Can a he-goat give milk?

He-goats are males and do not produce milk just like the Algerian regime does not do democracy. There is nevertheless a difference. It is conceivable to engineer genetically he-goats to produce milk. Not that this is a desirable end which humanity should seek. The Algerian regime however is inherently and irreversibly undemocratic. It is inconceivable to expect democracy to emerge from this regime which was born out of violence against the people and maintains itself in power through violence and connivance with foreign powers.

The Algerian regime is hoarding a fabulous wealth accrued from the rise in price of oil and gas which wets the appetite of the military-industrial lobbies inside and outside Algeria. This wealth does not trickle to the people who experience poverty, despondency, hopelessness and violence. The phenomenon of "Harraga", or boat-people takes frightening proportions. Desperate young men from all social backgrounds and from all walks of life throw themselves at the mercy of the Mediterranean Sea in makeshift boats which often sink with heavy loss of life. The lucky ones who manage to glimpse the shores of fortress Europe are picked up by patrol boats and returned to their destination. Such is the level of hopelessness that the dream of young Algerians, poor or rich, is a life in exile outside Algeria.

I first heard the analogy of the Algerian regime with a he-goat several years ago when I attended a talk given by Ali Yahia Abdennour, the Algerian human rights activist who did so much to publicise the plights of Algeria in the 1990s when the military regime was slaughtering Algerians by the thousands.

Recently, the Algerian regime has tried to push its luck by asking Spain to arrest Mohammed Samraoui, an ex-colonel of the Algerian counter-espionage service who put his conscience before his career when he chose to quit the secret service rather than stain his humanity with the innocent blood of fellow Algerians. Had Samraoui chosen to compromise his humanity, he would haven been a general by now, or even a major general and a pillar of the regime. Less clever persons than him ranging from fanatical executioners to rabid secularists and collaboration Islamists are now generals and ministers, enjoying the rewards of investments in deeds or opportunistic positions sanctioning the rape of Algeria that has started in the aftermath of the military coup of January 1992. For instance, Khalida Messaoudi, the Pasionaria of eradicationism (1) and the Islamists followers of the Sheikh of eradicatioism, the late Mahfoud Nahnah, are now fully enjoying the fruits of their investment. Members of the Algerian parliament can also supplement their income by moonlighting as warlords. The case of the MP Smaïl Mira makes a mockery of the notion of a parliament as a fountain of legislation and legality. On 13 July 2007 he murdered Kamel Saadi, a young man going about his jogging hobby at Ath Mekikeche in the district of Bejaia. The "honourable" Smaïl Mira, members of parliament are thus called in countries in which parliaments are held in high esteem, is a serial killer. In June 1998 he had murdered Hamza Ouaili, a college student and injured several others at Tazmalt. These are just the documented crimes that took place in front of witnesses. How many other murders has the Member of Parliament committed in the absence of eye-witnesses? We do not know because Algeria has become a land of warlords who answer directly to their handlers in the military establishment.

Samraoui and countless other Algerians have chosen to be witnesses on the side of the oppressed Algerians. Their persecution at the hands of the military regime continues unabated. As long as they live they will continue to narrate the rape of Algeria to present and future generations. People like Samraoui who exposed the DRS as a killing machine, Ali Yahya Abdennour who brought the atrocities committed against helpless Algerian to the attention of the world, Dr Salah-Eddine Sidhoum, the indefatigable chronicler of the dirty war waged by the generals, the late Abdelkader Hashani, the chemical engineer who engineered the most spectacular victory in the only first free and fair elections that took place in Algeria since independence from France in July 1992 and countless other unsung heroes are the real source of pride and inspiration for Algerians.

By resorting to Interpol to harass its political opponents the Algerian regime is running the risk of exposing both its conception and practice of justice to the scrutiny of foreign courts. The Algerian justice system is completely under the orders of the regime and has no independence of its own. It constitutes a security apparatus whose primary function is the safeguard of the military regime. Justice in Europe is by and large independent from political interference. The arrest of Samraoui by the Spanish justice while he was visiting Spain pits two conceptions of justice against each other. The Algerian request will be examined on its merit. No serious observer expects Samraoui to be handed to the Algerian authorities at the end of the process. The trumped up charges by the Algerian regime will, no doubt, be rejected by Spanish judges eager to preserve their independence from political interference and to uphold the rule of law. In the end, the bluff of Algiers will be called off.

In reality, the Algerian regime, confronted by rising opposition both at home and abroad, is embarking on a "phishing" expedition, to use the jargon of information theft through the Internet, hoping for a scalp in order to intimidate and frighten the rest of the opposition which has chosen the path of peaceful campaigning for democratic change in Algeria. Samraoui is a political opponent who knows a lot about the military regime and its capture by Algiers will be a major boost to the morale of the generals of Algiers. This episode can also strengthen the resolve of Algerians to continue working for peaceful political change in Algeria.

Lamine Zakaria