by Rosa van den Berg
December 10 is Human Rights Day, and as always Amnesty International is running its global Write for Rights campaign to demand justice for those who have been treated unfairly. This year, among others, we will write for a prominent Algerian journalist named Khaled Drareni. He has become a symbol of freedom of expression in Algeria, or rather, the lack thereof. In March he was arrested, for merely doing his job, covering the events of the peaceful Hirak-protest and the subsequent repression of activists by security forces. Drareni is not the only prisoner of conscience currently in jail, other activists have been locked up as well, especially since the government started using the pandemic as an opportunity to crackdown on the movement. In this background article I will shed some light on the situation by answering four questions surrounding the causes, the nature, the achievements and the future of the Hirak.
What led up to the Hirak?
The immediate trigger that started what would become more than a year of protesting, was the announcement of then president Bouteflika on February 10th, 2019 that he was pursuing a fifth term as president. At this point, he had been in office for 20 years, and his health had declined considerably after a stroke in 2013. He could hardly speak and was rarely seen in public, at official events often only represented by a framed photo. It had become clear that the real powers resided with the army, and notably Army Chief of Staff Gaïd Salah, the de facto leader of Algeria. Bouteflika was pushed forward for another term in hopes of maintaining the status quo and with that the stability of a situation in which the army and its associates were profiting. However, this decision turned out to be a miscalculation on part of the ruling elites, who thoroughly underestimated the sentiments among the civilian population.
Former president Bouteflika attending an official event in his wheelchair.
The president's announcement of a fifth term took place in a context of long-lived civilian discontent about the political situation and the corruption in the country. After independence from France in 1962, the first free elections took place in 1991. Nonetheless, when it became clear that the Islamic Salvation Front was about to be elected, the army staged a coup d’état to prevent them from coming into power. What followed was a bloody civil war. After that period, elections have taken place, but never free of manipulation, leading to a merely pseudodemocratic system. Most decisions are made by a few elites, called ‘le pouvoir’ (the power) and freedom of expression is limited. The current population is overwhelmingly young (70% is under 30 years old) and has never known another president than Bouteflika. However, most were also born after the dark times of the civil war.
With the economic situation of the on oil and gas dependent country deteriorating since 2014, the socioeconomic grievances of the middle class aggravated as well. Unemployment rose, while living standards dropped significantly. The oil and gas profits were only benefiting a handful of elites. This led to an anti-establishment sentiment. Soon, the protest that started as a means to oust the president, evolved to a call for complete system change.
What characterizes the Hirak?
The streets of Algiers crowded with protesters during a demonstration.
Source: The North Africa Post.
The Hirak, meaning ‘movement’ in Arabic, is above all a peaceful, pro-democracy protest movement. One could often hear the masses chant “peaceful, peaceful” during the demonstrations, to express the non-violent intentions. At its heights, millions of people were marching through the streets of major cities all over Algeria, mostly on Fridays after prayer and for students on Tuesdays as well. Furthermore, support rallies in foreign countries like France and the US were held by members of the diaspora. In its nature, the movement was spontaneous and ‘leaderless’ (meaning no centralized leadership or formal structure), being efficiently spread through social media. This led to a shared feeling of responsibility for the movement and had the advantage of being hard to control or hijack by the regime.
From the beginning, with the first mass demonstration on February 22nd, 2019, the movement has attracted people from a whole range of social, religious and economic backgrounds. The movement unified the people under one shared humanitarian goal, and its positive energy and the use of humor led to the nickname ‘Revolution of Smiles’.
These tweets offer an insight into the morale of the protesters in March. Left top: Someone tweets a photo of a woman holding a sign stating ‘Revolution of Smiles’. Right top: “For an Algeria of all tastes and living together where all freedoms are respected without exclusion”, sharing a picture with Algerian and Amazigh flags. Bottom left: Various leaders are symbolically being thrown in the garbage. Bottom right: Some humorous signs spotted in the demo, for example: ‘MAL BARRÉ your system seriously harms our sanity’. Screenshots made by author.
The Hirak generated an optimism and hope for the future of Algeria rarely witnessed before. As we can see for example in this widely shared graffiti quote saying: “For the first time, I don’t want to leave you, my Algeria”. Artists brought hope by expressing themselves, like ‘the ballerina’ who became an emblematic figure symbolizing freedom.
Left: Tweet of the graffiti quote “For the first time, I don’t want to leave you, my Algeria”. Right: Instagram post of ‘the ballerina’. Screenshots made by author.
Women rights groups also played a major role in the protests, advocating for greater gender equality and an end to gender-based violence. They created a collective that gathered on the feminist square during the Friday protests to promote the political role of women.
On the left: Tweet celebrating International Women’s Day during the protests. Screenshot made by author.
The movement mainly consisted of demonstrations, sit-ins, strikes and digital activism, but also acts of civil disobedience. In the beginning, the slogans that were used in the streets, mainly focused on refusing Bouteflika his fifth term. Later on, the slurs became broader, and were directed towards the ‘gangsters’ of le pouvoir . “[Dawla madania, machi aaskaria] - A civilian state, not a military one” was to be heard in the streets, expressing the demand to remove the army from the political spheres. In a spontaneous street interview on national television a youth coined “[Yetnahaw gaâ] - They all should go”. The slogan quickly gained popularity, since most Hirak protesters were not satisfied with just Bouteflika gone, whom they viewed as an army pawn that would be just as easily replaced with another pawn. They longed for a completely new system, one in which everyone close to the current power would be removed. However, a ‘leaderless’ movement can have its downside when it comes to making concrete decisions and proposing broadly supported demands.
What did the Hirak bring about?
Protesters in Algiers celebrating the withdrawal of Bouteflika. Source: The Wallstreet Journal.
