They have largely been ignored by the rest of the world, but some analysts say the U.S. might soon need to reach out to a little known indigenous group in Algeria known as the Kabyles, for help in the war against al Qaeda and other Islamic extremists who operate from the North African nation. (…)

To begin a new year of struggle for the autonomy of Kabylia, the MAK has once again challenged the racist regime of Boutefloka by organizing two successful marches in Vgayet and Tizi-Ouzou. Despite repression and insecurity sustained by the Algerian regime and Islamists in the Kabyle country, these events have attracted more than 10,000 peoples. The MAK, which records the victory, remains without news of some of its activists. It alerted international opinion on the disappearances and urged Kabyle people to be vigilant. Its President, from abroad, is following the developments closely and will certainly make a media intervention if necessary. (…)

The Kabyle presence in France dates back more than a century. Integration Kabyle has shown every day from the family reunification policy is exemplary in many respects. Yet, despite the fact that the Kabyle of course continue to give this country their very best, they are still not recognized as constituting a distinct community with its own identity. They are formally linked to assemblies and communities in which they do not recognize themselves, feel alienated. The Kabyle identity thus ignored and distorted. It is sometimes dissolved in the "Arab" community and sometimes in that of "Maghreb" or finally, the whole "Muslim". The Kabyle whether immigrants or French-Kabyle is routinely referred to an identity that is not his own. In doing so, by modeling their behavior on that of Algeria, France reproduces racist reflexes to the Kabyle and contribute, in a probably unconscious way, to an Algerian genocide campaign. (…)

On this 10th day of December, 2009, Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Mr. Ferhat Mehenni, a Kabyle political opponent to the algerian regime, was denied entry to Tunisia at the Tunis-Carthage international Airport. By executing on demand these orders of dirty work from the algerian dictator, and his pyroman minister of interior, Tunis further tarnishes its image, but also shows contempt towards a universally recognized right: That of free movement of persons.

Angered by this act of contempt on the freedom of a peaceful democrat, the MAK elevates its solum protestation against Tunisia and algeria before the United Nations, the European Union, and all concerned NGOs amongst which Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and all other International Human Rights watchdogs. (…)

The Arabo-Islamists Bouteflika and Zerhouni against the Kabyle Democrats

On the margin of the 14th Conference of Western Mediteranean Interior Ministers, also known as (CIMO 5+5) which took place in Venis, Italy on the 24th and 25th of November 2009, the algerian interior minister declared (in French) on the airwaves of the private Italian network Canale 2000, the following: « For certain countries on the other side of the Mediterranean sea, all they think about is islamic radicalism. But, that is not the problem, there is exists today, other radical ideologies, which are extremist, integrists, whose essence either Christianity or Judaism, that is those who hide behind cultural demands. Such as certain negative concepts formulated and expressed by other extremists under the cover of local cultural specificities add water to the grinder of what we call the ideological matrix of terrorism. So we(Algerian Government), we say that these concepts are inadmissible, because their origins are not only religious radicalism, but also political positions which invoke certain philosophies and concepts (…) Whose devastating effects which we must fight with all means, our European friends don’t seem yet to measure.»..».

Would this open declaration of war against the MAK be a prelude to an upgrade to genocide in Kabylia? Why at this precise moment? History teaches us that all the genocides of populations without protection followed preparations and scenario building similar to this, in which declarations of this kind were but announcement of what to come.

The MAK is NOT INTIMIDATED, and candamns with vigor these comments and this gross daring to qualify freedom and democracy loving people, and peaceful political activists “terrorists”, and blood-stained real terrosts, angels. The Algerian interior minister thus reveals its true face and nature, and that it has made its choice of side: That of terrorism.

The Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylia (MAK) warns against the anti-Kabyle racist temptations of the Algerian regime, and alerts the International Opinion about the dramatic damages which will eventually follow. (…)

Early morning on the 22nd of October, 2009, nine guards of a water reservoir construction site were slaughtered with an automatic machine gun, at Amchras, while on their way to work aboard a station wagon. Seven of them were killed on the spot and the two survivors are still hanging between life and death.

Recall, the four municipal police officers who, in August, were killed near Tadmait. In both cases, the street attributes the killings to military personel stationed in the Kabyle Country.

