Algeria Country Report
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ALGERIA COUNTRY REPORT April 2004 Country Information & Policy Unit IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY DIRECTORATE HOME OFFICE, UNITED KINGDOM CONTENTS 1. Scope Of The Document 1.1 2. Geography 2.1 3. Economy 3.1 4. History Pre-1990 4.1 1991-1992: Rise of the FIS and 1991-2 Elections 4.4 1993-1998: Continuing Violence 4.7 1999-2000: Civil Concord Law and Dissolution of the AIS 4.11 Events of 2001-2002 4.18 Events of 2003 4.24 Events of 2004 and Presidential Election 4.31 5. State Structures The Constitution 5.1 Political System 5.4 Political Parties 5.6 Elections 5.13 Judiciary Structure 5.16 Country and Human Rights Reports 5.20 Legal Rights/Detention Detention Provisions 5.27 Pre-Trial Detention 5.28 Human Rights Reports 5.30 Double Jeopardy 5.31 In Absentia Convictions 5.32 Death Penalty and Moratorium 5.33 Internal Security Organisation - 5.37 Police Forces 5.40 Local Police 5.42 Local Militias 5.43 Special Intervention Units 5.44 Intelligence Units 5.45 Prisons 5.48 Political Prisoners 5.50 Independent Monitoring of Prisons 5.51 Military Service - Background 5.53 Conscientious Objection 5.57 Registration 5.58 Selection 5.61 The Reserve 5.66 Reserve Recalls 5.68 Postponed Enlistment 5.75 Deferments 5.76 Exemptions and Amnesties - 5.78 Exemption for Men over 30 at 1 November 1989 5.80 Exemptions/Regularisation Measures from 1999 5.83 Employment and Travel 5.92 Documents Relating to Military Service 5.94 5.96 Penalties for Draft Evasion and Desertion Military Service Personnel - 5.97 Absence Without Leave – Conscripts, Reservists and Deserters 5.111 Threat to Military Servicemen From Armed Groups 5.114 Medical Services 5.121 HIV/AIDS 5.122 MtlHlth Algeria April 2004 Mental Health 5.126 NGOs 5.127 Disabled persons 5.128 Educational System 6. Human Rights 6.A. Human Rights Issues Overview 6.1 Security Forces - 6.12 Extrajudicial Arrest and Detention 6.13 Torture and Violence 6.19 Torture Methods 6.24 Government Response 6.25 Preventive Measures 6.28 Members of Security Forces 6.32 Local Militias 6.36 Armed Groups Violence 6.39 Numbers of Insurgents 6.44 Main Groups 6.45 GIA 6.48 GSPC 6.52 Civil Concord Law 6.53 Ongoing amnesty situation 6.57 Repentants 6.62 Missing People 6.64 Freedom of Speech and the Media Freedom of Speech 6.73 Newspapers 6.75 Radio and Television 6.87 Internet 6.88 Freedom of Religion Islam 6.89 Other Religions 6.93 Proselytising and Conversions 6.98 Freedom of Assembly and Association - Assembly and Association 6.101 NGOs 6.103 Human Rights Activists 6.114 Political Activists- FIS 6.118 Employment Rights and Trade Unions 6.123 Employment Rights 6.126 Trade Unions 6.128 Strikes 6.130 Freedom of Movement 6.132 Entry and Exit 6.134 Illegal Departure 6.135 Official Documents - 6.136 Identity Card 6.137 Birth Certificate 6.139 Family Book 6.141 Passports 6.142 Children’s Passports 6.145 6.B. Human Rights – Specific Groups Ethnic Groups - Berbers 6.146 Language and Culture 6.147 Berber Groups 6.150 Treatment of Berbers 6.152 Events of 2001-4inKabylia 6.153 Algeria April 2004 Tuaregs 6.171 Women Legal and Social Situation 6.172 Lone Women 6.184 NGOs 6.186 Education and Employment 6.187 Threat from Armed Groups 6.193 Children Legal and Social Situation 6.197 Child Labour 6.199 Violence Against Children 6.200 Child Soldiers 6.202 Childcare Arrangements 6.203 Homosexuals 6.208 6.C. Human Rights – Other Issues UNHCR Guidelines on Algerian Asylum Seekers 6.215 Treatment of Rejected Asylum Seekers 6.217 Sahrawi Refugees in Algeria 6.224 Chronology of Major Events Annex A Political Organisations Annex B Main Armed Groups Annex C Prominent People Annex D Glossary Annex E References to Source Material Annex F Return to Contents 1. Scope Of Document 1.1 This Country Report has been produced by the Country Information and Policy Unit, Immigration and Nationality Directorate, Home Office, for use by Home Office officials involved in the asylum / human rights determination process. The Report provides general background information about the issues most commonly raised in asylum / human rights claims made in the United Kingdom. It is not a detailed or comprehensive survey. 1.2 The Report is compiled from a wide range of recognised sources and does not contain any Home Office opinion or policy. All information in the Report is attributed, throughout the text, to original source material, which has been made available to those working in the asylum / human rights determination process. The Report aims to provide only a brief summary of the source material quoted. For a more detailed account, the relevant source documents should be examined directly. 