Under the headline: "Algeria slides into a new era of repression", the newspaper "Le Monde" published a file on the situation of human rights and freedoms in Algeria, against the backdrop of the case of the Algerian opposition Amira Bouraoui, who is wanted by the Algerian authorities, and who was "smuggled" by the French embassy in Tunisia to France.
At the height of repression. "Fear is coming back strongly"
Nearly four years after the major wave of peaceful Hirak demonstrations, the climate has intensified to the point of causing a mass exodus of journalists and civil society activists. Like Ms. Bouraoui, dissidents are fleeing Algeria whose atmosphere, they say, has become "unbreathable."
The country is in a state of complete authoritarian drift, waiting at any moment for the arrest of those who stood out so much during the Hirak, especially those who continued to act after stifling popular mobilization in the spring of 2020, due to Covid restrictions.
They have fled by the thousands to France and elsewhere in Europe or Canada. Some passed through Tunisia, a perilous phase since Algeria consolidated its influence over Kais Saied's regime.
Ms. Bouraoui owes her redemption only for possessing a French passport, unlike others, such as Slimane Bouhafs, a sympathizer of the Movement for Self-Determination in Kabylie (MAK), who was kidnapped by "strangers" in August 2021 in the heart of Tunis and forcibly returned to Algeria.
"We have entered a dictatorship"
In an interview with Le Monde, Algerian researcher Mouloud Boumghar, a professor of public law at the University of Picardy in France, said that the Algerian regime has changed in its nature for fear that the street will jeopardize its survival and harden due to the melting of its social base. It is also an increasingly overt "camp" the army is a king who does not rule but has the final say on important matters.
The researcher also considered that the Algerian regime was authoritarian with room for freedoms, but it has become more authoritarian than before, saying that the country has now entered a dictatorial phase for several reasons: questioning of pluralism, political exploitation to accuse terrorism, on a very large scale, and a political context characterized by militarization and supposed conservative chauvinism.
On the other hand, Le Monde said that the Algerian regime benefited from a double blessing: first aid came from the Covid crisis that justified the ban on gatherings. Then came the conflict in Ukraine, which caused fuel prices to rise, as gas rents allowed the Algerian regime, in light of the West's reluctance to buy social peace.
The growing risks of France's Algerian bet
On the other hand, the case of Amira Bouraoui, the Algerian opposition who holds a French passport, has led to an escalation of diplomatic fever between Paris and Algeria, adding another crisis to many others in the past. But despite everything, France is sticking to the policy of rapprochement with Algeria, which is already costly in its relationship with Morocco.
By insisting on developing its relationship with Algeria, Paris is angering its traditional ally Morocco. But the newspaper ruled out that the current storm could affect the fundamentals of the Maghreb's presidential approach.
The question of balance between the two enemy brothers in the Maghreb, whose enmity has been exacerbated for two years with the return of the dispute over Western Sahara, would undermine Paris' diplomacy between the two allies. It is enough to see the disillusionment that is spreading between Paris and Rabat. The strategic bifurcation with Morocco, which is suffering greatly from the loss of its status as a privileged ally of France and now speaks only of "diversifying its partnerships", is the main risk of Emmanuel Macron's Algerian bet. Added to this is the nature of the Algerian regime.
"The trap of memory reconciliation"
Xavier Drencourt, the former French ambassador to Algiers, said that "Macron has a lot of illusions about Tebboune," adding that the reconciliation of memory advocated by the Elysee dweller is a "trap." As for the flight to the repressive forward of the Algerian regime, it now directly affects, together with the case of Amira Bouraoui, a diplomatic relationship that Paris would have liked to isolate from purely political positions.
Tags:
africaaustralia