Mourad Dhina: a brief history of Algeria’s future

The Rachad alternative

Mourad Dhina and his colleagues conceived Rachad as a movement, not a party, because they believe that the current political system does not allow for real political activity and Algerians cannot freely choose their delegates to implement the programme for which they get elected [54]. Rachad seeks to establish the ‘rule of law and good governance’ in which ‘political authority is legitimate, civil, sovereign, just, social, provident, participatory, effective, transparent and accountable’ [55] To achieve this goal, Rachad adopts ‘non-violent means’ and ‘intends to involve all segments of Algerian society’ [56]. Rachad is a movement led in a collegial manner [57].

From left to right: Mourad Dhina, Rachid Mesli and Mohamed-Larbi Zitout, from Rachad’s Secretariat

Since the setting-up of Rachad, the military regime has continued to use the stick and carrot policy against Mourad Dhina and other members of this movement. On the one hand, the generals have been using their diplomatic and media tools to smear him as a dangerous terrorist and pressure the European states to extradite him to Algeria. On the other hand, they have been promising him, through many emissaries, including ministers and ambassadors, many privileges if he were to join the regime, as other political opponents have done before. Just as he had faced with patience material precariousness and smear campaigns, Mourad Dhina rejected these political inducements and refused any negotiation with the military regime that is not conducted in a public and transparent manner and that does not associate all the political stakeholders in the country.

Geneva 2009. With Abbas Aroua and Alkarama award for human rights laureate Ali-Yahia Abdennour

In 2007, Mourad Dhina was appointed Executive Director of the Alkarama Foundation for Human Rights, a Swiss organisation founded by Arab Human Rights advocates, which focuses its efforts on extra-judicial executions, disappearances, torture and arbitrary detention in the Arab world [58]. Alkarama, which works with the UN human rights instruments and has become a recognised NGO in the Arab world in recent years, defends the victims of human rights violations without discrimination: men and women, Islamic and secular Arabs, Sunnis and Shiites, Christians persecuted by the Egyptian regime and Jews persecuted in Yemen.

Mourad Dhina took part in the conference which brought together various Algerian political and intellectual figures to discuss the ‘Prospects for political change in Algeria’, in November 2008 in Geneva [59]. The final communiqué stressed ‘the need for changing the regime’ in a ‘radical, consensual and non-violent’ manner and the requirement to include ‘all the forces that aspire to this change, whatever their ideologies, political line or constituency’ [60].

Geneva 2008. Left picture, from left to right: Mourad Dhina, Rachid Maalaoui, Ahmed Benmohamed, Djamaleddine Benchennouf and Abdelhamid Mehri. Right picture: Mourad Dhina with Salaheddine Sidhoum

Since 2007, long before the advent of the ‘Arab Spring’, Mourad Dhina has been organising Rachad workshops to debate on the various non-violent means one may use to change totally the political system in Algeria. In these workshops he often discusses the various definitions of non-violence, the evolution of non-violent struggles throughout history, and experiences ─ successes and failures ─ of non-violent political change in the world [61]. For Rachad, non-violence is not an act of submission, avoidance or compromise in the conflict. It is a form of struggle that seeks to use political, economic, social and moral pressure to achieve the goal of change. It is morally and strategically the most effective methods for bringing about a radical political change. Just as the non-violent struggle may have moderate or limited reforming objectives, it may also aim for an overthrow of the imposed order. It requires a commitment of those leading the fight not to use violence knowing they are likely to be harmed by the power against which they struggle. It requires therefore patience and discipline, and resistance capabilities against repression. It does not necessarily require a charismatic leader, saints or exceptional people. The ‘Arab Spring’ showed that ordinary citizens can carry out this struggle.

For Mourad Dhina, freedom of expression and thought are not empty slogans. He embodies them in his public and private behaviour. He listens with attention, patience and respect to his critics and defends assiduously the right to expression of those who have questionable opinions or are inarticulate [62].  Within Rachad, Mourad Dhina committed himself particularly to overcoming the obstacles to freedom of expression in Algeria. He is the architect and driving force behind the Rachad television project, first on the Internet in 2010, then by satellite in 2011. Rachad has made this tool available to people across the Algerian political spectrum [63]. Rachad TV was designed as an alternative media to ‘provide a space for dialogue between Algerians’, to ‘give voice to the voiceless’, to ‘reflect the diversity of culture and opinions in Algerian society’, to ‘encourage non-violent political change’, ‘to promote good governance’ and ‘contribute to a genuine reconciliation which meets the requirements of truth, memory, justice and forgiveness’. Its code of ethics requires representing even the positions of the regime through its spokesmen. Even politicians who participated in the coup of January 1992 were invited to express their positions on Rachad TV.