1.3 The information contained in this Country Report is, by its nature, limited to information that we have been able to identify from various well-recognised sources. The contents of this Report are not exhaustive and the absence of information under any particular heading does not imply that any analysis or judgement has been exercised to exclude that information, but simply that relevant information on the subject has not been identified from the sources that have been consulted. Equally, the information included in the Reports should not be taken to imply anything beyond what is actually stated. 1.4 The great majority of the source material is readily available in the public domain. Copies of other source documents, such as those provided by government offices, may be provided upon request. Algeria April 2004 1.5 All sources have been checked for currency, and as far as can be ascertained, contain information, which remained relevant at the time, this Report was issued. Some source documents have been included because they contain relevant information not available in more recent documents. 1.6 This Country Report and the accompanying source material are publicly disclosable. Where sources identified in this Report are available in electronic form the relevant link has been included. The date that the relevant link was accessed in preparing the report is also included. Paper copies of the source documents have been distributed to nominated officers within IND. 1.7 It is intended to revise this Report on a six-monthly basis while the country remains within the top 35 asylum producing countries in the United Kingdom. Information contained in Country Reports is inevitably overtaken by events that occur between the 6 monthly publications. Caseworkers are informed of such changes in country conditions by means of Country Information Bulletins. Return to Contents 2. Geography 2.1 The official state name is Republique populaire democratique d’Algérie (People's Democratic Republic of Algeria) or El-Djezaïr or Al-Djoumhouryya Al-Djazairyya ad Dimoukratyya Ash-Shabyya. [1] [24a] Algeria is on the north-west Mediterranean coast of Africa, and is bounded by Morocco, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Libya, Tunisia, and the disputed Western Sahara territory. [1] 2.2 The capital is Algiers (or El-Djezaïr). The other principal towns are Oran, Constantine (Qacentina), Annaba and Blida (el-Boulaida). The area of Algeria is 2,381,741 square kilometres (919,595 square miles), four-fifths of which is in the Sahara Desert. [1] [24a] [60e] Thus, most of the population centres are on or near the northern coast. [1] [60e] [66b] 2.3 The country is divided into 48 provinces or wilayas headed by governors. [1] [6e] [12] [23b] These are further subdivided into districts (daira) then into municipalities (communes). [12] 2.4 The population is estimated at around 30 million. [1] [15a] [66b] The capital, Algiers, has the highest population concentration with about one and a half million people. [1] About half of the population lives in urban areas. [1] [23a] [38] [53] About 34% of the population was below the age of 15 in 2001. [23a] Most Algerians are of Arab, Berber, or mixed Arab- Berber stock. [6e] [66b] The European population has declined from over one million before independence in 1962 to less than 50,000 in 2001, most of whom are French. [66b] 2.5 The official language is Arabic. The Berber languages, particularly Tamazight, are also spoken, particularly in the Kabylie and Aures mountain regions. French is very widely spoken and continues to be the language of business. [1] [3] [4] [14h] [24a] [53] A report by Forced Migration Online in January 2004 stated that “The official language is Modern Standard Arabic, although this is rarely spoken outside official situations. The huge majority of the population speak the Algerian dialect of Arabic, which is similar to Moroccan and Tunisian Arabic but very different from the Arab dialects of the Mashrek.” [53] In April 2002 the constitution was amended to make Tamazight one of the country’s national languages. [1] [7j] Algeria April 2004 For further information on geography refer to source 1 - Regional Surveys of the World: The Middle East and North Africa 2004 50th Edition Europa Publications Return to Contents 3. Economy 3.1 The main unit of currency is the Algerian dinar (AD). 1 AD =100 centimes (CT) [1] Exchange rate approximately £I = 130.47 AD, US$1 =68.52 AD. [52] Paper money comprises banknotes with a face value of 5,10, 20 centimes and 1,2,5,10,20,50 dinars. [10] 3.2 The south of the country is rich in natural oil and gas, the exploitation of which is dominated by the state-owned Sonatrach company and has been the foremost generator of government revenue for decades, contributing as much as 60% of budgetary revenues.