After weeks of protesting, the army realized they could not ignore the masses of people on the streets, and pressured Bouteflika to resign, which he did on the 2nd of April. Street celebrations broke out, yet, given that this was not the protesters only demand, the Hirak did not end here and demonstrations continued. For a while, the army tried to present itself as a supporter of the protesters and was forthcoming by bringing down some high profile politicians and businessmen in anti-corruption cases (however, they might have profited from this themselves the most, since the charged elites were inner circle competitors). The army signed out elections, but the only candidates were of the former regime, so the protesters were not satisfied, and the elections were postponed twice. However, eventually they were rescheduled to December 12, 2019, with just five candidates, all from the old order, not one promising change. This was met with resistance from protesters, who viewed the elections as a complete sham and called for a boycott. Election day took place in turmoil, and the turnout was a record low with less than 40% of eligible voters casting their vote (8% according to the opposition). Civilians had heeded the call to boycott, once more revealing the force of the movement.
Tweet protesting the election, with the five candidates visualized as garbage.
Screenshot made by author.
Despite the low turnout, the government proudly announced army-backed, former prime-minister Abdelmadjid Tebboune as victorious with approximately 58% of the votes. Tebboune promised to make concessions to the protesters and bring about change in the form of a new constitution. Still, he appointed ministers mainly from the previous regime and handpicked the lawyers that were to write the new constitution. The government was facing a major legitimacy crisis.
Freshly elected president Abdelmadjid Tebboune at a press conference in Algiers.
Not surprisingly, the new constitution draft did not meet the protester’s demands. Changes have been minimal and in fact, more powers will go to the president. Despite another low turnout for the constitutional vote, it was accepted. The European Parliament expressed solidarity with the demonstrators and stated:
“The amendments dangerously maintain the domination of the executive branch over all institutions, including the judiciary, preserve harmful restrictions on rights and freedoms, and prevent effective independent oversight over the military and security forces.” Neither on paper, nor in practice have president Tebboune’s actions been hopeful for genuine change. In January, he signed a major pardon for prisoners, yet the Hiraki detainees have not benefited from this pardon and are still being jailed and mistreated in jail. On top of that, excessive force has been used on protesters by security forces to crush demonstrations, reportedly they have not shunned rubber bullets, tear gas, water cannons and batons.
Algerian students taking part in a demonstration.
Arbitrary arrests and unfounded charges have continued, even worsened during the pandemic. While the Hirak called for a suspension of mass demonstrations to prevent the spread of COVID, the regime forbade them altogether and used the strict corona measures and ensuing lockdowns to crackdown on activists and civil society.
Among them is prominent journalist Khaled Drareni, founder of the Casbah Tribune news website and correspondent for French TV5 Monde and Reporters without Borders. He has covered the Hirak from the start and live streamed the protests, also displaying the police brutality, for which he was eventually arrested in March. He was charged with ‘undermining national unity’ and sentenced to two years in prison on 15 September 2020.
Though he is the most known prisoner of Hirak right now, he is not the only prisoner of conscience currently in jail. There are many other leading Hirak figures being sentenced with vague charges such as ‘harming Algeria’s territorial integrity’ and ‘inciting an unarmed gathering’, like the head of the opposition Karim Tabbou, national coordinator of the families of disappeared Slimane Hamitouche, and political and human rights activists Samir Benlarbi, Ibrahim Daouadji and Abdelouahab Fersaoui. Amnesty International is calling on the authorities to cease the systematic judicial harassment of journalists and Heba Morayef, Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa Director, stated:
“The authorities must immediately and unconditionally release all peaceful activists detained solely for expressing their views online and offline and/or calling for a democratic change”.
Woman protesting the arrest of Karim Tabbou. Source: Amnesty.
What is happening right now?
Since the start of the pandemic, the mass demonstrations have been suspended, but in October, some protesters have taken up demonstrating in the streets again, defying government regulations by organizing sit-ins for Drareni and other prisoners of conscience. Digital activism has never ceased, and new initiatives were started, like a pirate radio station named Radio Corona Internationale “to keep the flame of the revolution alive”. The big question now is, if the physical mass demonstrations of Hirak will resume and if the movement can regain momentum once the pandemic has blown over. Experts hold different opinions, so only time can tell. At least we can conclude that the Hirak has changed the political landscape of Algeria and has brought many civilians hope and a positive outlook on the future. It has shown that with persistence, change is possible. The smiles of the revolution have not soured and can return after a long breath.
Facebook post of a demonstration taking place on December 7 2020, stating:
“Free Khaled Drareni / Free the Algerian press / Journalism is not a crime / Free the prisoners of conscience.”
In the meanwhile, it is important that the international community does not look away from the injustices that are taking place. What you can do is write a letter. Let Algeria’s government know that the eyes of the world are upon them, and that we expect the release of Khaled Drareni and all prisoners of conscience. Also, do not forget to send a letter to Drareni himself, to show him your solidarity and to let him know he is not alone in these challenging times.
Invitation for members of AISU and anyone interested: our Write for Rights committee will be hosting a writing session with live music and a speaker on the 10th of December, be there at 19:00!
Sources
Papers
Abouzzohour, Y. (2020). COVID in the Maghreb: Responses and Impacts, p.51-54. In: The COVID-19 Pandemic in the Middle East and North Africa.
Bentahar, Z. (2020). ‘Ytnahawga’!’: Algeria’s Cultural Revolution and the Role of Language in the Early Stages of the Spring 2019 Hirak, Journal of African Cultural Studies.
Ouaissa, R. (2020). Algeria: Between Transformation and Re-Configuration, p. 51-64. In: Re-Configurations: Contextualising transformation processes and lasting crises in the Middle East and North Africa.
Volpi, F. (2020). Algeria: When Elections Hurt Democracy, Journal of Democracy.
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