Yesterday, two bombs exploded costing the life of a civilian victim in Azaga and, the closing of the only railroad linking Algiers to Kabylia’s Capital and main Hurban city.

Online, we learn that at Ouacifs, it is no other than the military who supply islamist terrorists with food, , lack of support from the local Kabyle population, which neither the regime troops nor those of Bin Laden have in the Kabyle Country.

The MAK denounces with rigor the violence and the insecurity which the Algerian regime organizes against the Kabyle People; a peace and freedom loving People.

The MAK is hereby alerting international opinions and institutions about the criminal abuses of the Algerian State in Kabylia, where a genocide is planned by the Bouteflika services.

We call upon every Kabyle to remain vigilant and ready to avoid response to the regime’s provocations and to manage with cool the dramatic situations to come. (…)

The significant expansion of it its militant membership and the increasingly pressing social demands make the expansion and the re-deployment of the management structures of our movement necessary.

With the approval of Mr. Ferhat Mhenni, President of the Movement, of the Secretary General, and that of the president of the National Counsel;

Having considered the expose’ of the motives by the National Secretary of the Organic committee;

Having consulted the interested parties;

Following deliberation;

The committee proceeded to the promotion, to the rank of National Assistant-Secretary, the following Leaders within the Movement : (…)

Around 22:00 hr, at night on Monday August 24th, 2009, Mr. Latab Samir, a male in his thirties was kidnapped at At Dwala, a mountain Mount County, 20Kms (15 miles) east of the capital of Kabylia, Tizi-Wezzu, by armed men on the National Road 30, about the fork towards Tala Xelil. He was accompanied at the time of the rapt by two acquaintances who were let free.

The MAK express its deep concern as to Mr. Latab’s fate and expresses its support to his family.

These rapts are destined to scare away investors in Kabylia in order to brake any development effort. (…)

The Executive committee, gathered in a special session to dress the summary of the Summer Camp which took place from the 1st to the 4th of August, 2009 at Tizi n Tsemlal, strongly praises all citizens of this village for the brotherly complicity they demonstrated during the entire duration of this importantn event of our movement, which both political and cultural.

The village is, as its premonitory name indicates, a place of gathering , where like a delicious patchwork, fuse the hopes of men, melodies of nature, courage and work, and the reminiscences of the Kabyle history and eternity.

The MAK Executive committee hereby expresses its warm thanks tout the entire population of Tizi n Tsemlal and its vivid congratulations to the local MAK militants and organizers. A job, well done ! (…)

Ulrich Delius (GfbV), Lyazid Abid (DKFeV), Ferhat Mehenni (MAK)

On July 31st, the German Friendship Association Germany­Kabylie presided by Lyazid Abid organized a conference, jointly animated by Mr. Ferhat Mehenni, President of MAK and Mr. Ulrich Delius, President of the "Society of Endangered Peoples". Before starting his intervention, Mr. Mhenni invited the audience to to observe a minute of silence in memory of Farid ACID, who died the day before in Nantes(France) from bullet wounds he received from government security forces during the 2001 “Kabyle black spring” demonstrations in Kabylia, Algeria. Mr. Mhenni’s intervention titled “Back to Kabylia’s Autonomy” gave new lightings about the concept and the project of regional autonomy for Kabylia. Mr. Delius for his part delived the following communication. It is a very interesting one, in that it is the expression of the 1st German view on Kabylia and its combat for its autonomy. (…)

After last week’s confrontations with armed forces who came to free their security agents who for recall were arrested by the population after being cought red-handed setting up fires to the surounding fields, it is now, the islamist terrorists who are taking a relay by spreading mourning and consternation.

Eye witnesses affirm that, yesterday evening, a terrorist group acted in plain day light, assassinating four civilians from the nearby village of Ichekalen, a Tadmait City circumscription. Powerless, the inhabitants of a neighboring village witnessed from a distance. These Kabyle citizens are :
 Hocine Chaouchi
 Kamel Aïssaoui
 Karim Allouache
 Ahcène Allouache

Thus, yesterday, whereas the police was proceeding to the arrest of the peaceful members of an NGO (World Amazigh Congress), terrorists, were left with all the liberty to slaughter poor and innocent Kabyle Citizens.

