It is a very dark turn that has just taken the Hirak, the revolution of the smile in Algeria which calls for the democratic refoundation of the country. Approaching its third anniversary, this popular movement has for several months faced unprecedented repression from the regime in place and a severe explosion of arrests for crimes of opinion.
But this hardening in the face of this unprecedented call for a political modernization of the country and for the construction of a real rule of law will not succeed in silencing this opposition, believe several Hirak activists, whose movement was cut short by the pandemic in 2020. They are now waiting for the end of health restrictions to take their demands to the streets again.
“Today, the situation of human rights, civil liberties and democratic rights is worse in Algeria, and by far, compared to February 2019”, or the beginning of the movement, summarizes on the other end of the line political activist and founder of the Rassemblement actions jeunesse (RAJ), Hakim Addad, joined by The duty in France, where he took refuge under the threat of imprisonment in Algeria.
“The regime is trying by all means to silence this opposition. But the problem is that the Hirak is not the emanation of political parties. It comes from the people. And once the pandemic is over, this citizen movement will find a way to demonstrate peacefully to demand the political, constitutional and social transformations that it has still not obtained, ”he adds.
It was on February 16, 2019 that this so-called revolution of the smile – because of the festive and family nature of the weekly marches that it gave birth to in the streets of the cities of Algeria – began in the city of Kherrata, in Kabylia, carried by a sudden indignation that the youth of the country began to resonate in the stands of the country’s soccer stadium.
The prospect of a fifth term for ex-president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, weakened by illness, silent and absent, has triggered this wind of anger.
Six days later, on February 22, it blew over Algiers to stay there every Friday and relentlessly, until the start of the health crisis linked to COVID-19.
After having obtained the resignation of Bouteflika, in April of that year, the movement maintained its pressure on the regime, demanding an end to the power of the military and the entry of Algeria into a real democratic era. He also massively rejected the electoral appointments orchestrated by the power in place, judging them not in conformity with his aspirations.
In December 2019, the current president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, was therefore elected when more than 60% of the population did not appear at the polls. A year later, the referendum on the reform of the country’s Constitution was boycotted by more than 76% of voters, the lowest turnout in the country’s electoral history.
rights under attack
“The power has promised an Algeria of change and an Algeria of freedoms, drops, on the phone, Saïd Salhi, vice-president of the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights (LADDH). But it was all a lie. We are rather witnessing attacks against basic rights, such as the right to expression, assembly, association, acquired” since the 1988 revolts which called for the liberalization of the regime.
“The presidents of opposition parties are subject to arrest, imprisonment, threats, harassment,” he adds. For the first time since the beginning of the Hirak, we have exceeded the number of 300 political prisoners. It is a real regime of fear that has taken hold. »
At the end of January, 40 of these prisoners detained in the prison of El-Harrach in Algiers went on a hunger strike to denounce the violence of their pre-trial detention, which stretches pending their trial, and especially the absurdity of the charges they face.
Last June, a reform of the Algerian Penal Code allowed the power in place to assimilate to “terrorism” and “sabotage” any call to “change the system of governance by unconventional means”. The measure was followed by the intensification of the repression of Hirak activists, members of political or social associations, journalists – 14 prosecuted and 4 detained to date – or even ordinary citizens.
“We have lost our ability to express ourselves,” says Hakim Addad. A simple post on Instagram can land you in jail. He spent three and a half months in prison, after being arrested in October 2019 for having campaigned within the RAJ in favor of Hirak. A gesture described as “an attack on state security” by the authorities. In 2021, he left the country for France, to avoid another imprisonment.
Confirmed by the lawyers and families of detainees, these hunger strikes were however not “recognized” by the authorities, who denied their existence on 29 January. The regime has also threatened legal action against anyone who disseminates information that contradicts this version of events. “The power and the system have not changed, assures Saïd Salhi. There was only a recycling that kept the democratic process locked and the public spaces of expression closed”.Have
The muzzled opposition
Last week, Amnesty International strongly denounced this new cycle of repression in Algeria which led to the “temporary” suspension of the Socialist Workers’ Party (PST), an opposition party supporting Hirak, but also to the condemnation of Fethi Ghares, coordinator of the Democratic and Social Movement (MDS), an institution in the Algerian political landscape. He must serve two years in prison for “contempt of the corporate body” and dissemination of information that could “harm the national interest”. His crime: having criticized the authorities on social networks, but also during a political meeting at party headquarters in June 2021.
” Our work [à la Ligue algérienne pour la défense des droits de l’homme] becomes more and more difficult and even dangerous, assures Saïd Salhi. I was arrested twice. We are prevented from holding meetings in our offices. We experience continuous pressure and live in uncertainty and worry because of our work and our ideas. A pressure which is accentuated besides with the approach of February 22, great commemorative day of the very first march of Hirak in Algiers.
The Tebboune government is thus seeking to reduce the potential for a resurgence of the movement, on this day which it paradoxically declared a “national day” in 2020 – on the eve of its first anniversary – in an attempt to establish its authority and its legitimacy. based on this move. Without success.
“This third anniversary will take place in fear, disappointment and disillusionment, not in celebration, says Mr. Salhi, because we are still faced with an unfinished movement that has not achieved its objectives. But the power has no right to prevent it, because it is a day that is part of the contemporary history of Algeria. »
“What is happening now is very worrying, but there is still something positive,” said Hakim Addad, however, who called for nothing less than national and international mobilization to obtain the release of prisoners of conscience in Algeria and reaffirm the objectives of Hirak in the face of a power that tries to criminalize its aspirations. He salutes in passing the activists of the Algerian diaspora, who more freely carry the demands of the movement, “particularly in Montreal”, he underlines.
“I feel that the Algerians still believe very strongly in the resumption of Hirak. They continue to cling to their dream of freedom and rights that months of prison and repression will never be able to erase from the collective consciousness. »