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Interview with Nassera Dutour, SOS disparus President
When was SOS Disparus (SOS disappeared persons) born? what is its principal objective?The first office of SOS Disparus was opened in Algiers in September 2001. Its principal mission is to help the families of disappeared persons take administrative and legal actions. First, we receive family members and take down their testimonies in order to create a file for each disappeared person. Next, it is a question of helping the families to lodge complaints, and explain to them their most fundamental rights, which include the right to know and the right to justice.
Was it difficult to create this association? what were (or are) the obstacles?
The CFDA (Association of the Families of Disappeared Persons in Algeria) was created in Paris, spurred on by the mothers of disappeared persons. As of August 1998, actions were taken. The association was officially created in 1999 within the framework of the French law on non-profit-making associations (loi de 1901). In order to give structure to and broaden the network, it became necessary to create an association in Algeria. This is how the first branch of SOS Disparus was born in Algiers in September, 2001. Other branches were opened in Oran and Relizane in the west of the country in 2004. Committees have been set up in various regions of Algeria, and kept alive thanks to volunteers. In addition to security, the obstacles have been many. On various occasions, our meetings (held each Wednesday before the CNCPPDH (National Consultative Commission for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights)) have been broken up and brutally repressed. Relatives of disappeared persons have been arrested, harassed and manhandled.
Has pressure been put on you by the authorities?
Various types of pressure are exerted in Algeria. To start with, the Algiers branch is obliged to change premises each year; owners are afraid of reprisals and refuse to renew our leases. Furthermore, our offices are regularly broken into and searched, and State agents are sent on a regular basis to survey comings and goings in front of our offices. Journalists have orders to “boycott” our press releases. Likewise, any actions we undertake encounter obstacles. The campaign against the referendum for the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation was brutally stopped before it got off the ground. The families of disappeared persons have been menaced with “disappearing like their relatives” (anonymous phone calls, searches, etc.)
A seminar organized last February in Algiers for “the establishment of truth, peace and conciliation” was forbidden by authorities. International personalities have great difficulty obtaining visas to come to events that we organize, or inspect our projects.
Is it always difficult to create new associations in Algeria, or does it depend upon the nature of the association? are there any taboo subjects?
In effect, it all depends on the nature of the association’s activity. Only seven associations, whose primary mission is to support Human Rights, officially exist in Algeria. This is very little for a country which is just coming out of a crisis period that caused over 200,000 victims. If an association orients its activities to conform to the established order of the Algerian government, it can exercise its activity with no difficulty. On the other hand, associations that act outside of the predetermined framework established by authorities will be infiltrated and annihilated. The primary taboo subject is Human Rights support.
In your opinion, what must change first in order to improve freedom of association in Algeria?
The administration must respect the law on associations and apply the declarative system provided for in the Law of 1991. It must also repeal certain clauses of this law, such as the measures which oblige associations to obtain prior authorization from the Ministry of Interior before being able to receive funds from abroad.
But above all, the emergency state which has been illegally maintained since 1993 must be lifted, along with the restrictions on freedom of association, assembly and expression brought about by this situation.
Interview carried out in December 2007
Various types of pressure are exerted in Algeria. To start with, the Algiers branch is obliged to change premises each year; owners are afraid of reprisals and refuse to renew our leases. Furthermore, our offices are regularly broken into and searched, and State agents are sent on a regular basis to survey comings and goings in front of our offices. Journalists have orders to “boycott” our press releases. Likewise, any actions we undertake encounter obstacles. The campaign against the referendum for the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation was brutally stopped before it got off the ground. The families of disappeared persons have been menaced with “disappearing like their relatives” (anonymous phone calls, searches, etc.)
A seminar organized last February in Algiers for “the establishment of truth, peace and conciliation” was forbidden by authorities. International personalities have great difficulty obtaining visas to come to events that we organize, or inspect our projects.
Is it always difficult to create new associations in Algeria, or does it depend upon the nature of the association? are there any taboo subjects?
In effect, it all depends on the nature of the association’s activity. Only seven associations, whose primary mission is to support Human Rights, officially exist in Algeria. This is very little for a country which is just coming out of a crisis period that caused over 200,000 victims. If an association orients its activities to conform to the established order of the Algerian government, it can exercise its activity with no difficulty. On the other hand, associations that act outside of the predetermined framework established by authorities will be infiltrated and annihilated. The primary taboo subject is Human Rights support.
In your opinion, what must change first in order to improve freedom of association in Algeria?
The administration must respect the law on associations and apply the declarative system provided for in the Law of 1991. It must also repeal certain clauses of this law, such as the measures which oblige associations to obtain prior authorization from the Ministry of Interior before being able to receive funds from abroad.
But above all, the emergency state which has been illegally maintained since 1993 must be lifted, along with the restrictions on freedom of association, assembly and expression brought about by this situation.
Interview carried out in December 2007