The MAK is carefully studying response-actions to undertake for the defense of Kabylia and the Kabyle People. (…)

The MAK salutes Farid’s memory and expresses its solidarity and compassion to the family of this 128th victim of Kabylia’s oppression.

The MAK will file several complaints with International bodies for the assassination of hundreds of Kabyle youth by the Algerian regime between 2001 and 2004.

His funeral held on Saturday 1 August 2009 at 13h in Tizi-Γennif, has seen many pay him a final tribute ! Kabylia will never forget. (…)

ON THE MARGINS of the Arab world, the United States has some little noticed allies. These are ethnic or religious minorities who have never accepted the inevitability of strongman rule. Some of them have fallen on hard times—the Maronite Christians of Lebanon are scattered and defeated for now; the Copts, in Egypt, have been lying low for decades—but others see their fortunes rising. The Kurds of northern Iraq flourished under the protection of American jets in the last years of Saddam Hussein and are throwing themselves into the rebuilding of their country. Less familiar is the story of the Kabyles of Algeria and the bard-activist Ferhat Mehenni, who is one of their better-known leaders.

The Kabyles number about 10 million. They are Berbers descended from the pre-Arab inhabitants of North Africa. Converted to Islam by the 9th century, the Berbers now make up about a third of Algeria’s 30 million people. Some 5 million Kabyles are concentrated in a region called Kabylie, east of Algiers, itself a predominantly Kabyle city. Another 2 million Kabyles are scattered around the world, primarily in France. They have their own language, Tamazight, and a unique form of grass-roots democracy: a network of citizens’ committees, called ârchs (from the word for traditional village councils) that has sprung up in the region in the last two years seeking political liberalization and regional autonomy. The Algerian government, which at first responded to the ârchs with repression, now says it will negotiate with them. After September 11, when most Arab governments were content to express formal condolences, the ârchs openly supported the United States. And this spring, they were the only organized political institutions in the Arab world to applaud the American intervention in Iraq.

On 14 June 2001, Kabylia sent more than two million of its citizens in the streets of Algiers to hand the “Platform of El-Kseur” in to the President of the Republic of Algeria. This document, written three days earlier by representatives of different Kabylian political forces, contained 15 points of consensus claims.

This historic manifestation, with its Platform, was the peaceful response of Kabylia to its military aggression by the Algerian power. It epitomized civilization against barbarism. No other people in the world had so far mobilized a third of its population in a single public demonstration. No other people in the world, in a state of self-defense as it was the case for Kabyle people, would respond otherwise than taking up arms to defend themselves. Kabylia innovated.

Now that the ruse of the Algerian power and its corruption with the erosion of time and the lack of preparation of the resistance movement got the better of both the Archs and the “Platform of El-Kseur,” the MAK claims in this event one of the greatest milestones of the Kabyle people in his march towards the control of his destiny by himself. (…)

A new stage will be initiated at the beginning of the current social year. It is time for us to give the Kabylity its meaning with all the respect it deserves. Our duty is to assert it, to protect it, and to enhance it in all areas. We’ll speak Kabyle, we’ll think Kabyle and we’ll consume principally Kabyle products. Reinvigorate the solidarity between us will be salutary to our people.

MAK reaches out to all those who sincerely wish to build together the future autonomy of Kabylia. It is ready for a constructive dialogue with all political, union, social and cultural kabyle forces. It will have a word with all the key figures who accept its invitation. (…)

Massa Taselwayt, inevgawen n lḥerma, imceyεen n iɣerfan imenza, azul sɣur Tamurt n Iqvayliyen. Meqqar d sin wawalen-a s teqvaylit di tejmaεt n leğğnas yedduklen, ad nelli yissen tiwwura n tudert tagraɣlant tunṣivt i weɣref aqvayli.

Madam President, honorable representatives of the autochthonous peoples, the Kabyle people greet you in his language to mark his official entry to the Palace of United Nations on this Tuesday, May 26th, 2009.

 Identity Oppression
 Military Occupation and Insecurity
 Economic Sabotage
 The Demagogy of Algeria to the UNO (…)

Mme Nait Sid Kamira, Collectif des femmes du Printemps noir de Kabylie, said women in her region were “doubly repressed” in that they had to secure their legitimate rights in a predominantly Muslim culture. They were subjected to laws that made men superior. Inequality was enshrined in the culture. Although Algeria had ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, such behaviour had solid champions in her culture. Women were repressed both symbolically and legally.

