By Kaci Racelma
ALGIERS, Jan 27 2011 (IPS)

The lifting of the state of emergency that has been in force in Algeria for nearly 20 years has emerged as a rallying point for groups united for democratic change.

The capital, Algiers, Oran, Tizi-Ouzou, and many other Algerian cities experienced unrest throughout January, particularly after the popular uprising in Tunisia forced the departure of President Zine Abidine Ben Ali on Jan. 14.

Violent demonstrations across the country have led to five deaths, more than 800 wounded and a thousand arrests; as well as extensive damage to property, according to a report from the Interior Minister, Daho Ould Kablia.

In an interview with the online newspaper Algérie-Focus on Jan. 10, Ould Kablia asserted that the riots had their roots in “pessimism and nihilism” of Algerian youth.

“These are the reasons [for protest] that we know of: a lack of leisure activities, interrupted schooling, a disinterested family environment, the influences of the street and foreign media… They love the things that they can only get by theft, by contraband, by trafficking drugs.”

But Ahcène Bouzidi, a student in Algiers, rejected the minister’s view.

“Algerian youth are deprived of everything. In addition to problems of unemployment, housing and poor living conditions, they are forbidden to express themselves, even peacefully,” he said. “The state of emergency, which has lasted 19 years, is invoked every time the interests of those in power are threatened.”

Amar Zaidi, avocat et militant des droits de l’Homme en Kabylie, agrees. “In the virtual absence of a suitable space for expression, thousands of young Algerians from all regions of the country – marginalised, poor and without other options – have braved the enforced confinement which has lasted for 19 years to spill their bitterness in the street,” he told IPS.

“It’s really terrible; at the moment when the country has 155 million dollars of foreign reserves, the socioeconomic vise tightens on society: all the ingredients are in place for a social explosion,” said Zaidi.

A meeting in Algiers on Jan. 21 brought together independent trade unions, organisations for human rights, youth and student associations, neighbourhood committees, citizen collectives, associations of the disappeared, intellectuals and political parties. They agreed on the creation of a National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change, whose immediate objective is the lifting of the state of emergency and the opening up of the political and media arenas.

The coalition plans to organise a national march to push for the lifting of the state of emergency, and has called for collective action from all social actors to prevent Algeria descending into chaos and to push seriously and definitively for democratic change.

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By Kaci Racelma
ALGIERS, Oct 20 2008 (IPS)

Algeria is set to be among the top three countries in the world with the highest number of death sentences passed in 2008, regularly condemning people accused of terrorism – whether or not they are present in court to answer charges.

So far this year, nearly 300 death sentences have been handed down by courts and tribunals around the country, Amar Zaidi, a lawyer and human rights activist told IPS. Most of these sentences were passed in absentia to people on terrorism related charges.

Only a small number of this year's death sentences have been for premeditated murder and drugs-related offences, according to press reports.

In 2007, Algeria sentenced 271 people to death, putting it third on the list of 51 countries still passing death sentences, according to Amnesty International. China was top of the list with more than 1,800 death sentences, followed by Pakistan with more than 307.

In 2007, Algeria was the only Arab nation to vote for the U.N. resolution calling for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty. Algeria could do this because since 1993 it has observed a moratorium on executions.

Since the passing of the U.N. moratorium, there has been a worldwide reduction in the use of the death penalty, according to NGOs. Algeria's civil society needs to do more to educate the public on death penalty abolition, said Zaidi.

Hocim Azem, vice-president of the Amazigh World Congress, an NGO representing the estimated eight million indigenous Berbers in Algeria, said it was also important for anti-death penalty campaigners to put pressure on politicians.

"It is necessary to abolish this cruel punishment which belongs to a bygone age. But deputies show no special interest in death penalty abolition," he told IPS.

"There is no serious debate about the death penalty in parliament. The democratic opposition is too weak to change anything and propose new legislation. The government procrastinates."

He said a major reason for this inertia was religion. Then came "fear of terrorism" and political and social factors.

In 2006, the Labour Party tabled a bill to abolish the death penalty. But eight parties, including the ruling National Liberation Front, refused to back the bill. Also in 2006, the criminal code was revised and the number of death penalty crimes was reduced.

Azem called into question the fairness of the trials which have resulted in the passing of death sentences. "Many citizens have been arrested and sentenced without evidence," he said.

