KABYLIA (TAMURT) – The human rights situation in Kabylia is very alarming. As in previous years, the year 2023 was marked by serious human rights violations and abuses committed by the Algerian colonial regime and its agents in Kabylia. Arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, unfair sentences, for some to the death penalty, travel bans, judicial harassment against political activists, bans on the holding of literary cafés, closure of churches are all violations of human rights including The Kabyle people are victims of multifaceted and unprecedented repression carried out by the Algerian regime.
As we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights (December 10, 1948), the international community must act to put an end to the flagrant violations of human rights perpetrated by the Algerian regime in Kabylia.
On January 23, 2023, the Algerian colonial administration, represented by the wali (prefect), carried out the administrative closure of the Human Rights Documentation Center in the town of Vgayet, in Kabylia. A week later, on January 30, 2023, the same arbitrary decision was taken against the House of Human Rights and the Citizen of the town of Tizi Wezzu. These two structures regularly hosted seminars and conferences to raise awareness of human rights. They also recorded human rights violations.
During the same year, the Algerian regime continued its campaign to close churches in Kabylia. Several Protestant places of worship were closed, such as the churches of Tizi Ghenif, Lodha (Bouzeguène) and Maatkas. Around thirty churches located in the territory of the departments of Vgayet and Tizi Wezzu, in Kabylia, have been closed since 2018, thus depriving thousands of Kabyle Christians of places of religious gathering. Dozens of Christians are also being prosecuted for “unauthorized exercise of religion other than Muslims.”
Although Algeria was severely criticized and singled out during its last universal periodic review (UPR) at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, regarding article 87 bis of the Algerian penal code, exploited by the courts to incriminate the political act, this judicial arsenal is still used in particular against Kabyle activists advocating the right of the Kabyle people to self-determination. Dozens of Kabyle independence activists are currently languishing in Algerian jails, wrongly accused of terrorism for having claimed a right recognized by UN charters and international law.There is not enough space here to describe in detail the numerous human rights violations committed by the Algerian regime in Kabylia.
Faced with this alarming observation, the Union for the Kabyle Republic (URK), a political movement which peacefully campaigns for the independence of Kabylia, once again calls on the international community to intervene and put an end to human rights violations. man in Kabylia by the Algerian regime.The URK salutes the courage of Kabyle activists and human rights defenders who prefer to pay a high price than renounce their political convictions.
Our political movement also salutes the tireless work of the lawyers’ collectives who continue to ensure the defense of prisoners of conscience and political prisoners despite threats of reprisals from the beleaguered Algerian regime.The URK remains fundamentally convinced that only the advent of a sovereign and independent Kabyle State can even guarantee the Kabyle people a life with respect for human rights.
Lyazid ABID, president of the URK
 - The human rights situation in Kabylia is very alarming. As in previous years, the year 2023 was marked by serious human rights violations and abuses committed by the Algerian colonial regime and its agents in Kabylia. Arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, unfair sentences, for some to the death penalty, travel bans, judicial harassment against political activists, bans on the holding of literary cafés, closure of churches are all violations of human rights including The Kabyle people are victims of multifaceted and unprecedented repression carried out by the Algerian regime.){kind=link}