Algeria at fifty and the regime’s successful fiascos

Three major developments marked Algerian affairs in 2011. First, former minister of defence General Khaled Nazzar was arrest in Geneva, in September 2011, to answer human rights and torture charges pressed by TRIAL (Track Impunity Always), an NGO best known for tracking down dictators like Pinochet. Second, Rachad Movement, an Algerian opposition group in exile, launched Rachad TV making it Algeria’s first opposition channel to broadcast to Algerians over the crucial Nilesat satellite, which carries most of the Arab world channels. Rachad TV was soon joined by Al Magharibia TV, a London-based TV focussed on North African affairs, but mainly on the political situation in Algeria. Third, General Bachir Tartag, a retired Algerian intelligence officer, was called back to head the interior security branch DSI, within the regime’s intelligence services DRS. Each of those three developments is a reminder in itself of the reality on the ground and the nature of the daily regime –society interaction in Algeria.