The party Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD) is actively pressing for death penalty abolition. RCD holds 19 seats in the 390-seat parliament.

Hadj Arab Lila, an RCD MP and lawyer, told IPS that she would support abolition of this "cruel and inhuman" punishment. "It is absurd that it is still retained in our criminal code."

Many expect RCD party chief Said Saadi to contest next year's presidential elections. The party is now campaigning against a constitutional amendment that would allow President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to serve a third term.

Saadi is popular among the Berbers, many of whom support death penalty abolition. Many Berbers also support the Socialist Forces Front (SFF), also in favour of abolition. But the SFF boycotted the 2007 elections, and is not represented in parliament.

Farouk Ksentini, head of the human rights advisory commission, has recently called on the president to abolish the death penalty. "It has no deterrent affect on crime," he told the press. It was also tarnishing the country's reputation, he said.

Ksentiti said that he was facing criticism from clerics because of his anti-death penalty views.

Ksentiti has also raised the issue of Abdelmoumene Khelifa, apparently hinting at what could be an additional reason for Algeria abolishing the death penalty. He said Britain was refusing to hand over Khelifa because it was feared that he might face the death penalty. In 2007, Khelifa was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment after the collapse of his financial empire, including the Khelifa Bank which was closed by the Algerian authorities.

European Union members are prevented from extraditing anyone to a country where they have been sentenced to death in absentia or could face the death penalty – even if that country is observing an execution moratorium.

In the most recent statement on the death penalty from an NGO, the honorary president of the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights, Abdennour Ali Yahia, called for a new debate on the issue.

"Before making a decision, there should be consultation between men of justice and religion," he was quoted as saying in the Algerian French-language newspaper L'Expression Oct. 15. He added that there were innocent people on death row.

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By Kaci Racelma
ALGIERS, Feb 27 2007 (IPS)

In May, Algeria will inaugurate a reserve around a small oasis in the south-west where plants and animals are to be protected in the service of a broader goal. Hopes are that the Taghit National Park will help stop the advance of the Sahara Desert, which already stretches across almost all of this North African country.

The project was initiated by the Friends of the Sahara Association – a founder member of the National Committee of Algerian NGOs Against Desertification – and the National Agency for the Conservation of Nature (Agence nationale pour la conservation de la nature, ANCN).

“The Taghit National Park covers a surface area of 250,000 hectares, which could be extended to 500,000 hectares with the inclusion of the neighboring Guir region,” said Amina Fellous, an engineer at ANCN, which is tasked with leading the project.

The reserve is to include areas isolated from human activity, as well as perimeter zones where various pursuits – even for light and medium-sized industries – will be permitted on condition that they do not pollute, Fellous explained to IPS.

“In Taghit, any socio-economic activity having negative effects on water resources will not be allowed,” she noted.

The project will seek to protect grasslands and restore palm groves, renew the planting of acacias, and reforest denuded land with indigenous species for the benefit of migratory species. Water points will be established in the park, and efforts made to develop the region’s plant genetic resources.

The list of mammals to be protected makes mention of about 33 species, including the threatened sand dune cat, fennec (a small fox), Barbary sheep and three types of gazelle. (The term Barbary derives from the Berber people, and was formerly used by Europeans to refer to North Africa.)

To date, no less than 107 species of birds have been documented in the area – but an exhaustive list has yet to be compiled during different seasons, so as to include migratory birds.

About twenty birds feature on the list of protected species of Algeria. Some, like the houbara bustard, have become the subject of international conservation efforts.

Sixteen bird species that congregate around the Taghit oasis are considered endemic to North Africa and the Middle East, notably the Barbary partridge, houbara bustard and lanner falcon.

Furthermore, the Taghit park will aim to protect and promote the archaeological heritage of the area – and to develop tourist facilities that are in harmony with their surroundings.

Conservation will also support agricultural activity, says Malik Raheb: an agricultural engineer involved in conservation of forests at Ghardaïa, south of the capital – Algiers.

“The creation of the Taghit National Park, aside from its role of being a barrier to the desert, will also allow a still greater response to the agricultural needs of people in the region, as is already evidenced by the production of tomatoes and potatoes.”

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By Kaci Racelma
ALGIERS, Dec 29 2006 (IPS)

Two hundred kilometres. A long distance to some, perhaps, but in the context of desertification in Algeria, alarmingly short.

