U.S. “Democracy” in Algeria

06 October, 2006

By: Dr. Steven Harris

Source: AlJazeera


"Our commitment to democracy is being tested in the Middle East," George Bush said in a televised Washington speech in defence of US democracy.

Some governments in the region were "beginning to see the need for change", he said, citing Morocco, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Yemen. Thursday, 6 November, 2003

One of the post-invasion reasons given by George Bush for the justification of the presence of over 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq was that they ‘ would help build democracy'. Residents and observers of the Middle East could be forgiven for choking on that statement given the U.S. record of not only supporting but imposing dictators in the Middle East - from the Shah of Iran to Saddam Hussein himself. The recent Palestinian elections resulted in a clear victory for Hamas. The result - not only was all U.S. and European funding cut off, but friendly governments and people who were willing to step in have been prevented from doing so. It is of course the U.S. government's right to stop funding but it has surely no right to prevent other governments from donating money to the Palestinian people.

However, the great Middle East ‘democracy' that is Algeria, is rarely mentioned by the great liberator in the White House. A look at Algerian democracy and human rights might surprise those who still believe that the U.S. is actually interested in democracy in the Muslim world.

In December 1991, Algeria has the first (and last) free multi-party elections since the liberation from France in 1962. The two main parties were National Liberation Front (FLN) and the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS).

The FIS won the first round of the country's first multiparty elections by a large majority. Under the electoral rules, there was to a second round of voting in areas where one party had secured less than 50%of the vote. From the first round it became obvious that the FIS was on course to win a two-thirds majority. What happened next is an exmaple of European and American comitment to democracy in the Middle East.

The Algerian military then canceled the second round, forced then-president Bendjedid to resign, and banned the Islamic Salvation Front. This needs to spelt out again; an election was cancelled and a party on course to secure more than two-thirds of the popular vote in a free and fair election was banned! On January 13, 1992, following the military coup that upset Algeria's burgeoning democratic system, the United States issued a formal but low-key statement condemning the military takeover. Twenty-four hours later, Department of State spokesmen retracted the statement, calling for a peaceful resolution but offering no condemnation of the coup.

The ensuing brutal crackdown by the military has engulfed Algeria in a violent Civil War. No accurate figures are available but the estimate is that at least 100,000 people were killed, often in unprovoked massacres of civilians. In 2002, The UN Special Rapporteurs on torture and on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions were refused access to Algeria throughout the year. The Algerian government rejected calls by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Union, the G8 and others for the Special Rapporteurs to be allowed to visit the country to investigate human rights issues. It also rejected an attempt by the UN Secretary-General to discuss the situation. Amnesty International and other international human rights organizations were refused access to the country throughout the year.

Post 9/11, the US has gone from being a silent spectator to one of the world's most brutal civil wars caused by the cancellation of a fair election to supporting the Algerian government. In 2002 the United States said that it will supply equipment to help the Algerian Government in its fight against Islamic militants. The Algeria military junta pledged support for the U.S. anti-terrorism campaign, and the Assistant Secretary of State William Burns visited Algiers and announced that the U.S. was drafting a proposal to congress on increasing military aid to assist Algeria's counterterrorism capabilities. "Washington has much to learn from Algeria on ways to fight terrorism," Mr Burns told the New York Times. The fighters in Afghanistan and Iraq would no doubt agree.

The supply of weaponry to the Algerian security forces caused outrage by human rights groups who have clearly stated that the Algerian government used "arbitrary arrest, disappearances and torture" in its war against armed Islamic militants. Earlier in 2002 even the British Ambassador, Graham Hand Stewart, was quoted by an Algerian newspaper as saying that the Algerian security forces were brutal and acted outside the law.

If the U.S. thought that closer military ties might improve Algeria's human rights record, then they were at best delusional. In February 27, 2003, Human Rights Watch declared that Algerian security forces made "disappear" at least 7,000 persons, more than the number recorded in any other country during the past decade except wartime Bosnia.

To date, the Algerian authorities have utterly failed to investigate these "disappearances" or to provide families with answers about the fate of their loved ones. None of the missing has returned and no one has been held accountable for their "disappearance."

Why this blatant hypocrisy with elections in Lebanon and elsewhere? Perhaps as usual the answer is found not only in the fear that the FIS was a genuinely popular Islamic party, but also in Algeria's huge mineral wealth.

As of 2005, Algeria had 160 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of proven natural gas reserves, the seventh-largest in the world. Algeria's recoverable natural gas potential, however, may be as high as 282 Tcf. Algeria is a major natural gas exporter, mostly to Europe and the United States. Algeria accounts for one-fifth of the EU natural gas imports in 2000, second only to Russia. The hydrocarbons sector is the backbone of the economy, accounting for roughly 60% of budget revenues, 30% of GDP, and over 95% of export earnings. Algeria has the seventh-largest reserves of natural gas in the world and is the second-largest gas exporter; it ranks 14th in oil reserves.

The lessons are therefore clear from Palestine to Algeria; the U.S. does want democracy but only if you vote for a pro-western government. Otherwise, everything ranging from economic sanctions to brutal military repression may follow.

The people of Iraq and Afghanistan could be forgiven therefore for not giving the U.S. the benefit of the doubt on this one.
Results of 1991 Elections by party


Party---------------Votes---------------Share of Vote---------------Seats

FIS-----------------3,260,359-----------47.3%----------------------188

FLN----------------1,613,507------------23.4%-----------------------15

FFS------------------510,661--------------7.4%-----------------------25

Hamas--------------368,697--------------5.3%------------------------0

RCD----------------200,267--------------2.9%------------------------0

Ennahda------------150,093-------------2.2%------------------------0

MDA-----------------135,882-------------2.0%------------------------0

PRA-------------------67,828--------------1.0%-----------------------0

PNSD-----------------48,208-------------0.7%-----------------------0

PSD-------------------28,638-------------0.4%-----------------------0

MAJD-----------------27,623-------------2.6%-----------------------0

Other parties---------176,332------------2.6%-----------------------0

Independents---------309,624-----------4.5%-----------------------3


Total------------------6,897,906---------100%--------------------231


Turnout: 7,822,625 (59%)

Valid votes cast: 6,897,906 (52%)