Algeria, let's not forget the Amazigh political prisoners
Sentenced to five years in prison for expressing his opinions, writer Boualem Sansal was released on November 12, 2025, after serving one year.
Officially, he was released by order of Mr Tebboune, the Algerian head of state, on humanitarian grounds, not out of respect for human rights. In reality, given Algeria's isolation on the international stage, Mr. Tebboune deemed it opportune to yield to the "friendly" pressure from certain governments, such as Germany. The Algerian authorities' aim is to garner international sympathy.
However, the Congrès Mondial Amazigh/Amazigh World Congress (CMA) welcomes Boualem Sansal's release, regardless of the conditions under which it was granted.
The CMA takes this opportunity to reiterate that hundreds of Amazigh political prisoners, the vast majority of whom are Kabyle, remain imprisoned, some sentenced to death, simply for peacefully denouncing the violation of their rights or demanding their rights to their language, culture, and self-governance of their territories.
The Congrès Mondial Amazigh/Amazigh World Congress:
• Condemns the continued arbitrary arrests and detentions, as well as the criminalization of the Amazigh people's right to self-determination;
• Demands the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, particularly Kabyles and those from the Mzab region;
• Urges the Kabyle and Amazigh diaspora to mobilize massively, courageously, and in all circumstances to secure the release of Kabyle and Amazigh political prisoners in Algeria. The fear must shift to the perpetrators;
• Calls upon democratic states to firmly pressure the Algerian authorities by all means, including economic, diplomatic and judicial ones, to end their ethnocidal policies against the Amazigh people of that country;
• Calls upon the African Union and the UN to immediately suspend Algeria’s membership until the Algerian regime ceases its violent and repressive policies against the Amazigh people and respects its international obligations regarding human and peoples’ rights.
Algeria, which has been governed for over half a century by an authoritarian military regime, poses a serious threat to the Amazigh people of that country and is a source of ongoing instability both within Algeria and at the sub-regional level. It is necessary and urgent that the international community demand accountability from the Algerian government.
Paris, 1.11.2975 – 12.11.2025
The Board of the CMA