ALGERIA - Nov.8 - Human Rights Abuses.Amnesty International Amnesty International (AI,) human-rights organization founded in 1961 by Englishman Peter Benenson; it campaigns internationally against the detention of prisoners of conscience, for the fair trial of political prisoners, to abolish the death penalty and torture of in a report urges Algiers to investigate large-scale human rights abuses committed in the 8-year civil war and warns Pres. Bouteflika's efforts to bring peace are giving impunity IMPUNITY. Not being punished for a crime or misdemeanor committed. The impunity of crimes is one of the most prolific sources whence they arise. lmpunitas continuum affectum tribuit delinquenti. 4 Co. 45, a; 5 Co. 109, a. to offenders. It notes a significant drop in the level of violence (sparked by the army's 1992 cancellation of elections the Front Islamique Du Salut - FIS FIS n abbr (BRIT) (= Family Income Supplement) → ayuda estatal familiar - was poised to win). But it estimates 200 people are still being killed every month. The continuation of the killings has underscored the limits of the amnesty (or civil concord law) issued by Bouteflika more than a year ago. (While several thousand members of armed Islamic groups Armed Islamic Group French Groupe Islamique Armée (GIA) Algerian militant group. It was formed in 1992 after the government nullified the likely victory of the Islamic Salvation Front in 1991 legislative elections and was fueled by the repatriation of gave themselves up, radical organisations have pursued their fight against the army-dominated regime. Observers say part of the failure stems from the fact that the regime has tried to make peace in the same way as it waged war - in total opacity Refers to being "opaque," which means to prevent light from shining through. For example, in an image editing program, the opacity level for some function might range from completely transparent (0) to completely opaque (100). ). Amnesty, which over the years has accused both security forces and armed groups of abuses, calls on the government to declare the civil concord law null A character that is all 0 bits. Also written as "NUL," it is the first character in the ASCII and EBCDIC data codes. In hex, it displays and prints as 00; in decimal, it may appear as a single zero in a chart of codes, but displays and prints as a blank space. and void. It says the authorities did not even provide figures as to how many members of armed groups surrendered. Nor does the amnesty law An amnesty law is any law that retroactively exempts a select group of people, usually military leaders and government leaders, from criminal liability for crimes committed.[1] Most allegations involve human rights abuses and crimes against humanity. appear to have differentiated, as it was supposed to, between those who killed and others who simply provided logistical support for extremist groups. In all, says Amnesty, only 350 people who surrendered under the law were prosecuted. It adds: "Only be clarifying the truth about what has happened in Algeria... establishing accountability for past and current human rights abuses... can confidence in the justice system be restored and human rights be guaranteed - elements essential for a lasting peace". It stresses concerns that state-armed militias, which it has suspected in past reports of involvement and killings, have not been brought under the effective control of the law and their members are not held accountable for their actions. It also calls on the government to investigate the whereabouts of thousands of Algerians who have disappeared, allegedly at the hands of security forces. |
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