Amnesty claims state forces use summary executions

ALGERIAN government forces use the "anti-terrorist fight" to justify summary executions, says an Amnesty International report. The government dismisses the institutionalised use of torture as "mistakes" or "excesses", according to Algeria, Fear and silence: A hidden human rights Crisis, published by the human rights group.

Amnesty has interviewed families forced to sign declarations saying their sons, brothers or husbands were "killed by terrorists" when the families knew they were killed by security forces.

For its part, the Algerian armed opposition is also guilty of murdering civilians, rape and torture, all in the name of jihad, or "holy war". Amnesty says: "Both security forces and armed opposition groups have shown utter disregard for the most basic human right of the civilian population - the right to life". Algerian civilians lead a night-marish existence, not knowing who will attack them, when or why.

Amnesty denounces the government-backed militias, which call themselves "self-defence groups" or "patriots". The groups are armed by the government but are not held accountable. Like the security forces and the guerrillas, the militias also murder arbitrarily. Militiamen interviewed by Amnesty said they kill all "terrorists" they capture because if the rebels were turned over to the government they might be released. One militia member said: "If they kill one of my relatives I will kill their entire families."

One policeman whose brother was a member of the banned Islamic Salvation Front was interviewed by Amnesty. He knows his brother is in the hands of Algerian military security, but cannot help him. "My brother is not the only one in that situation," the policeman said. "Hundreds of others have disappeared; I think many were killed soon after they were arrested." Merely to ask about his brother would make the policeman a suspect in the eyes of the authorities.

Dozens of Algerian women have been raped by the armed groups, Amnesty says. They were often kidnapped from their homes, in front of their relatives. Some were as young as 16.

Algerian authorities have taken no serious measures to stop institutionalised torture. The most common methods, according to the report, are the "chiffon", where the victim is forced to drink dirty water and chemicals until he or she chokes; the "chalumeau" or blowtorch, used to burn sensitive parts of the body; and electric shocks and beatings.