Going in to 2007, the Sahara will have advanced to within 200 kilometres of the Mediterranean coastline of this North African state. And, warns President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, it may well extend further north to the shores of his country if more concerted action is not taken.

He was speaking at the third International Festival of Cultures and Civilisations of Desert Peoples, held Dec. 13-20 in the Algerian capital of Algiers. For several years, said Bouteflika, “Algeria lost, each year, 40,000 hectares of its most fertile lands because of desertification.”

Ninety percent of the country is already desert, including the south and a large part of the north. Desertification has also affected 13 million hectares of territory over the past 10 years, according to figures from the Ministry of Agriculture.

Not everyone sounds quite as pessimistic a note as the head of state.

“The desert is today slowed in its progress towards the north thanks to different initiatives carried out to counter it,” says Lakhdar Brouri of the High Commission for Development of the Steppe (Haut commissariat au développement de la steppe, HCDS). (A steppe is a vast plain, covered in grass and typically treeless, which has a semi-arid climate.)

In the 1970s, a large-scale project called the “green barrier” was introduced. It involved putting in place a stretch of greenery some 400 kilometres long and 150 kilometres wide between the desertified south and Mediterranean north.

Unfortunately, says Malik Raheb, an agricultural engineer and conservation specialist, the project experienced difficulties. “The destructive overgrazing of the plant cover…and excessive deforestation caused the failure of this initiative,” he notes.

During the same period, 1,000 water points were set up in the desert, and the same number of dykes to divert flood waters from seasonal rivers so that these could be used to fertilise surrounding areas.

The HCDS was itself established in 1981 to regenerate and protect the Algerian steppe, which extends over an area of 32 million hectares some 200 kilometres to the south of Algiers – and helps protect against the advance of the desert.

The commission says that since its creation, 2.6 million hectares of steppe have been restored, while seven million still require attention. “Our efforts on the ground have borne fruit. We have given back hope to the population that lives in this region,” says Brouri.

The steppe is inhabited by more than seven million people, out of a total population of some 33 million. Those living in the vast area depend mainly on livestock for their livelihood, the area also being home to some 18 million head of sheep.

“Today, the desert is very well controlled in Algeria, since the HCDS invested in the land and achieved substantial gains in the fight against desertification,” notes Brouri.

But President Bouteflika has yet to be reassured, saying the various anti-desertification projects have achieved only partial success. Such concerns recently prompted government to set aside 2.5 billion dollars for agencies involved in the fight against desertification, to move ahead with development of the south.

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By Kaci Racelma
ALGIERS, Nov 17 2006 (IPS)

Many Algerian employers are lobbying for a return to having their country’s weekends over Saturdays and Sundays, rather than Thursdays and Fridays, saying the current policy is cutting into foreign trade revenues.

Algeria began observing its weekend from Thursday to Friday in 1976, in recognition of the fact that Friday is a holy day under Islam, the state religion of Algeria. And, certain Muslim fundamentalists in the country see no reason to alter this state of affairs.

But, some observers point out that the Algerian weekend is incompatible with weekends in the north African country’s major trading partners. What with Algeria taking Thursday and Friday off while other states have their weekends over Saturday and Sunday, several days are now periods of inactivity, they note.

“The fact that the customs service doesn’t work Thursday and Friday and the banks Saturday, means there are at least three days of losses and stoppages in the various operations of trade transactions,” said government finance official Larbi Ould Ahmed. In addition, foreign crew members of ships docking in Algerian ports take their weekly break on Saturday and Sunday.

“It’s absurd to continue to trade with foreign partners only three days a week. There’s no way we that we can get in tune with world competition on a three-day work week,” he told IPS. “The present weekend is going to paralyse our economy, and this at a time that Algerian businesses have the difficult task of promoting…exports other than petroleum.”

Algeria is a major supplier of oil and gas, which constitute a key sector of the country’s economy.

Omar Ramdane, president of the Forum of Company Managers (Forum des chefs d’entreprises), holds the same view, telling journalists recently that the “weekend observed in Algeria since 1976 cuts the country off from world economic activity.”

Certain statistics appear to bear this out.

“Even if there’s been no exhaustive study on the economic impact of the 1976 change from the universal weekend, some figures report 500 to 750 million dollars lost,” said Hacéne Amyar, an economics professor at Mouloud Mammeri University in the central town of Kabylie, in reference to annual foreign trade.

