Algeria: the horror of the massacres
Algeria has not yet turned its back on violence. Every day the litany of
the massacres continues. A real genocide. Women, children and old people
are killed with hatchets and with sabres. Horror is very much present!
Having lived for two years in Algeria, I am living through this never-ending drama in a special way. I am part of the general indignation. These unprecedented killings have given rise to unanimous protest. The international community is forced to break its silence. If this community does not intervene, it can be accused of "non assistance to people in danger."
The Algerian people no longer know who they should fear: these faceless men who come out from the underground, a hatchet in hand, or the military who are supposed to protect them and who we know are not very diligent in attempting to stop the massacres. The strategy of terror is common to both the islamic groups and to the authorities. Between the two, every day, the Algerian people have to mourn. It looks as if the authorities need violence in order to control society. One might ask how it is that the authorities do not give the Algerian people the security that is deemed necessary for the gas and for the oil!
The international community puts pressure on Algerian power, demands na enquiry about the massacres and sends a mission to that effect.
It is known that the Algerian authorities have pushed aside the islamists from participating in political life. Democracy is only a façade. The Government looks for a solution only by means of repression; this has meant an impasse.
Should not the solution be a political one, in a true participation in
political life of the country? While waiting for decisions, the Algerian
people who aspire to peace, continue to suffer.
Jacques Gaillot