Repression of Women in Kabylia
An increasing number of women in Kabylia are now being targeted by the Algerian government - humiliating Kabylia through the arrests of its women seems to be a strategy. Amnesty International has found evidence of sexual harassment of women in custody, and reports have also emerged of women being forced to wear hijabs whilst detained.
Recent cases include:
Kamira Nait Sid: Nait Sid founded the Association of Women of Kabylia (AFK), and co-founded the World Amazigh Congress. In August 2021, she was abducted by security forces and detained in an unknown location for seven days, accused of “undermining national unity and state security”. She served 3 years and was released in 2024. However, she is still on the ISTN (interdit de sortir du territoire national) no travel list. According to her lawyer, she has been forced to wear a hijab while incarcerated. Mary Lawlor of the UNHR visited Kamira Nait Sid in prison, and was told that she was tried on the vague charges of “undermining national unity” and “belonging to a terrorist organisation” (prior to her arrest, she had been scheduled to conduct a human rights event at a university conference which was also hosting the exiled president of MAK).
Wafia Tidjani: Tidjani, a humanitarian and charitable worker, is currently a victim of forced disappearance.
Ouiza Agher: Agher currently lives in France, but travelled to Kabylia to attend her mother’s funeral in her home village of Ifigha, Haute Kabylia. She was arrested before she could attend the funeral, and the authorities justified her arrest using an old photo of her with the President of the Kabyle government in exile, Ferhat Mehinni.
Mira Moknèche and Fadila Hammache: both were arrested following a peaceful facebook post. This arrest has been strongly denounced by the Kabyle Women’s Union.
Rachida Idder: The only woman sentenced to death since Algeria’s independence, Idder has publicly stated she was tortured and stripped by police officers in the police station when she was arrested. She is currently in exile.