Kabyles for Human Rights

Philadelphia, July 21 2024

On July 18, 2024, the Algerian court at Sidi Mhamed (specialized in anti-terrorism cases) decided to remand in custody 9 individuals and place 6 others under judicial supervision.

Remanded in custody are: 

-Activist and university professor Mira Moknache, (jailed and tried so many times already).

-Rafik Belayel 

-Khoudir Bouchelaghem (who already served a sentence)

-Ghilas Ben Kerou

-Tahar Achiche

-Smaïl Bouaaza

-Lounes Ghougad

-Hakim Benouchene

Released and placed under judicial supervision are:

-Human Rights Lawyer Sofiane Ouali, who has been harassed before by the authorities

-High School student Yuva Menguellet (a minor)  and his father Houcine Menguellet

-Malek Boudjemaa and his son Mokrane Boudjemaa

-Mustapha Akkouche

These arrests conducted in a cascading fashion within a few days followed President Tebboune’s visit to Tizi-Ouzou, as part of his campaign to avoid a boycott by the region during his upcoming reelection. 
Kabyles for Human Rights (KHR) is deeply concerned by the fate reserved to these 15 citizens from Kabylia, who for the most part only expressed their opinions in one way or another. The reasons for their arrest is never given at the time of arrest. As for others before them, they are typically remanded in custody for a flight risk that does not exist. The preventive custody is then typically prolonged until the trial day, where the judge imposes a sentence, decided elsewhere, that is often equal to the length of time already served. Hundreds of Kabyles are rotting in prison under Article 87(bis) that widened the definition of terrorism. It’s the case of Kamira Nait Sid, Mohand Taferka, and many others. Cherif Mellal, has been remanded to custody since January 2023. This so-called preventive custody is being renewed non-stop and his trial has yet to take place. 
Law abiding citizens are thus thrown in jail, sometimes tortured and maltreated, only to be punished and oppressed into submission and silence and to serve as an example to others. Kabylia, a rebellious region, is thus targeted to be tamed and silenced forever. 

Since the COVID pandemic, the region has witnessed an unprecedented level of violence from the state in the form of arrests with heavy and disproportionate sentences, police violence, cases of torture in police custody, suppression of civil society, complete lack of accountability on the part of the authorities, a gross disregard for the most basic human rights of millions of people residing in the region, the sheer abandon and punishment of the region during the pandemic, followed by the orchestration of a murder and the devastating wild fires of the August of 2021, all in an effort to punish this region and bring it to its knees for its determination to fight for freedom, human rights and justice.  

We strongly condemn these arrests and the treatment reserved to the detainees and their families and call on the international community to take note of this troubling trend before it reaches catastrophic proportions. We call on all human rights organizations to investigate this behavior by Algeria and hold it accountable in front of the international institutions.

We call on the Kabyle people to remain steadfast in their fight for what is right and just and for their freedoms and dignity. We call on all of them to exercise their ancestral solidarity during these times of strife and stand with the detainees and their families.

Kabyles for Human Rights is a human rights organization established in the United States. It advocates for human rights worldwide and in Kabylia in particular.

The Board of Directors