“This is huge for an economy which needs to conform to the fluid demands of the modern world, especially at a time of globalisation,” he told IPS, noting that the statistics are based on the compensation Algerian authorities pay ships that arrive in port on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and are forced to remain idle during the local weekend.

He said the data was backed by experts at the World Bank, who think going back to weekends on Saturdays and Sundays could generate economic growth of two percent.

But Hafid Azzouz, a journalist at ‘L’Expression’ (Expression) – a daily based in the capital of Algiers – says Muslim fundamentalists currently in government want to maintain the present weekend because of its conformity with Islam.

He notes that a number of Muslims consider that “Saturday is a rest day exclusively for the Jews and Sunday for the Christians.” But such an argument does not figure in government statements.

As a result, the debate on the national weekend “constitutes a taboo subject in our country and officials only speak of it rarely,” Azzouz says – noting, however, that civil society in Kabylie has fought against this trend by demanding a return to the universal weekend last year during an official meeting in Algiers.

The fundamentalists are represented in government by the Movement of Society for Peace (Mouvement de la société pour la paix), which is part of the ruling coalition.

Amyar believes that there is a solution to this dilemma which speaks to the needs of both business people and the devout. “The majority of other Muslim countries have opted either for the universal weekend or an adjusted weekend (Friday and Saturday), which could easily be applied in our country without our economy losing its advantages,” he noted.

Djamila Loukal, a midwife at the Beni Douala Clinic in Kabylie, agrees.

“Why does our country persist in this antiquated logic, keeping an outmoded weekend while other Muslim countries opt for modernity?” she asks. “It goes against our needs.”

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By Kaci Racelma
ALGIERS, Jun 1 2006 (IPS)

In years gone by, Algerians who used the term “women’s work” would probably have been referring to tasks such as weaving, the manufacture of terra cotta pots, and the production of traditional cakes. Custom in this predominantly Muslim country of North Africa ensured that women were first and foremost wives and homemakers.

But, no longer.

These days, Algerian women are slowly but surely carving out a niche for themselves in sectors that were once the exclusive preserve of men – notably business.

While businesswomen still account for just 9.1 percent of about a million business people in Algeria, their number grew by 5.9 percent last year – this according to the National Trade Registration Centre (Centre national du register de commerce, CNRC). More than 5,000 women entered the commercial arena in 2005.

“(It is) encouraging to see women becoming involved in companies and business at the same level as men, without restrictions,” says Aicha Djerrar, a female professor of town planning at the University of Constantine, in northern Algeria.

The shift reflects tougher economic conditions in Algeria: figures from the National Statistics Office put unemployment in the country at 17 percent.

“The number of women involved in business always tends to grow in a socioeconomic situation characterised by unemployment,” Larbi Ould Ahmed, a manager at the Department of Commerce in the central Kabylie region, told IPS.

“If you go back in time 10 or 20 years, you will see that the Algerian woman preferred an uncomplicated job that enabled her to attend to her children at the same time…The economic situation never forced women to work.”

This view is echoed by sociologist Brahim Touhami, also a professor at the University of Constantine.

“The socioeconomic situation of the country is pushing more women to…provide for the needs of their families. This is opening the way for them in commercial activities, where they perform with ease,” he notes.

“Unemployment and the lack of jobs suitable for them are directing (women)…towards business.”

Fatiha Illoul, an advocate by training who now has her own construction business, is one of the women who have stepped into the marketplace. “There is no restriction of any sort that prevents us from conducting business activities,” she told IPS. Illoul puts the annual turnover of her Kabylie-based business, which builds and sells accommodation, at about 150,000 dollars.

Similar words come from Salima Bensalem, who works in the clothing industry in the capital, Algiers: “Thank God, I do not encounter any difficulty in doing the job that I chose. On the contrary, the government encourages the involvement of women in profitable undertakings…”

And, banks – says Lahcene Aziz, a manager with the Local Development Bank in Kabylie – are even-handed in their treatment of women.

“The banks are not governed by any law which treats women differently to men,” he told IPS. “They enjoy the same rights as men in the financing of their projects.”

A CNRC analysis of the businesses managed by women shows that 36 percent involve services, more than 26 percent industrial production, and about 17 percent imports. A further 17 percent of women are involved in imports and exports.

