Kamira Nait Sid, Algeria

I am Kamira Nait Sid, an Amazigh from Algeria and a strong advocate of the Amazigh language, culture and identity. My advocacy work was through the Association of Women in Kabylie, where I also raised critical questions concerning women's rights.

As an indigenous Amazigh woman and co-president of the Amazigh World Congress, I have been a victim of harassment by Algerian authorities, arrested, detained on several occasions for a short period. I am often subjected to searches and interrogations when travelling abroad from the airport in Algiers.

I was abducted on 24 August 2021 in Northern Algerian by unidentified men for several days before friends, family, colleagues and my lawyers received confirmation that I was in police custody.

I am accused of belonging to the Kabyle separatist movement (MAK). I was placed in pre-trial detention on 1 September 2021 by the investigating judge at the Sidi M'hamed court in Algiers. I am being prosecuted under Article 87 of the Penal Code, which classifies any act as a terrorist act if it threatens the state's security, territorial integrity, stability, or normal functioning of institutions.

The arrest of human rights defenders in Algeria is descriptive of a system that crackdowns on critical voices in the country.

The CIVICUS monitor rates Algeria as repressed.

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