Government may have ordered journalists' murders, says report

THE Algerian government has persistently harassed and muzzled the media and is even suspected of ordering the murder of some journalists, according to a new report by the Paris-based press association, Reporters Without Borders.

The study, entitled "Algeria, the Civil War Behind Closed Doors was written with the support of the European Commission.

Sixty-nine journalists have been assassinated in Algeria since May 1993. Most of the killings were attributed to Islamists who are fighting to overthrow the government.

But suspicions linger regarding the killings of at least four prominent journalists, two of whom - Tahar Djaout and Said Mekbel - criticised the government as eloquently as they flayed the Islamists.

"Many professional journalists admit in private that the government is behind certain assassinations, but all say they fear for their lives if they make their knowledge public," the report states.

"Under cover of anonymity, most accuse the government, some of its clans or shady financial groupings close to the centres of decision with ordering these murders," it says.

Reporters Without Borders cites President Liamine Zeroual six months ago: "I confirm the freedom of expression as a right ... it is pure disinformation to say that the State wants to control the press," Mr Zeroual said. Yet a

September 1992 decree on "terrorism and subversion" allows the minister of the interior to suspend newspapers or arrest journalists at will.

Since Algeria's first democratic parliamentary elections were cancelled in January 1992, newspapers have been seized, suspended or banned 58 times, 39 journalists have been arrested and 23 have gone to prison.

The government controls paper supplies and printing presses, as well as 85 per cent of the advertising market. Since February 1996, the government has installed "reading committees" in printing plants.

An Orwellian decision by the ministries of the interior and communications, dated June 7th, 1994 instructs newspaper editors to "foresee, counter and conquer adverse rumour and propaganda" and "reduce the psychological grip of terrorists" through the use of "appropriate terminology".

Security information should be "systematically covered on inside pages". Editors must tell readers that "only prison or death" await "terrorists", thanks to "the efficiency of the security forces, who ... always catch the guilty". The press is to emphasise "the losses of the enemy, the betrayal and cowardice of those who are arrested and the heavy penalties handed, down by the special courts."

Two subjects - human rights violations and criticism of the government-backed militias - are taboo. Unfavourable coverage of these leads invariably to newspaper shutdowns.

However flawed, the Algerian media are the main source of information about the civil war. In the past two days, they have brought to light the killing of 43 Islamists by government forces on Saturday, the deaths of seven people in Saida, south-west of Algiers, in a bomb attack on Sunday, and the deaths of up to 11 more people in car-bombings in Algiers on Monday.

AFP reports from Algiers:

Algerians were fearful of a new bombing campaign by Islamic radicals in the run-up to legislative elections on June 5th after blasts in three cities that killed up to 18 people, press reports said yesterday.

Three car-bombs went off on Monday in Algiers, all in the working-class Kouba district, a haven for Islamic militants who oppose the government.

Security services said four people were killed and about 30 injured, but the Tribune newspaper reported that the blasts had left as many as 11 dead.