The Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia (MAK) was formed to peacefully advocate for the self-determination of Kabylia, the Kabyle people’s human right under international law.
The Kabyle constitution outlines the movement’s commitment to non-violence, democratic principles and freedom for all people.
About MAK
The Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylia, which became the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia (MAK) in 2013, is a peaceful movement founded in 2001 by Ferhat Mehenni. He is currently President of both MAK and the Kabyle Government in Exile in Paris, known as Anavad. Ferhat Mehinni headed MAK in Algeria until 2009, when he took refuge in France following an arrest warrant issued against him by the Algerian authorities. On June 1, 2010, he proclaimed the creation of a Kabyle Provisional Government (GPK), or Anavad, whose main objective is to lay the foundations for regional autonomy in Kabylia. This first government is composed of ministers from the three sub-regions of Kabylia.
Initially focused on regional autonomy, MAK has since embraced the goal of self-determination, driven by Algeria’s ongoing repression of Kabyle rights; On April 20 2024, President Mehinni proclaimed the rebirth of the Kabyle state on the steps of the United Nations in New York.
Attempts to silence MAK
In May 2021, Algerian Président Abdelmadjid Tebboune adopted ordinance No. 21-08, which introduces amendments to the Penal Code that broaden the definition of terrorism and establish a national list of terrorist persons and entities. This modification of the Algerian penal code expanded the definition of terrorism, pronouncing the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia (MAK) an illegal terrorist organisation.
This decision appears politically motivated - as the US Department of State has emphasised, it gives the government additional legal tools to pursue MAK-affiliated political opponents, both in the country and abroad. In its 2023 Algeria report on terrorism, the US Department of State also noted that MAK does not meet its criteria for a terrorist organisation.
In 2016, the Algerian Prime Minister sent a note to the governors of Kabylia asking the state services to “mobilise national forces” to “prohibit any political activity of the MAK fractional movement”.
In June 2019, a ban was launched which prevented any individual from wielding the Berber flag during demonstrations in Algeria.
In August 2019, an Algerian court issued a 10 year prison sentence to a protester who waved a Berber flag - the protester’s crime was “attacking national unity”.
An Algerian High Security Council press release in 2021 speaks of the “total eradication” of the MAK movement.
