Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07ALGIERS1617
2007-11-05 17:26:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Algiers
Cable title:  

ALGERIAN HUMAN RIGHTS LEAGUE IMPLODING

Tags:  PHUM SOCI PGOV AG 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO8248
PP RUEHTRO
DE RUEHAS #1617/01 3091726
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 051726Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY ALGIERS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4793
INFO RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 8664
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 2389
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT 1996
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 6848
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI
RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT 6082
RUEHNM/AMEMBASSY NIAMEY 1337
RUEHBP/AMEMBASSY BAMAKO 0286
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 3110
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ALGIERS 001617 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/05/2017
TAGS: PHUM SOCI PGOV AG
SUBJECT: ALGERIAN HUMAN RIGHTS LEAGUE IMPLODING

REF: ALGIERS 1115

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Thomas F. Daughton;
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ALGIERS 001617

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/05/2017
TAGS: PHUM SOCI PGOV AG
SUBJECT: ALGERIAN HUMAN RIGHTS LEAGUE IMPLODING

REF: ALGIERS 1115

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Thomas F. Daughton;
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: The Algerian League for the Defense of Human
Rights (LADDH),the country's best-known independent human
rights organization, is in turmoil. Two camps have emerged
and are struggling for control, one headed by Hocine
Zehouane, LADDH president since 2005, and the other by Ali
Yahia Abdenour, the League's founder and now its honorary
president. Each side has accused the other of being led
astray by leftist political forces. With both sides claiming
control over the organization, a cornerstone of Algeria's
homegrown civil society stands divided and weakened, a
situation the government likely does not find particularly
troubling. END SUMMARY

THE ZEHOUANE CAMP
--------------


2. (C) In an October 29 meeting, Hocine Zehouane, president
of the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights since
2005, told poloff that the LADDH's current leadership crisis
reflected an ideological split within the organization.
Zehouane asserted that his side advocated for greater
transparence, a more rational approach to activities, and the
development of civil society. He charged that the other side
consisted of members who prefer to go on international
junkets and meet with foreign embassies. According to
Zehouane, the current crisis can be traced to May 2007, when
he returned from a trip to Portugal and subsequently
discovered that an internal coup had been engineered. He has
spent the last five months trying to address internal
problems, he said. Zehouane added that some people have
suggested that the LADDH has become too closely identified
under his leadership with the political left because of his
ties to labor unions. He countered that the LADDH works with
the unions because the league supports human rights.


3. (C) Addressing Ali Yahia Abdenour's involvement in the
current crisis and his efforts to oust him, Zehouane said he
found Abdenour to be "confused." He stressed that Abdenour's
title of honorary president was not mentioned in the LADDH
rules and accused Abdenour of acting as if he were still the
League's actual president, a post he has held in the past.
Zehouane also claimed that contrary to press reports, the
October 26 LADDH "extraordinary congress" that he convened
was held according to LADDH rules.


4. (C) Zehouane does not believe there was Algerian
government involvement in the current crisis. Instead, he
believed that the opposition Socialist Forces Front political
party (FFS) was behind it. He maintained that the FFS is
seeking to increase its own credibility by assuming control
of an organization that works on human rights. Zehouane
claimed that his wife had discovered that copies of all
recent electronic correspondence from the League had been
transmitted to the FFS in Switzerland, where FFS party leader
Hocine Ait Ahmed resides.

THE ABDENOUR CAMP
--------------


5. (C) In a November 3 meeting, Ali Yahia Abdenour, LADDH
founder and long-time president, told poloff that Zehouane
had not followed the League's internal rules when he convened
the October 26 "extraordinary congress." Abdenour added that
the LADDH's activism on human rights had diminished
significantly under Zehouane's leadership and that Zehouane
had aligned the League with a "Trotskyite political party"
that has minimal support. Abdenour said that Zehouane's
actions were designed to shore up his weak support within the
organization and confirmed press reports that Zehouane was no
longer LADDH president and had been replaced by lawyer
Mostefa Bouchachi.

COMMENT
--------------


6. (C) This showdown within the LADDH has been in the works
for months (reftel),and it is still not clear which side
will prevail. Zehouane, who has changed the locks at LADDH

ALGIERS 00001617 002 OF 002


headquarters, appears to believe firmly that he has acted
within the powers provided to him by the rules of the
organization. He asserts that Abdenour does not have a
formal role in the organization and thus should not try to
interfere in the organization's decision-making process.
Abdenour, who provided a copy of the League's statutes,
believes otherwise. Government officials have been publicly
silent about the turmoil. While we have seen no evidence of
a government role in the current drama, we suspect that the
leadership is not upset at seeing the leading independent
Algerian human rights organization divided and weak.
FORD