Switzerland may sue ex-Algeria minister for war crimes

Former Algerian Defence Minister Khaled Nezzar is to be prosecuted in Switzerland for alleged war crimes committed in Algeria between 1992 and 1994, Arabi21 reported yesterday.

In a statement, Trial International said: “The Swiss Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has conducted the final hearing of Khaled Nezzar. The OAG holds that numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed while Mr. Nezzar was leading the military junta and serving as Minister of Defense at the beginning of the Algerian civil war.”

“The end of the proceedings paves the way for Mr. Nezzar to be sent to trial before the Federal Criminal Court (FCC) for serious offences constituting complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity, including extrajudicial executions, torture and enforced disappearances,” it explained.

“A formal decision by the OAG to refer him to the FCC for trial could be issued very soon,” as the three-day hearing in Bern has now come to a close.

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Some 200,000 Algerians were either killed or went missing between 1992-2000 when Nezzar minister of defence. “Violations of human rights and international conventions were widespread and the use of torture systematic,” Trial International said in its statement.

“After more than 10 years of investigation and numerous judicial twists, the end of the proceedings paves the way for Mr Nezzar to be sent to trial before the Federal Criminal Court (FCC) for serious offences,” Trial International wrote on its website.

Trial International said that his offenses “constitutes complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity, including extrajudicial executions, torture and enforced disappearances.”

“We welcome the fact that this long investigation has come to an end, paving the way for justice for the countless victims of the Algerian civil war,” said Giulia Soldan, head of the organisation’s International Investigations and Litigation programme.