On February 12, 2011, the morning after the “January 25” revolution in Egypt caused the resignation of its entrenched president and a radical shift toward democracy, Algeria witnessed a similar uprising in the streets of its capital city, Algiers.
Thousands of Algerians take to the streets
Thousands of democracy advocates ignored a ban on their march and headed for the May First Square in the center of the city. News reports and firsthand accounts on Twitter gave varying estimates of numbers involved. But by all accounts, demonstrators were hugely outnumbered by police. One Facebook page contains an image of the Algerian march with lines of ten to twelve across in a crowd that stretches from two to four blocks, indicating many thousands of marchers.
The march route was thickly lined with a heavy show of police, numbering upward to 30,000, as every available officer was summoned to prevent the progress of protests. Anti-riot vehicles including jeeps and buses and at least one water cannon were on the scene. As the day turned to early afternoon, reports claimed the arrest of over 400 demonstrators after they initially broke through a police cordon at the city center. Riot police focused on female activists with arrests of up to fifty women. Protesters chanted slogans such as “No to the police state” and called for the ouster of Algeria’s president.
In this quickly evolving situation, police blocked protesters from reaching their destination and separated large chunks of demonstrators from each other in what appears to be a divide and conquer strategy.
A cellphone video from Algiers released at 7:49am by New York Times reporter Nick Kristoff, shows blue-shirted and blue-helmeted police arresting protesters and attempting to push back a throng of people emerging from a side street. Riot police with white batons arrive just as the video ends. Chants, blasting car horns and police whistles populate the soundtrack. One protestor with a head injury is comforted by others.
Photographs released by the UK’s Daily Mail Online show massive numbers of Algerian police engulfing demonstrators in an overwhelming display of force. Riot police are shown dragging away two females and holding a male in a neck lock as his face turns crimson. In other photos, police are wielding bat-like batons on unarmed people. According to some accounts, police confiscated cell phones from demonstrators. And, although demonstrations are legal in other parts of the country, protestors were arrested in Oran.
Human rights activist and blogger Elias Filali reported through the Al Jazeera television network that the demonstrators are determined to keep their protest peaceful despite the encounters with police armed with riot gear and the display of armored vehicles. Filali told the Doha-based network, "This is a police state, just like the Egyptian regime," and accused Algeria's government of being "corrupt to the bone."
First Tunisia, then Egypt and now Algeria
The emergent struggle for democratic reform in Algeria first ignited in January 2011 following the revolt in Tunisia. Food riots erupted early in the month followed by a foiled demonstration on January 22.
On February 3, the president of Algeria announced that he would soon lift the country’s state of emergency, in effect for 19 years. The announcement, carried in the country’s state-controlled media, was an apparent attempt to satisfy protestors and thwart upheaval. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika also allowed for protest demonstrations in all cities except Algiers. Bouteflika ordered state television and radio to provide airtime to all political parties. (Al Jazeera 2011)
The National Co-ordination for Change and Democracy (CNCD) coordinated the February 12 protests. This coalition, formed less than a month ago, acts as channel for various non-political parties, all seeking similar goals in Algeria. One of the group members includes the Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD), which was prohibited from demonstrating on January 22 of this year.
The police crackdown in Algiers began the evening of February 11 near RCD headquarters. Small pockets of people had gathered there in spontaneous celebration after learning of the resignation of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Police reportedly manhandled Ali Yahia Abdelnour, the 90-year-old human rights activist, and made ten arrests. (Khadige 2011)
Join the Conversation