Two mayors and government-backed militiamen imposed a five-year "reign of terror" in the western Algerian region of Relizane, according to reports in the Algerian newspaper Liberte over the past three days.
The mayor of Relizane, Mr El Hadj Fergane and Mr El Hadj El Abed, the mayor of nearby Jdiouia, acted as warlords, using militiamen armed, trained and paid by the government to carry out summary executions, kidnappings and racketeering, and to blow up the houses of enemies. "Hooded men could burst into a citizen's home at any moment to take him away," Liberte said. "A kidnapped person might be found murdered, or they might disappear."
Liberte supports the Rally for Culture and Democracy, the antifundamentalist, predominantly Kabyle party of Dr Said Saadi. It was Dr Saadi who first appealed to the government to create the militias back in 1993.
The state has since "privatised" the war by distributing weapons to 150,000 civilians, who cushion the army in its war with the Islamists. The government and Algerian media refer to the militiamen as "patriots" or "GLD", the French acronym for "self-defence groups". Each "patriot" is paid about £175 per month.
This is the first time an Algerian newspaper has reported government complicity in the atrocities, which are usually attributed to Islamist rebels. Seventeen bodies were found in a well at Sidi M'hamed Benaouda, all believed to have been killed by the mayors and their thugs. Sixty-two bodies were found in underground shelters in other towns, where some had apparently been buried alive. Three more bodies of the "patriots"' victims were found and buried in Relizane on Sunday.
Algerian media have not dared to question whether the same government-controlled gangs could have been responsible for the massacre of more than 400 civilians near Relizane at the beginning of the year. Predictably, L'Authen tique, the newspaper of Gen Mohamed Betchine, the chief adviser to President Liamine Zeroual, denounced the revelations as a plot, saying the mayors had killed "only" two men. But El Watan, one of the most credible Algerian newspapers, said such events have occurred "all over the country".
Mr Fergane, one of a dozen officials and militiamen now in custody, is a member of the National Democratic Rally (RND), the political party created by Gen Zeroual a year ago to give himself a majority in parliament. When the mayor was stopped at a roadblock, he reportedly had a kidnapped man in the boot of his car. The widow of one of his victims identified Mr Fergane as the man who murdered her husband. A second widow recognised her husband's killers as "patriots" and reportedly alerted higher authorities to what was happening in Relizane. The newspaper La Tribune said an officer who was preparing a report on the militiamen was murdered by them.
Mr El Abed was warned by his son - who worked for Mr Fergane - and escaped before he too could be arrested. Both officials had opposed the army's truce with the Islamic Salvation Army, the armed wing of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS).
Although reported by international human rights groups, the atrocities committed by government death squads were until now a taboo subject inside Algeria. There are several theories as to why the authorities have allowed the news to be published. Algiers may be trying to lessen pressure for an international inquiry into the massacres by showing that the government is "cleaning up" its own house. The army may also be trying to clear itself of suspicion by blaming the militiamen. Some Algerians believe the Securite Militaire feared losing control of the "patriots" and wanted a pretext to disarm them.
AFP adds: Four human rights agencies appealed yesterday for the UN Commission on Human Rights to act over Algerian atrocities. In a joint statement, Amnesty International, the International Federation on Human Rights, Human Rights Watch and Reporters sans Frontieres scolded the UN body for its silence on Algeria.