, it was dreadful, but we only learned of all this afterwards, that there had been dozens and dozens of deaths. It was the period of French Algeria. But everything I'm telling you is only the memories of a little girl 8 years old. I didn't know much about politics, but I did know that there was a war on, that we had to demonstrate for our country; I would hear it from the adults. I was living in this climate with my parents. I just have this memory of fear from this day, 17 October 1961. The proof that I remember it, is that it made a deep impression on me. In any case, in demonstrations there are always people who come to take revenge, to kill, to do whatever, because normally a demonstration is peaceful. People go to demonstrate for their rights and not to get themselves killed. On the other hand, those who came to kill didn't come to demonstrate. Those people are racists, they came because there was an Algerian demonstration, because there were Arabs, nobodies, so they needed to be dropped into the water, a page from history that's sad but unfortunately it's like that in all wars. That's the problem.

Médiapart has put online a map of the demonstrations [fr] that took place to mark the anniversary in France.

In Algeria, where a commemorative stamp has been issued, Akram Belkaïd on Slate Afrique recalls the Massacre d'État (State Massacre) [fr] and Afrik.com, the Nuit oubliée (Forgotten Night) [fr].

The editorial writer of El Watan meanwhile hopes [fr] to see “After denial, admission”, but it's October 1988 [date of democratic reform riots in Algeria] that another news writer remembers [fr], quoted by Courrier International.

@Celestissima was the source of several links in this post.

This text has been abridged and edited for English speaking audience.