Belkacem Louanes, chairman of the World Amazigh Congress, was quoted by El-Youm newspaper this week as saying that support for self-determination among the Amazigh can be traced to repressive government policies. He also suggested that the Algerian government is trying to divide Algerians by willful misunderstanding, characterizing self-determination as a dangerous threat to national unity. The Congress was founded in 1995 to defend the social cultural rights of the Amazigh, and to document and raise awareness of threats to those rights in countries such as Algeria. The Congress brings together more than 100 French, North African, Spanish, Swiss and North American associations, with more than 34 Algerian associations to work towards these goals. The chairman stressed that efforts by Imazighen to work towards self-determination do not fragment Algerian society, but are simply the pursuit of greater recognition of their collective rights.
