Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation

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The Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation was a charter proposed by Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in an attempt to bring closure to the Algerian Civil War by offering an amnesty for most violence committed in it. The referendum on it was held on September 29, 2005, passing with 97%, and the charter was implemented as law on February 28, 2006.

Background

The war broke out after Algerian military authorities suspended the country's first

disappearances
". Violence subsided in the mid-to late 1990s after a largely successful government campaign, but it still claims tens of lives each year, and some minor fundamentalist organizations continue to attack government and civilian targets.

Charter and referendum

Main article:
Algerian national reconciliation referendum, 2005

According to official results, the Charter was approved by 97.36% of the voters, amounting to 79.76% of the eligible

electorate. The Charter, which follows on the 1999 law on "civil concord" and subsequent amnesty
measures, proposed the following steps:

  1. Amnesty for "
    Islamist party FIS
    will not be reinstated;
  2. Implicit exoneration of the security services for the "
    disappearance
    " of more than 7,000 Algerians;
  3. Financial and other compensation to the families of the dead and disappeared

President Bouteflika described the referendum as an effort to end bloodshed in the country. The civil war, which broke out in 1992, has claimed more than 200,000 lives and cost the country's infrastructure $30 billion.

Implementation

The Charter left to the President's discretion detailed implementation of matters such as indemnities to victims of terrorism and their families, compensation for material damages, the future of rural

parliamentary
legislation or by presidential decree.

Criticism

The Charter has been criticized by

DRS, while proposing penalties for anyone who dares accuse those amnestied of crimes.[1]

Furthermore, the families of victims and their organizations continue to demand information on the fate of the missing and to insist that "justice" must precede reconciliation. Many still fear the return of terrorists to their communities.

Finally, the largest radical Islamist group then still active – the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which is estimated to consist of a few hundred members and is allied with Al-Qaeda – totally rejected the Charter and called for a continuation of their "jihad" against the regime.

Effects

Armed Islamic Group (GIA), in March 2006. According to Libération, more than 300 Islamists have been recently released after the new law on "national reconciliation", and several hundreds more are expected to be freed soon.[2][3]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Algeria's Amnesia Decree" (in French). Human Rights Watch. 2006-04-10. Archived from the original on 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2006-06-28.
  2. Radio France International
    . March 12, 2006.
  3. ^ "L'Algérie libère les islamistes à tout-va" (in French). Libération. March 13, 2006.

External links

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