Amnesty International calls on Algeria to facilitate investigations of human rights violations

The Amnesty International on Friday called on the Algerian authorities to stop " obstructing investigations on human rights violations " which it described as " grave " calling on Algeria to form a neutral and independent committee in order to investigate killing and kidnapping operations carried out in the country during the 10 past years.

The call of the Amnesty International comes few days before the date of the trial due to start in Paris next Monday relating to the case filed by the former Algerian defense minister Khaled Nizar against the former army officer in the Algerian army Habib Sawadeyah under the charge of defaming following observations made by the retired general on a French TV channel in May 2001.

Amnesty said that Sawadeyah stated serious accusations adding with the continued wait by thousands of families after periods of ten years to know what happened to their relatives who were killed or disappeared, it is time for an initiative by the Algerian authorities to fulfil their due international obligations through taking actual steps to reveal the reality of these crimes and several other similar crimes. Sawadeyah, however, is the composer of a book appeared in 2001 under the title "the dirty war" in which he gives details on the torturing and the assassination operations outside the confines of the law and other "gross human rights violations committed by the Algerian security forces and the militias armed by the Algerian state."