Women are less interested in transport, the cork and mining industries, and in agriculture, notes the Centre for Applied Economics and Development Research – based in Algiers. Activities such as welding also remain male-dominated.

But, while women such as Illoul and Bensalem see the business world as their oyster, their counterparts in religiously conservative Muslim communities may have a different experience. Abdenour Larabi, a fruit and vegetable seller in central Algiers, is amongst those who are openly opposed to having women work.

“The woman must devote herself exclusively to domestic tasks and to the education of children,” he told IPS.

“Even when she leaves (home) on an urgent matter, the woman must be accompanied by her guardian or husband.”

Such views persist despite a more liberal interpretation of Islam at government level.

Said Bouyzri, a manager in the Department of Religious Affairs in Kabylie who also has a doctorate in sharia (Islamic law), maintains that Islam allows women to be active in the business world.

“Women are allowed to conduct business activities, but this is not obligatory because it is the man who is expected to provide for the needs of the family,” he explained.

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By Kaci Racelma
ALGIERS, Jan 5 2006 (IPS)

Coverage of AIDS in Africa typically focuses on the dire situation in countries south of the Sahara, which are home to almost two thirds of people infected with HIV globally, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

But what of the countries that lie further north and along the Mediterranean? In the case of one of these nations, Algeria, concern about the pandemic is mounting – even though statistics suggest little cause for alarm at first glance.

Figures posted on the UNAIDS website from the end of 2003 put adult HIV prevalence in Algeria at less than one percent – 0.1 percent, to be exact. According to data from the Ministry of Health, Population and Hospital Reform, the number of HIV-positive people in Algeria was last month estimated at 20,000 – this out of a population of almost 33 million.

However, the latest ‘AIDS Epidemic Update’, issued last month by UNAIDS and the World Health Organisation, notes that “Algeria recorded twice as many new HIV cases in 2004 (266 diagnoses) compared with the year before. This might herald a surge in the country’s hitherto small epidemic, which is still inadequately surveyed.”

This statement echoes the sentiments of Ouzariad Boualem, a doctor who works for the National Committee for the Fight Against AIDS, who says that HIV statistics “do not accurately reflect what’s really happening” as infected people rarely visit the appropriate health facilities. The actual numbers, he adds, may be ten times as high.

In part, the reluctance of Algerians to confront AIDS has been ascribed to fear of condemnation under Islam, the country’s main religion.

“A youth with AIDS is very poorly viewed, because Algerian society believes he’s transgressed the teachings of Islam which prohibit sexual relations before marriage,” says Mouloud Muadhan, an Islamic preacher from the coastal region of Tizi Ouzou.

The extent of the stigma surrounding AIDS was further highlighted by an HIV-positive man interviewed by IPS. “When I first heard about AIDS, I thought it was just a joke. Now that I have the virus I live in constant fear, and I know many people who refuse to even talk about it,” he said.

Matters have scarcely been improved, say government officials, by the confusion arising from contradictory figures on HIV from various government departments that deal with AIDS, and poor co-ordination between organisations fighting HIV.

As the 2005 ‘AIDS Epidemic Update’ notes, “Modes of transmission are unknown for almost three quarters of the 1721 official HIV diagnoses made by end-2004, making it difficult to pinpoint the routes of transmission…”

In addition, the administration bemoans a lack of international assistance in curbing the spread of HIV.

A detailed study of all AIDS cases is presently underway, which should provide a more reliable picture of the extent to which the virus has taken hold in Algeria. Pending the results of this study, one trend that is clear relates to the link between HIV and prostitution – particularly in the south of the country, where infection rates appear to be substantially higher than elsewhere.

According to the ‘AIDS Epidemic Update’, “The highest infection levels recorded to date have been among sex workers: 1.7 percent in Oran, in the north, and as high as nine percent in Tamanrasset, in the south, where it has risen sharply from the two percent found in 2000…”

A young prostitute from the capital, Algiers, told IPS that “Many customers prefer relations without protection, just as a ‘matter of taste’, they say. Such demands sometimes force us to yield to their wishes, exposing us to the disease.”

Similar words came from another sex worker. “Sometimes they just don’t want to listen,” she noted. “They arrive overexcited and want to satisfy themselves in complete abandon.”

The use – or not – of condoms is also related to the fees that clients are prepared to pay.

The ‘AIDS Epidemic Update’ further notes that “military personnel and migrants” also appear to be more likely to contract the virus in Tamanrasset. Overall, the majority of infections seem to take place during heterosexual intercourse.

