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Kabylia seeks for UN intervention for its self-determination against Algerian occupation

NEW YORK, US (SIWEL) – On January 13, 2025, Ferhat Mehenni, President of the Kabyle Government in Exile and leader of the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia (MAK), formally addressed Amar Bendjama, Algeria’s Ambassador to the United Nations and Chairman of the UN Security Council for january. The kKabyle independence leader urged the Security Council to examine the Kabyle people’s right to self-determination, a principle Algeria has historically championed for other regions but allegedly suppresses in Kabylia.

In his letter, President Mehenni outlined grave human rights violations by the Algerian state since June 2021. He accused Algeria of using its legal framework to equate eminently peaceful Kabyle political demands with terrorism, resulting in the arrest of over 13,000 activists, instances of torture, and arbitrary detentions. He also highlighted the controversial use of military force in August 2021, which led to devastating fires in Kabylia, causing hundreds of deaths and injuries. Mr. Mehenni described these actions as part of a broader « Zero Kabyle » strategy aimed at suppressing Kabyle identity and pressuring the peaceful MAK movement to take up arms.

President Mehenni called on the UN Security Council to prioritize this issue and uphold the universal right to self-determination. The letter emphasizes the need for international scrutiny to ensure justice for victims of repression and safeguard fundamental freedoms in Kabylia.

The letter is published in full below:

January 13, 2025

His Excellency Amar Bendjama
Ambassador of Algeria and Permanent Representative to the United Nations
Chairman of the UN Security Council
Permanent Mission of Algeria to the UN
326 E 48th St.
New York, NY 10017
USA

Re: Request for a UN debate on the right of the Kabyle people to self-determination and their violent repression by Algeria

Mr. Bendjama,

You have just assumed the presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of January 2025.

On behalf of the Kabyle people and their only legitimate representative, the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia (MAK), I present my compliments to you.

As I take note of the issues and debates that you plan to raise at the head of this prestigious international institution, it is important to me to request, in the name of the right of peoples to self-determination, a matter dear to your country when it comes to Palestine, the former Western Sahara, and recently Azawad, that you also include on the UN agenda an examination of the right of the Kabyle people to self-determination, which Algeria, in defiance of this same right, is violently repressing.

I would be grateful if you would inform the members of the UN Security Council about the very
serious human rights violations that the Kabyle people have been victims of since June 2021, on the basis of Article 87bis of Algeria’s Criminal Code, which equates any form of demand for the right of the Kabyle people to self-determination with “terrorism.”

It is to repress this same right that no fewer than 13,000 activists have been arrested, tortured, and raped during interrogations, before being incarcerated and then arbitrarily sentenced, on the basis of fabricated evidence. 38 Kabyles are now on death row for a crime they never committed. Algeria, which regularly grants amnesty to tens of thousands of criminals, refrains from releasing Kabyle political prisoners, whom it wants to use as a bargaining chip in exchange for our Movement’s renunciation of the freedom of the Kabyle people, just as it wants to use Boualem Sansal as another bargaining chip in exchange for France’s renunciation of certain positions in its foreign policy.

It is to justify the arbitrary classification of the peaceful Movement for the Self-Determination of
Kabylia (MAK) as a « terrorist » organization that Algeria used drones, military planes and helicopters to set fire to all of Kabylia on August 9, 2021, which caused more than 500 deaths and a thousand serious burns, and then accused Israel, Morocco, and the MAK of being the perpetrators. This crime, which is part of Algeria’s genocidal operation dubbed « Zero Kabyle, » orchestrated at the highest level of the Algerian military hierarchy, also aimed to push the MAK to take up arms. Our pacifism has thwarted this Machiavellian stratagem.

Mr. President of the UN Security Council,

On behalf of the Kabyle people and the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia, I sent a memorandum to the UN Secretary General on September 28, 2017 regarding the right of the Kabyle people to self-determination. I am enclosing a copy

At your disposal for any additional information, and sending you my greetings marked by seriousness and respect for the victims of repression in Algeria in general, and in Kabylia in particular,

I remain, Mr. Ambassador,
Yours sincerely,

Ferhat Mehenni
President of the Kabyle Government in Exile (Anavad)
President of the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia (MAK)
Political Refugee In Exile in Paris

cc: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
US Senator Marco Rubio

Enclosure: copy of the Memorandum hand-delivered to the UN Secretary General on September 28, 2017.

— EOF —

SIWEL 152337 JAN 25

Version française de la lettre : https://siwel.info/la-kabylie-appelle-lonu-a-intervenir-pour-son-autodetermination-face-a-la-repression-algerienne_67512.html

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