{"id":24489,"date":"2020-04-15T11:58:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T11:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southafricajournal.com\/?p=24489"},"modified":"2020-04-16T12:05:54","modified_gmt":"2020-04-16T12:05:54","slug":"for-algerias-hirak-protest-movement-covid-19-could-prove-an-opportunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southafricajournal.com\/for-algerias-hirak-protest-movement-covid-19-could-prove-an-opportunity\/","title":{"rendered":"For Algeria’s Hirak Protest Movement, COVID-19 Could Prove an Opportunity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PARIS\n– A year ago, Algeria\u2019s stunning popular uprising forced out\nlongtime President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and rocked a power establishment\nin place since independence.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\nthe coronavirus pandemic has emptied streets once packed with millions of\nanti-government protesters, while authorities continue a campaign of\nintimidation and arrests, critics say.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some\npredict the pandemic, which now leaves Algeria with Africa\u2019s biggest reported\ndeath toll, may unravel the largely peaceful Hirak protest movement\nborn early last year. Yet other analysts believe, paradoxically, that COVID-19\ncould see it emerge stronger than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Hirak is\ntaking charge of the health crisis,\u201d said Anissa Daboussi, Middle East and\nNorth African program officer for the Paris-based International Federation for\nHuman Rights (FIDH). \u201cOnce again, civil society is offering the answers,\nnot the state.\u201d    
\nWith more than 300 coronavirus-related deaths as of\nWednesday, Algeria has Africa\u2019s highest reported mortality figures,\nalthough its overall caseload lags South Africa and Egypt, according to the\nJohns Hopkins\u2019 Coronavirus Resource Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Algerian authorities\nsay they have been proactive in responding to the pandemic, describing the\nexcellence of their medical staff and claiming they announced some measures\nlike school closings even before their European counterparts. Today,\npartial curfews and confinements are in place across most of the\ncountry, while neighboring Morocco and Tunisia are under full lockdown<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur\ncountry is totally ready to face the pandemic,\u201d Algerian President\nAbdelmadjid Tebboune told national media recently, adding any supply\nbottlenecks would be dealt with through local production and\nimports.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortcomings<\/strong>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experts\nare less confident, pointing to the country\u2019s weak health infrastructure and\nreported shortages of basic equipment like masks and disinfectant gel. Those\nshortcomings, along with a struggling economy and high joblessness, could make\nit hard for Algeria to weather and recover from the virus, they say.     
\nIndeed, the North African country ranks among the least prepared to respond to\na health crisis, placing 173 out of 195 nations in a 2019 Johns Hopkins Global\nHealth Security Index<\/em>.     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ngovernment\u2019s unpopularity and hard-line response to dissent could\nprove further handicaps, rights activists and analysts say. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last\nmonth, for example, an appeals court sentenced leading opposition figure\nKarim Tabbou to another year in jail, just before he completed a\nsix-month term for alleged charges related to inciting violence and harming\nnational security. Authorities also arrested prominent journalist\nKhaled Drareni, a correspondent for press freedom group Reporters Without\nBorders, who extensively covered the Hirak uprising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile,\nnot a single leading Hirak figure has been included\namong about 5,000 prisoners pardoned last month to prevent the virus\nfrom spreading in jails, activists say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cTheir\npriority is clearly not a health response, but to continue trying to muzzle\ndissident voices,\u201d said the FIDH\u2019s Daboussi of the\ngovernment.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Algerian\nauthorities did not respond to a request for comment. But North Africa security\nanalyst Brahim Oumansour, of the Paris-based French Institute of\nInternational Relations, called such actions regrettable, even if they are\nnothing new.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\ncome at a time when authorities need to win over public confidence to deal with\nthis health crisis,\u201d he said. \u201cBut they\u2019re pursuing the same old strategy of\nrepression.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/strong> Hirak\u2019s moment? <\/strong>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For\ntheir part, Hirak protesters have found new outlets for expression,\nanalysts say \u2014 and a new cause. While some initially spread fake news about the\nvirus, others urged Algerians to respect confinement measures and to continue\nthe protests online.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Hirak will\ncome back even more beautiful, Incha\u2019Allah,\u201d read one message posted on\nTwitter, with a clip of an earlier mass protest.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Associations\nthat once joined the twice-weekly demonstrations are now organizing shipments\nof food and medical supplies to areas hard hit by the virus.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthe northern province of Tizi Ouzou, long a flashpoint of anti-government\nprotests, youngsters have launched a crowdfunding appeal to supply masks and\nother protective equipment to a struggling local hospital, the country\u2019s\nindependent El Watan<\/em> newspaper reported.\nFeminist groups are watching out for domestic violence under the\nlockdown.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nsome cases, civil society groups are reportedly joining forces with local\nauthorities, even as others complain of having their efforts\nblocked.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Hirak has\ntransformed into a kind of large charitable organization,\u201d one association\nleader in Oran, Algeria\u2019s second largest city, told France\u2019s Le Monde<\/em> newspaper.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other see bigger opportunities\nfor the movement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe increasingly\nobvious cracks in Algeria\u2019s health systems, governance, and leadership will\ngive the Hirak an opening to go beyond protest,\u201d wrote Algeria\nexpert Vish Sakthivel in a recent Middle East Institute article. \u201cTo\nreframe grievances, articulate new demands, and forge a role in policy and\nservice provision.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nanalyst Oumansour warns of a potentially grimmer post-pandemic\nscenario.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cThe Pouvoir can\u2019t\nhide the situation in the hospitals and what Algerians could face if they need\nhealth care,\u201d he said, using the popular term for Algeria\u2019s nebulous power\nestablishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adding in the economic\nfallout from the crisis and a potentially hardening government response to\ndissent, he added, \u201cthere is a risk in some cases the movement could tip into\nviolence.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: Voice of America<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PARIS – A year ago, Algeria\u2019s stunning popular uprising forced out longtime President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and rocked a power establishment in place since independence.    Today the coronavirus pandemic has emptied streets once packed with millions of anti-government protesters, while authorities continue a campaign of intimidation and arrests, critics say.    Some predict the pandemic, which now leaves … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nFor Algeria's Hirak Protest Movement, COVID-19 Could Prove an Opportunity - South Africa Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southafricajournal.com\/for-algerias-hirak-protest-movement-covid-19-could-prove-an-opportunity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"For Algeria's Hirak Protest Movement, COVID-19 Could Prove an Opportunity - South Africa Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PARIS – A year ago, Algeria\u2019s stunning popular uprising forced out longtime President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and rocked a power establishment in place since independence.    Today the coronavirus pandemic has emptied streets once packed with millions of anti-government protesters, while authorities continue a campaign of intimidation and arrests, critics say.    Some predict the pandemic, which now leaves ... 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