In an effort to broaden the fight against AIDS, Amar Tou – the Minister of Health, Population and Hospital Reform – announced last month that 42 new testing centres would be opened in Algeria during the first four months of 2006. Six centres have already been set up, providing a service that is voluntary, anonymous and free.

“We are going to make sure that each wilaya (prefecture) has its own testing centre,” said Tou. There are 48 wilayas in Algeria.

Care for people who are battling AIDS-related diseases is also provided free of charge, at public hospitals. Ali Ibrir, vice president of Izuran Tmurt, an anti-AIDS group, estimates that almost 2,000 people are currently in need of treatment. According to the health ministry, about 20 cases of full-blown AIDS are recorded each year.

In addition, an AIDS prevention and awareness campaign was held in Algeria during November and December last year, when posters and publicity flyers were distributed throughout the country.

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By Kaci Racelma
ALGIERS, Sep 26 2005 (IPS)

In a sad reflection of the times, the Drop-In Assistance Centre for Female Sexual Harassment Victims has done a bustling trade in the Algerian capital, Algiers, since being established two years ago. Hundreds of women have made use of the centre, which is funded by the General Union of Algerian Workers – the country’s largest labour body.

One of the goals of the institution is to “break the silence” around harassment, says founder Soumia Souilah – another to create a non-governmental organisation which can tackle harassment more vigorously.

However, relatively few of those who visit the centre have taken the all-important step of filing complaints against their aggressors.

“We’re afraid we’ll lose our jobs if we complain, and be left without a livelihood,” a group of sexual harassment victims told IPS.

This point was echoed by a female journalist, who noted that “A working woman who receives a monthly salary to meet the needs of her children will find it very difficult to turn in harassers if it means she could end up without a job.”

While the penalties for harassment are clearly stipulated, women claim that the crime itself can be difficult to prove. “Not only do we not have the material evidence needed to win a suit, but the concept of harassment is still vague and this makes the judicial process difficult,” said the harassment victims.

The experience of those who have run the gauntlet of a trial does nothing to allay such concerns: to date, none have seen their aggressors found guilty.

In the case of allegations made by a group of students from the Dergana university dormitories in Algiers, inquiries appear to be dragging on indefinitely.

Several months ago, the students asked Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to take action against their housing director, whom they accused of sexual harassment, physical aggression and blackmail. The head of state ordered Education Minister Rachid Harraoubia to start investigating the matter, in October 2004.

Almost a year later, however, the inquiry has yet to be completed. Earlier this month the students again demanded that sanctions be ordered against those who were guilty of harassment.

Apart from fears about job losses and the difficulties of taking harassment cases to court, cultural norms also stand in the way of women filing complaints against aggressors: sex is considered a taboo topic in this Islamic country.

In response to these difficulties, the National Committee of Working Women (CNFT) and human rights groups have conducted a campaign over recent months to convince women to take alleged harassers to court.

“It’s not just time to listen,” says Souilah, noting that women need to move beyond the point of simply denouncing sexual harassment.

Persons convicted of the crime can be sentenced to a prison term of up to twelve months, and be fined between 600 and 1,200 dollars. The introduction of jail terms for sexual harassers took place in October last year at the request of the CNFT and the Algerian League for Human Rights – and was considered a significant advance in light of the country’s conservative stance on sexual matters.

According to the CNFT, victims of sexual harassment range in age from 21 to 55 years. Both single and married women are affected by the crime, which is perpetrated in government departments more often than in the private sector – notably in schools and health facilities.

“It’s the total deterioration of our society’s moral values, even though they’re based on Islamic precepts,” said a working woman. “In the past, only single women were harassed – but today, harassers target everyone in their line of sight.”

While some view religion as a bulwark against harassment, others appear to be using it to legitimise this activity.

A press release issued this month by an anonymous group of radical Islamists announced that women should “dress within the norms, or …run the risk of being treated as worthless objects.”

The statement harked back to events in the 1990s when over 150,000 people were killed during a campaign by Islamic extremists. Women were also raped during this wave of violence, while thousands of nationals disappeared without trace.

The campaign was sparked by the 1992 military takeover of Algeria, in the wake of general elections which the Islamic Salvation Front seemed poised to win. The party had posted a convincing performance in the first round of the poll, held in December 1991.

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