In ancient times, women were respected as wives, but today, they were relegated to a derisory status, she said. In the past, they had an important place in society, often as the head of kingdoms, including the Kabylie. When facing drought, women would call for blessings. They also had an important role negotiating peace in their tribes. Kabylie women were known for their strong character, and they continued to fight against the family code, which was inspired by Sharia law. Women had gained ground, notably in securing an amendment to the family code -– indeed, it was clear it must be repealed and replaced by a truly egalitarian law. She called for autonomy of the Kabyle region, and urged the Algerian Government to respect the indigenous peoples’ Declaration. “We want a consensus-based future that promotes the equality of women,” she said.

 The Condition of the Kabyle Woman
 The Family Code
 Forced Marriage
 The Labor Market
 Recommandations (…)

We do believe that Japan and Kabylia have already too much in common and have a lot of things to share together. For the sake of their common human and cultural values, Japan and Kabylia should build a true friendship and work hand in hand for the prosperity of their peoples by fostering peace and human rights all over world? Both nations have too much to offer to each other.

If meanwhile Kabyles are subject to total insecurity does not bother anyone within the rogue regime. On the contrary, the false military barriers erected by terrorists, kidnappings and racketing of our contractors who are thus pushed to invest outside of Kabylia, the huge military presence whose real mission is clearly not the much-needed fight against terror… are all signs of the same old senseless policy aimed at punishing our commitment to our identity, language, culture and freedom.
The mine that plunged Azru n Kulal and the region of Michelet into mourning by killing the young Karim, reminds us all of the dangers to which we are voluntarily exposed by Bouteflika’s regime.
The MAK, who sends its condolences to the family of the young victim, denounces with vigour the merging of Islamic terrorism with that of the Algerian authorities against the peaceful Kabyle people.

Dear Friend Ferhat,
Dear Friends of M.A.K.,

I came to notice with great pleasure the success of the advocates of the autonomy for Kabylia on 20 April 2009. I congratulate you for this great step forward and deeply regret not being able to be there with you. As you know, I have initiated and been defending this project for over fifteen years; I believe it is just and the only solution capable of preserving Kabylia, and more widely the Berber world, from scheduled disappearance. Despite this belief, despite the certainty of its justness, I have long feared that this idea would fail to win over the Kabyle, and more generally the Berber opinion, given the fact that our intellectual and political elites are very much integrated in the State machinery and nationalist ideology. This April 20th has just shown that the autonomy of Kabylia is not a mere vision, a dream of intellectual cut off from reality. Even if the road will certainly be long and difficult, it is now established that a significant proportion of Kabyles want to give themselves the political and legal means to take control over their destiny and make sure they continue to be Kabyles and Berbers.

I wish you/us every success!

Salem Chaker.
Professor of Berber
Université de Provence

The Movement for Autonomy of Kabylia is for three years now the only political organization to commemorate the Berber Spring of 1980 and the ’Black Spring’ of 2001-2003. On Saturday 18 April, a rally of the MAK-France was held in Paris on the Place de la République, with fifteen senior activists speaking before an audience which was yet reduced by the rain to nearly a thousand people.
On Monday 20 April, the march of MAK in Tizi-Ouzou has enabled the city to take up large crowds again as observers valued participants at more than 20,000 people.
During the rally that followed marching, the president of MAK was able to speak by phone to greet and congratulate the marchers, followed by the below statement which was read out to the crowed and the press.

The MAK’s Council of At Wizgan (Bouzeguene) called for all Kabyle citizens to join the march that has taken place on 08 April 2009 at 11 am, starting at Hammadi middle school and finishing at the Post Office, where marchers gatherd in a general rally.

The Presidential elections are already taking place in the Algerian diaspora as of Saturday 4 April 2009. The MAK is opposed to this charade and calls for boycott while already focusing on the the commemoration of April 20th. (Berber Spring 1980 / Black Spring 2001 events)
Given the wide observance of the elections boycott by the Kabyle people, it is now time to focus and prepare for the success of the rally at the Place de la Republique in Paris on Saturday 18 April and the marching in Tizi Ouzou on April 20th.

Please spread the word around you.
Thank you