Geographical proximity to Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Europe, coupled with centuries of foreign influence, has bestowed Algeria with a rich and diverse cultural heritage. The country has strong economic potential, primarily due to its large hydrocarbon resources, but has been plagued by violence through much of the 20th century. President Bouteflika has created a degree of political stability but as yet only by leaving unanswered many questions about the traumatic events of recent years.
Algerian independence in 1962 came after 132 years of French colonial rule. Initially the country flourished as a centralized single party state but the 1986 oil crisis crippled the economy and propelled the country into radical change. Under threat of social breakdown, President Chadli Benjedid introduced a number of political reforms, making Algeria one of the Arab world’s first democratizing countries. The creation of political parties was authorized, and multi-party parliamentary elections were announced for 1992. However, when it became clear that the winners would be the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), a radical Islamic group, the military cancelled the elections, imposed a state of emergency and seized power. This halted the democratic transition.
Over the next decade, violence in Algeria was endemic and 150,000 people were killed. The pressure to democratize came from civil society, but also emanated from external actors who condemned the regime’s repressive policies. Upon being appointed Head of State by the military in January 1994, retired General Liamine Zeroual began the arduous process of rehabilitating Algeria by re-institutionalizing the electoral process and engaging in dialogue with the opposition. Algeria’s first ever free presidential election was held in November 1995 and set a historical precedent as moderate Islamist movements were included in the running.
The current president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, was first elected to office in April 1999. To put an end to the violence he offered a general amnesty to Islamic fighters that abandoned armed struggle. This “Civil Concord” was approved by referendum in 2000 and in 2002 the army retreated from politics, declaring its neutrality for the presidential election held in April 2004 in which Bouteflika was reelected for a second term.
The presidency is a powerful position in Algeria, responsible for the military and foreign affairs and for many key appointments. Members of the legislative body, the People’s National Assembly, are elected by popular vote, the next election due to be held before May 2007.
After a long gestation period, Algeria today boasts a thriving civil society. Local associations, NGOs and INGOs continue to play a critical role in the country’s development.
Algeria has long attracted attention because of human rights violations. Severe abuses occurred throughout the colonial period and during Algeria’s long and bloody war of independence against France, from 1945 to 1962. After a peaceful interlude, mass violence resumed with the military takeover. Between 1992 and 1994, abductions, unacknowledged detentions and torture were common on both sides. Acts of terrorism, gruesome human rights violations and disappearances have continued with lesser frequency since then, with secular civil society groups, journalists and civilians all too often the victims.
President Bouteflika has initiated a Peace Charter for National Reconciliation which is aimed at ending the civil war once and for all. Both internal and external actors have condemned the Charter for not investigating the truth or holding accountable those responsible for the atrocities. The government is offering compensation but many victims, and their families, do not believe they have received justice. Despite such reservations, the National Reconciliation Charter received overwhelming support in a referendum held in September 2005. The subsequent amnesty law passed in February 2006 has brought further criticism from human rights groups for the impunity it effectively grants to both Islamists and state security forces for the worst atrocities. 2,000 Islamists were freed from detention in March 2006, including two top leaders of the outlawed FIS.
Although the level of violence has declined, it remains unclear whether the numbers taking advantage of the amnesty have been sufficient to generate confidence in long term stability. For example, an extreme Islamist group known as the Algerian Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) rejected the amnesty and instead swore allegiance to Al-Qaeda.
There also remains unease that, emboldened by the amnesty law and the "war on terror", internal security forces marshalled by the Department for Information and Security (DRS) have continued the use of torture, especially against Islamist suspects. The UN Special Rapporteur on torture has been denied access to Algeria ever since a request was first registered in 1997 and, in the context of deporting asylum-seekers, human rights groups have warned the UK government that agreements with Algeria are not worth the paper they are written on.
Aside from granting amnesty to the Islamists, President Bouteflika has maintained dialogue with the Berber constituency, an ethnic minority group which inhabited North Africa prior to the Arab invasion and today occupies the mountainous region of Kabylia. Algeria’s two most influential democratic parties, the Rally for Culture and Democracy party (RCD) and the Front of Socialist Forces (FFS), emerged from Berber associations. As a result of mounting pressure from these groups and as a conciliatory response to the human rights abuses against Kabyle youths perpetrated by government security forces in 2001, Amazigh is now officially recognized as a national language and is taught in schools across the country.
Freedom of practice of minority religions is evolving less positively. A generally tolerant attitude of the state authorities may be challenged by a new law passed in early 2006 which decrees long jail sentences for active conversion of Muslims to other faiths.
Throughout the 1990s, the Algerian media was no more than a government tool. Governed by the controversial 1990 Information Code which mandated jail sentences of 5 to 10 years for “defamation”, the Algerian press was hampered by fear, self-censorship, ideological prejudice, and limited access to information on official corruption and human-rights abuses. The situation has relaxed somewhat under President Bouteflika, but many journalists still shy away from covering human rights abuses and government corruption. Furthermore, the government shows no intention of relinquishing its monopoly of radio and television. Despite such challenges, Algerians can choose from more than 30 daily newspapers and the government no longer imposes tight censorship on information about political violence.
Aside from its history of internal conflict, Algeria continues to clash with its neighbor Morocco over the issue of Western Sahara. Algeria supports the exiled Saharawi Polisario Front and accommodates about 160,000 refugees in camps in the remote border region. Rejecting Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara, Algeria is accused by Morocco of harboring militants and smuggling arms. This has hampered bilateral relations and led to the border being closed. Nevertheless both countries are in agreement that this long-standing dispute should not stand in the way of better economic ties and have maintained dialogue in hopes of finally resolving this issue.
The strong emphasis on economic growth in the post-independence period has led to increased urbanization which, together with the population surge, has resulted in industrial pollution and environmental degradation. The 2002 National Environmental Action Plan focused primarily on waste management, access to clean drinking water, combating deforestation and preserving biodiversity and has mitigated these problems to an extent.
Whilst the MDG progress report estimates that the targets for provision of clean drinking water and safe sanitation will most likely be attained, the challenge is likely to be formidable in a semi-arid country with inadequate housing stock and poor infrastructure for waste treatment.
Algeria ranks fifth in the world’s natural gas reserves and fifteenth in oil reserves and has the potential to become a key player in the world economy. High energy prices have for example enabled the country in 2006 to offer early repayment of all of the $8bn of debt it owes the Paris Club.
Algeria's heavy dependence on hydrocarbon resources has, however, been both a blessing and a curse. The 1986 oil crisis and its effects on the overstretched centralized economy ultimately brought about the civil war. Despite efforts to diversify, Algeria’s volatile oil sector still generates a massive 97% of total export revenues, continuing to distort conventional economic planning.
In order to deal with the economic crisis that inevitably resulted from the civil war, President Zeroual agreed in 1994 to implement the IMF’s Structural Adjustment Policies (SAPs) in return for rescheduled debt servicing. Through privatization and the expansion of the oil and gas sector, Algeria transitioned to a free market system, which stimulated direct foreign investment and led to a recovery. It also created high unemployment and President Bouteflika launched an Economic Recovery Program (ERP) in 2001 which used windfall oil revenues to generate jobs through public investment. These revenues may increase further with the decision to restore greater state control over oil resources through higher taxes and ownership stakes.
Algeria has taken many steps to play an active role in the international community. It is a founding member of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD); it signed an agreement in 2002 to join the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area and is currently negotiating admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
