Addressing participants at the 23rd session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, in New York, Ferhat Mhenni, leader of Kabylia’s independence movement (MAK), urged the inclusion of Kabylia in the UN decolonization process. He announced that Kabylia will declare its independence on April 20.
Mhenni expressed hope that the UN’s fourth committee on decolonization would engage with a Kabylia delegation to explore ways to support their peaceful struggle for independence.
He lamented that more than 500 peaceful pro-independence Kabylian activists are currently imprisoned on baseless charges. Algeria, he asserted, criminalizes Kabylia’s right to self-determination while simultaneously promoting the same right through terrorist means.
The Kabyle population has long faced repression and discrimination under the Algerian military regime. Despite their pivotal role in the fight against French colonialism, Kabyle leaders were assassinated by a military junta after Algeria gained independence, leading to a single-party regime.
During President Bouteflika’s rule, the regime’s crackdown resulted in the deaths of 126 Kabyle protesters during the Black Spring demonstrations. These protests demanded recognition of linguistic and cultural specificities, as well as better economic development. The catalyst for the Black Spring was the killing of high school student Massinisa Guermah by the Algerian gendarmerie.
Under the current Chengriha-Tebboune administration, the military regime has escalated intimidation tactics. Kabyle activists accuse Algiers of deliberately setting fire to their region, while scores of independence activists face imprisonment on false charges, including terrorism.
Notably, during the 2019 presidential elections and the subsequent constitutional referendum, voter turnout in the restive Kabyle region was nearly zero, signaling strong rejection of the status quo.
Hereinafter bill on the “Proclamation of the rebirth of the Kabyle State”.
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