Time for Reckoning: Enforced Disappearances in Algeria

This report scrutinizes what the government of Algeria has done since it first vowed four years ago to address allegations of “disappearances,” and shows that it has done nothing. The executive branch, the judiciary, and official human rights institutions have utterly failed to provide the thousands of affected families with any concrete, verifiable information about their relatives. Neither the authorities nor the courts have identified or brought to justice a single state agent implicated in carrying out “disappearances.” Nor has a single family received compensation for the “disappearance” of a relative, despite the devastating emotional and financial impact the crime has had on thousands of parents, spouses, and children. The government has failed even to acknowledge the responsibility of state agents for a pattern of “disappearances.” And it has certainly failed to establish institutional or legal safeguards to prevent a revival of the practice should decision-makers deem it once again to be a useful tool.