Reports From : Africa And Middle East - women's rights

WIN News, Autumn, 2000

This Shadow Report outlines the history of the rise of the fundamentalist movement, its ideology and its escalating attacks on women. It also identifies some key ways that the State has accommodated, absorbed and responded to that agenda, and its impact on women's equality. Additionally, the report makes recommendation to the Committee on this issue.

FROM THE SUMMARY

The fundamentalist movement in Algeria has been active at least since the 1970's. Throughout the 1970's and 1980's, fundamentalists organized politically as well as used violence as a means of imposing their agenda; In particular, fundamentalists attacked feminist activists, female university students, women workers in state owned factories, and single women living without a male relative who qualifies under the law as a guardian. . .

The fundamentalists united under the party of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS). . . the leaders of FIS, from its start, declared their opposition to democracy and promoted their ideology of gender-apartheid. FIS sought to impose discrimination amounting to gender-apartheid through both legal means and through threats of force. They decreed, for example, the separation of boys and girls in the schools, men and women on buses, and in some workplaces. . . The State banned the FIS, and the fundamentalists formed additional armed groups, such as the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) which systematically attacked civilians, in particular women who deviated from their roles.prescribed by FIS.

The first group of civilians assassinated, raped, and tortured by the armed groups were female relatives of members of the security forces, police, and government. In 1993, the fundamentalists began to assassinate and threaten feminists, journalists, artists, foreigners, intellectuals, other professionals and any visible member of civil society who represented an alternative vision to the FIS ideology.

The armed groups also regularly abducted young women from the streets, neighborhoods and houses and held them in camps as sexual and domestic slaves (called mutaa marriages). The fundamentalists posted communiques promising death to women who did not follow their dictates - such as unveiled women, working women and single women. In a number of cases, they carried out these threats. In 1997, in connection with Ramadan, they began to massacre whole villages.

While the State has rejected some of the more egregious fundamentalist demands for gender apartheid, such as segregated education and transportation, it has not taken sufficient steps to address the cultural damage to gender equality wrought by the fundamentalist agenda. . .

The Committee should question the State on these issues and urge the State to prevent and protect against the violence; redress the damage caused to women by fundamentalism; and adhere and vigorously implement the Convention.

In particular, we recommend that the Committee:

- Urge the State, and exact its commitment to withdraw its reservations to the Convention, reservations which legitimize and perpetuate inequality - especially in family life. . .