Algeria's upcoming presidential elections are set to produce no surprises as Bouteflika maintains his grip on power, writes Amira Howeidy Next week Algerians will cast their votes to elect a president who, in true Arab elections tradition, will be the incumbent, 72-year-old Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika, president since 1999. Having amended the constitution last November to allow the president to be elected beyond the previously restricted two consecutive terms, Bouteflika will now have five more years in office to maintain the status quo. In his past 10 years in office, Bouteflika failed to meet his 1999 electoral promises of restoring peace and reconciliation in troubled Algeria. The violence that once marked Algeria's daily life in the 1990s might have subsided relatively, but in the meantime, political participation was put on hold and freedom of expression curtailed under tough laws that proscribe prison terms for critics of the government. In this environment, the aftermath of the bloody conflict between the Algerian army and rebel militants, which resulted in the killing of 200,000 people and the disappearance of thousands more during the 1990s, has been largely ignored by the authorities. Now that he is campaigning for re-election, Bouteflika is resorting to the same promises again. In an election rally earlier this week, Bouteflika called on Al-Qaeda militants to lay down their arms and hand themselves over in return for a "general pardon". Ten years ago Bouteflika made the same offer to the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) and the armed wing of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), the Islamic Salvation Army (AIS). In 1992 the army scrapped elections that the FIS were poised to win, triggering a wave of violence that rocked the country for years. FIS leaders were sent to prison and splinter groups such as the AIS and GIA engaged in a war with the army. By the time Bouteflika came to power in 1999 the security situation had improved mainly due to the army's capabilities, but no political solution was reached. Recent years have seen the emergence of Al-Qaeda cells. Political violence is still very much a fixture in Algeria. The run up to the elections has been marred with violence against the security apparatus. In February, 33 people, mostly policemen, were killed in attacks. Bouteflika's main contenders are Moussa Touati, president of the Algerian National Front (FNA), Louisa Hanoune, head of the Trotskyist Workers' Party, Mohamed Rebaine, of the nationalist 'Ahd 54 Party, Mohamed Said of the Liberal and Justice Party, and Mohamed Djahid Younsi of the Islamist Al-Islah movement. With the exception of Hanoune, none of the contenders enjoys grassroots support or a political history. And all, observers say, stand no chance of winning. With one week to go before the elections, calls for a boycott -- supported by veteran politicians -- are gaining momentum as criticism of Bouteflika's policies is on the rise. In this climate, the London-based Amnesty International issued a report Monday addressed to the "next Algerian president" to "take concrete steps to end impunity". A statement issued by the human rights group urged the country's next leader to address the legacy of human rights abuses of the 1990s and respond to "thousands of victims let down by the authorities". The Amnesty report accuses Algerian security forces and state-armed militias of "massive" human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings. They were also responsible, the report alleges, of numerous enforced disappearances, secret and arbitrary detentions and torture and other ill treatment of thousands of real or suspected members or supporters of armed groups. Armed groups also committed widespread human rights abuses, including the killing of civilians, abductions, torture and rape. Most of the crimes were never investigated and the perpetrators were never held to account. "Algeria's new president needs to seize the opportunity of a new mandate to tackle the culture of impunity which has prevailed since the 1990s," said Philip Luther, acting director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme. "How can there be genuine national reconciliation if the authorities are yet to establish the truth about past and ongoing crimes and justice for the victims?" he asked. The Amnesty report, entitled A Legacy of Impunity: A Threat to Algeria's Future, argues that measures instigated and promoted by Bouteflika have prevented victims and their families from obtaining the truth, justice and reparations. Legislation adopted in 2006 also muzzles voices critical of the conduct of authorities during the internal conflict by threatening them with prison terms of up to five years. "The blanket amnesties granted successively to armed groups and later to members of the security apparatus are an additional wound inflicted on the victims and their families," said Philip Luther. "Instead of granting impunity to perpetrators, thereby encouraging further abuses, the authorities should restore the dignity of victims by sending out a strong message that such crimes will no longer be tolerated." The report points out that the authorities are actively seeking to "erase the memory" of the internal conflict without dealing with its consequences on victims and the general human rights situation, and to shut down debate and criticism. Despite this climate, families of victims and activists have been vocal in demanding investigations into human rights abuses and justice for perpetrators, sometimes at the risk of harassment. The report points to the case of Louisa Sake, who has not seen or heard from her husband since he was arrested in 1994. She was convicted in 2008 of participating in an unauthorised march because she demonstrated with families of the disappeared in the northeast city of Constantine. Nonetheless, she is determined to continue her struggle to uncover the truth about what happened to her husband. "Families of victims of enforced disappearance are unable to mourn and achieve closure so long as their ordeal continues to be ignored," said Luther. "They are pressured into accepting death certificates and financial assistance whereas they are demanding truth and justice." And yet, says the report, Algerian authorities are now "repeating the same argument of security threats and counter-terrorism that they used during the [1990s] internal conflict to justify ongoing human rights violations." Security forces, and particularly the Department of Information and Security, continue to detain terrorism suspects incommunicado in secret detention, at times for periods lasting weeks or even months, and subject them to torture and unfair trials in a climate of near total impunity. In his latest election rally, Bouteflika offered, again, pardons to militants and warnings to those "who hate Algeria". It sums up his policy of the last decade where "pardoned" militants and FIS leaders who completed their prison sentences were deprived of their political rights and where the military junta maintains full control of Algeria without regard for appearances.
