Changed compensation rules boost Algeria reconciliation

2009-10-08

Algeria has modified measures to compensate victims of the "national tragedy" in the 1990s, and both analysts and recipients say national reconciliation is progressing as a result.

By Fidet Mansour for Magharebia in Algiers – 08/10/09

[AFP/Getty Images] Algerian women pass by a reminder of the national reconciliation process, which observers say has advanced after rules for compensating victims were changed.

In a move widely hailed as benefitting national reconciliation, Algeria has changed the way money is being paid out to victims of the "national tragedy", as the country's bloody internal conflict of the 1990s is called.

Under the country's Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation, Algeria has spent over 20 billion dinars to compensate workers who were fired for political reasons during the strife, as well as to families of the disappeared and victims of terrorism.

"[Compensating] the victims has seen tangible progress since the elimination of some administrative obstacles," Marawan Azzi, head of the legal assistance unit for implementing the charter, said on Saturday (October 3rd). "Instructions were sent to the relevant authorities stipulating that no families, regardless of their income, shall be excluded from receiving compensation."

Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting in Algiers that tackled social welfare and child protection, Azzi stated that "previous measures taken to indemnify the families of those killed in the elimination of terrorism were limited to the needy, with income levels below the minimum wage". As such, thousands of families were excluded from receiving compensation.

"Presidential authorities realized the mistake and stipulated that all families must be indemnified, regardless of their social status or monthly income," said Azzi. "Hence, the number of compensated families of terrorists, on the national level, rose to nearly 11,000."

Algerian Minister for Employment and National Solidarity Djamel Ould Abbas, also speaking on Saturday at the event, said the most important measures were to "compensate [fired workers and the families of the disappeared and victims of terrorism] for the suffering they endured for 10 years".

The families of 5,500 disappeared individuals, from a total of 7,000 cases pending study, have been compensated. Added to them are the now-compensated families of 11,000 terrorists who were killed, out of 17,000 files. Finally, 5,000 dismissed employees have received their final settlement.

The changed measures have received praise from both compensation recipients and analysts.

"The funds spent as part of the reconciliation strategy … can't be called huge compared to the desired goal [of] peace and stability," a media expert in security affairs, Hussien Buliha, told Magharebia. "This money is nothing compared to the size of the damage reported during the years of the crisis, when Algeria sustained losses of 20 billion dollars, not to mention more than 200,000 persons who were killed, thousands missing, and hundreds of thousands of people traumatized."

The national reconciliation process has needed "a breath of fresh air to eliminate the obstacles and difficulties that curbed progress," said the head of the National Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, Farouk Ksentini.

Yamina, whose husband was declared "disappeared", said "the aid I've received … has enabled me to overcome my financial difficulties and afford the expenses of my five children".

She said, however, that "accepting the principle of compensation doesn't mean I'm giving up on my demand for truth and justice" regarding the fate of her husband, who was kidnapped by terrorist groups in 1995.

Selim, a former member of an armed group who laid down his arms to accept a pardon, said the government's measures had allowed him to re-enter society.

"I received a small loan that enabled me to launch my own business to support my family," said the 42-year-old.

Many dismissed employees who received compensation are also hoping for reinstatement. "I was a victim of an administrative decree of dismissal for taking part in a strike called by the Islamic trade union for in the early 1990s," said Mohamad, aged 44. "For years, I suffered, since I had no income and always dreaded the future. The measures … enabled me to regain my dignity as a man and as an employee."

A number of fighters who laid down their arms are still hoping for an answer to some of their long-standing demands on issues such as documenting marriages and children born in the mountains, as well as the problem of supporting permanently disabled fighters who have accepted pardons.