Algeria

On 11 June and 2-3 July 2011 ‘punitive’ night raids were carried out against women in the southern city of M’sila, Algeria. Considered to be ‘potential prostitutes’ by their neighbours because they live alone, and under the pretext of the defense of morality, hundreds of youth have burnt down the houses of women who barely escaped being lynched. The police did not intervene.

Recently a press conference was held in Algeria where the Observatory on Violence Against Women condemned the l...read more

Fifty young economists, academics and businesspeople called an Algiers press conference on Saturday (9 July) to unveil '100 Measures for a New Algeria'. It was the symbolic date of 5 July, however, that 'Nabni' ('Our Algeria Built on New Ideas') selected to announce the recommendations. The group hopes to implement the proposals, drafted after two months of deliberations, before next years' independence decennial.

Algeria has witnessed unprecedented unrest in the past few months. Since the beginning of this year, law enforcement officers have carried out no fewer than 2,777 riot control operations. A record was set in March, when more than 70 rallies and sit-ins were staged. In response, the government has issued calls for dialogue, bowed to demands for pay hikes and promised greater political freedom.

In an enigmatic U-turn, Algeria's political parties now support presidential term limits, just three years after they fought tooth and nail to defend the idea of an indefinite term for the chief executive. 'Algeria cannot stand aloof from globalisation and the systems applied in most countries, namely limitation of terms of office,' the National Liberation Front (FLN) said during a meeting of its Central Committee on Sunday (5 June) in Algiers. The majority of Algeria's political organisation...read more

US Army

While 50 years have passed since Algeria achieved independence from France, Algerians still lack a cohesive historical narrative of their past, writes Smaïl Goumeziane. Though fraught with difficulty, working towards such a history would go some way towards challenging ‘wars of memory’ and ‘selective amnesia’, Goumeziane stresses.

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