Even Abdelaziz Bouteflika and the formidable general “Toufik” (the master spy of Algiers for twenty-five years, until 2015) had not dared to touch “the league”. Since coming to power, in 2019, after the popular uprising of the Hirak against a fifth term of Bouteflika, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, champion of “New Algeria”, closed the trap on pro -democracy activists. Algeria now has at least 215 opinion detainees, all civil society organizations have been muzzled, such as the media, condemned to obey or die. The Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights, created in 1985, paid the price, dissolved in 2022.
Exiled in France, one of the figures of this organization reformed it in the Paris region. Adel Boucherguine tells L’Express the pressures suffered by the Algerian diaspora in France and regrets diplomatic climbing between Paris and Algiers, instrumentalized by “actors of the two banks who have an interest in the bidding”. He recalls that in Algeria “the disenchantment between governed and rulers has never been so great”. And that the Hirak did not say its last word, far from it: on the contrary, “all the ingredients are gathered for it to leave”. Interview.
L’Express: The Algerian League safeguard collective for the defense of human rights filed its statutes at the end of the year at the Seine-Saint-Denis prefecture. What is your goal?
Adel Boucherguine: Our only watchword is to continue the fight of the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights, dissolved in 2022 – which had never happened, even at the worst hours of the dark decade: denouncing the blush Freedoms, training activists, alerting international and national public opinion, building initiatives to work for the liberation of more than 200 opinion prisoners.
And above all, work for the repeal of article 87 bis of the penal code [NDLR : invoqué dans l’arrestation de Boualem Sansal, il punit “tout acte terroriste ou subversif, tout acte visant la sûreté de l’Etat, l’intégrité du territoire, la stabilité et le fonctionnement normal des institutions” par des sanctions extrêmement lourdes]. Under this article, all of Algeria becomes a potential terrorist. The authorities no longer want witnesses to the programmed death of freedom.
Today, there are several categories of activists: in prison, under judicial supervision and under the prohibition to leave the national territory. There are those who are forced to slip away because they have family pressure, children or older parents they want to be able to protect. Finally, there are the exiles, like us. Algerian power does not want a strong diaspora, organized, with ideas, associations that strengthen the bilateral relationship. He only wants a clientele to his image and his service. The few individuals who have just been arrested for appeal to violence and hatred on French territory can correspond to such a profile.
How do you look at the current diplomatic escalation between Paris and Algiers?
We observe the situation with perplexity and concern. Why now, and why such an intensity? Is it the French positioning on the Sahrawi issue? Impasse of the memorial work wanted and started by the two presidents? Or the political context in the two countries, with on both sides of the Mediterranean of actors who have an interest in the bidding, in particular the extreme right in France, which blows on the embers?
Probably the conjunction of all these factors. Be that as it may, we fear that this escalation does not affect the rights of these two deeply linked communities. We hope that binationals will not be summoned to make impossible choices in the event of a break, such as renouncing one of their nationalities.
Who are these “influencers” who call for violence on French soil?
At this stage, we do not know if these poorly inspired or poorly advised “influencers” have links with the Algerian regime. Their profile is however interesting: some would be prosecuted in Algeria, most of them have certainly fled misery to find themselves in Europe. According to the declarations of the French authorities, they are for the majority under OQTF [obligation de quitter le territoire français]. These people did everything to leave Algeria, and now, overnight, they loudly defend power. There is something to ask questions. Their case is now justice, far from political operations.
One thing is certain, the embassy networks and consulates in France have long used unhealthy practices against the diaspora opponents. The use of infrequent, even offenders, is a secret for anyone. I myself was the victim: small thugs tried to intimidate me place de la République, during a demonstration celebrating the third anniversary of the Hirak on February 22, 2019.
You say that embassy and consulates put pressure on Algerians in France. How do they do it?
These are practices specific to authoritarian regimes. The blackmail is a great classic. Here, people in an irregular situation have all the sorrows of the world to renew their passport with the consulates, their deliverance becomes a means of pressure like any other.
The consulates work with network heads, in relation to undocumented migrants. For example, they have often been mobilized to organize counter-rassions in the face of the pro-democracy marches. March 19, 2023, on the occasion of the “Victory Festival” [l’anniversaire du cessez-le-feu consécutif à la signature des accords d’Evian]a pro-Hirak demonstration was planned Place de la République. On the same day, an obscure collective organized a counter-demonstration of “patriots” to denounce the alleged attempts of interference and destabilization towards Algeria.
What do we know about the state of the regime today? Who pulls the strings?
Since independence, this has never changed: the army has always dominated political life in Algeria. At certain periods, it has more or less shared its influence with the intelligence services or the Presidency of the Republic. Large decisions are often the result of power relations between the different clans which share power. But it remains very difficult to read this “black box”.
Can Algerian or Franco-Algerian activists living in France still return to Algeria?
Many of these opponents no longer dare to travel there. Some must absolutely go there for family reasons. Several cases have been reported to us by activists forced to sign a written commitment to the Bobigny Consulate, for example, to renounce any political activity in exchange for being able to return to Algeria without being arrested.
Others have barely arrested at Algiers airport. We know the case of a Franco-Algerian who spent more than twenty-four hours in the basements of the airport, where the intelligence services are located. He was subjected to an endless interrogation, then was prevented from returning to France under the pretext that he was under a ban on leaving the national territory. He spent six months blocked in Algeria, lost his job and his accommodation in France. He ended up returning, but he no longer wants to touch politics!
Obviously, the Algerian regime does not want to forgive activists who, through their commitment, contributed to the Hirak, the popular uprising of February 22, 2019. The latter was the result of a long work of awareness and mobilization within the Algerian society. The candidacy for a fifth term of Abdelaziz Bouteflika was just the drop of water that overflowed the vase, it was experienced as an unbearable humiliation by the Algerians.
Does the Hirak still live or is this “parenthesis” closed?
It is not. All the ingredients are gathered for it to leave. Besides, the hashtag #manich radi [“je ne suis pas satisfait”] Ascends on social networks in recent weeks. Algerians denounce repression, economic and social problems … They claim peaceful change.
The need for democratic change is urgent, the desire to turn the page on authoritarianism and immobility is shared by a large part of the Algerians, wherever they are. The disenchantment between governed and governors has never been so great, anger is there, silent and unpredictable.
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