21.10.2011
Geneva, 21 October 2011
Accused of war crimes committed during the Algerian civil war, the former Algerian General and Minister of Defence Khaled Nezzar was arrested in Geneva on Thursday morning, 20 October 2011. He was interrogated by the Public Prosecutor of the Swiss Confederation (Public Prosecutor) until 18h30 on Friday 21 October, and was later released on the basis of his promise to be present during the subsequent procedure. Earlier in the week, the Public Prosecutor opened an investigation following a denunciation by TRIAL, the Swiss Association against Impunity.
Mr. Khaled Nezzar was born on the 27th December 1937. He held various positions in the Algerian army. Named Chief of Land Forces in 1986, he was promoted to Chief of Staff and then Minister of Defence in 1990. In this position, he became the man of all decisions within the government. From 1992 until 1994, he was one of the five members of the High Council of State (HCS), the military junta of five members that replaced the President elect. Mr. Nezzar was considered as one of the most powerful men of the regime in the beginning of the 1990s, whilst the “dirty war” was raging.
Numerous Human Rights Organisations accuse him of having ordered, authorised and incited the military and public function agents to exercise acts of tortures, to commit murders, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and other acts constituting grave violations of international humanitarian law.
Swiss law authorises the prosecution of international humanitarian law violations, namely violations of the Geneva Conventions and its Additional Protocols, as soon as the suspect is on Swiss territory. In the past, a Rwandan national was sentenced to fourteen years of prison for his participation in the genocide committed in Rwanda in 1994.
TRIAL, an organisation specialised in fighting against the impunity of authors of grave violations of human rights, welcomed Mister Nezzar’s arrest and the charges of war crimes against him. According to its Director, Philip Grant, “the Arab Spring has arrived in Switzerland. The demand for justice, which has not yet found expression in Algeria, must now be realised in Switzerland.” The organisation however regrets that Mr. Nezzar was not taken into custody, the risk of flight being too important. “Not enough consideration has been given to the immense suffering of thousands of Algerian victims of the security apparatus under Mr. Nezzar’s orders”.
The criminal proceedings will nevertheless continue in Switzerland.
TRIAL and Algeria
TRIAL has defended victims of torture and enforced disappearances in Algeria for many years and continues to do so. TRIAL has submitted a total of 15 cases to the United Nations Human Rights Committee and two cases in front of the United Nations Committee against Torture.
The Human Rights Committee recently condemned Algeria in its first case in May 2011 and recognised the Algerian government’s liability in the disappearance of Mr. Brahim Aouabida (see the article in the Journal “Le Monde”). In June 2011, the Committee against Torture condemned Algeria for the death following torture of Mr. Djilali Hanifi (see the article in the Journal “Le Monde”).
In October 2009, TRIAL filed a criminal complaint against the former Algerian Minister, Mr. Bouguerra Soltani, who was able to flee Switzerland before being arrested.
