Amnesty International has already proven itself in the past in the Algerian context, when it challenged Algerian generals during their war against the Islamists in the 1990s, a war described as “The Dirty War” by a former military officer, who deserted the Algerian army. His name is Habib Souadia.

Terrorism is a lethal weapon that the Algerian regime handles best and it was able to demonstrate it during this same dark decade whose attacks are documented. We can mention for example “The Dirty War” by Habib Souadia and “Who Killed in Bentalha ?” by Nassroulah Youss.

It is this scenario that the Algerian regime dreams of renewing by trying to push MAK activists into the maquis.

But the MAK activists are at home and they campaign peacefully with their faces uncovered.

This of course thwarts the plans of the Algerian political police and the generals. They then have started inventing scenarios. But scenarios which are very poorly written, and which have been ridiculed by all Algerians. We remember this “dahdouh” (a new term to designate extra recruits) to confess in front of the TV, on April 26, 2021, saying, in his testimony, that “people from the MAK” got in touch with him so that he supplies them with weapons. A few days later, on May 2, 2021, the Director of the Algerian national TV, Ahmed Bensebane, was dismissed because the scenario was deemed so unprofessional by the generals.

This plot was mounted to declare the MAK a terrorist organization, preparing the ground to allow Algerian paramilitary militia, such as the BRI, all possible extrajudicial overruns, under the pretext that the Algerian state would fighting terrorists. They indeed took action as Algerian state militia immediately raped the homes of activists and their parents around the clock, using heavy weapons, violently waking up even children in the midst of the night, traumatizing them for life. The images we have seen have nothing to envy to those of the French army during the Algerian War. Dozens of MAK activists were then arrested.

Then there were forest fires intended to burn entire villages, hoping to chase the Kabyle population from Kabylia. The fires claimed more than 250 people lives, without mentioning the 3rd degree burnt survivors, who are still dying every day.The passivity of the Algerian state and its refusal of international aid was simply shocking!

We were able to witness the assassination of the Algerian activist Djamel Bensmaïn, whose assassination was negotiated live, in front of hundreds of cellphone cameras, between the official police and the militia of the political police, while exciting the crowd to prepare the lynching, by spreading rumors and false information presenting the unfortunate activist Djamal Bensmaïn, as an arsonist responsible for the fires in Kabylia. Information technology has made it possible to unveil the responsibility of the Algerian state. The videos ate crystal clear. But the regime thought it would be easy to blame the MAK for it and use it to arrest activists. The MAK movement is requesting an international investigation into all these crimes as the Algerian regime cannot be judge and defendant at the same time.

Then they realized that the videos show clearly that setting such fires require aerial technology, which the MAK does not have. The solution adopted by the Algerian regime was then to involve Morocco and Israel.

After the terrorist manipulation, came the instrumentalization of justice to incriminate the MAK, when the Algerian judicial machine, which already had such a bad reputation, that it was called “telephone justice”.

The presidential ordinance of 06/10/2021 amends the penal code to consider as terrorism any attack on national unity and territorial integrity by peaceful means. This was done through the reformulation of article 87 bis, in the following terms:“Any act aimed at (…) national unity (…) by any action aimed at (…) undermining the integrity of the national territory or inciting to do so is considered as a terrorist act (…), by any means ”!

And here again, on the basis of false accusations and staging of extra witnesses, arrests by the hundreds automatically targeting MAK activists and other Kabyle activists who do not obey authorities orders to keep silent. The full list is displayed here.

We know that the Algerian regime might be tempted to orchestrate even worse scenes. This is why they must know that Kabyles and Kabylia are not limited to the geographical area over whichy they think to have total control. The Kabyles and Kabylia are also, the Kabyle diaspora, and we will not remain silent.

We warn human rights organizations like Amnesty International, Human Rights watch against any form of passivity that will only encourage the Algerian regime.We also warn democratic states concerned about human rights against the diabolical temptation of the Algerian regime to appease its greed and its ideology.

With Karim Achab