| Description |
1 online resource (18 pages) |
| Series |
Carnegie papers ; no. 7 |
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Working papers (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) ; no. 7.
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| Contents |
From democratic opening to civil strife -- Things fall apart -- Origins of the peace plan -- The question of the disappeared -- A charter for amnesia -- The balance sheet -- No reconciliation without truth |
| Summary |
Algerians no longer live in fear of being killed by radical Islamists at faux barrages (makeshift roadblocks) or of being "disappeared" by "ninjas"--Hooded policemen who break down front doors and take occupants away, never to return. This is a remarkable achievement in a country that during the 1990s was synonymous with horrendous violence perpetrated both by Islamist radicals and by security forces. Algeria has regained stability, with radical Islamism no longer a fundamental threat to security across the country. The virtual quarantine in which the country was confined during the mid-1990s has been lifted. It is also increasingly opening up to foreign investment. Algerians have enjoyed a period of peace and relative prosperity, despite occasional flare-ups of violence. During the presidency of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who took office in 1999, Algeria has transitioned from civil war, state failure, and moral decay to stability. This paper describes how Bouteflika devised and implemented a successful peace plan that gave hope to millions of despairing Algerians, including moderate Islamists. But it also shows how the government effort to hasten peace undermined the chance for reconciliation. The peace process included an arsenal of new laws, a struggle to demilitarize Algerian politics for the first time since independence, and the acceptance of moderate Islamist groups as legitimate political actors. But it also granted broad amnesty to "warriors of God" who agreed to disarm, without investigating the crimes they had committed, and it never held security forces accountable for their abuses. As a result, many Algerians, particularly relatives of the disappeared and other victims of violence, remain deeply dissatisfied. National reconciliation has not yet taken place. Genuine reconciliation is not a question of taking administrative steps to implement decisions made by the few, imposing them from the top down; rather, it is a long process that would engage the entire social fabric, with all its political groups and institutions |
| Notes |
Title from PDF title page (viewed on March 16, 2010) |
|
"February 2008." |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 17-18) |
| Notes |
Mode of access: Internet from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace web site. Adobe Acrobat Reader required |
| Subject |
Political stability -- Algeria
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Reconciliation
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Political stability.
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Politics and government.
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Reconciliation.
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Social conditions.
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| SUBJECT |
Algeria -- Politics and government -- 21st century
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Algeria -- Social conditions -- 21st century
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| Subject |
Algeria.
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| Author |
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Carnegie Middle East Center
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