Bedoui: “Media Outlets Pile Up Phenomenon Of Violence In Algeria”

The Government attaches “crucial importance” to the unflagging fight against violence under all its forms, said Thursday in Algiers, the Minister of the Interior and Local Assemblies Mr. Noureddine Bedoui.

“Several measures have been taken and others are planned to ensure the security of citizens and the protection of their property,” added Mr Bedoui.

“The Government attaches crucial importance to the sustained fight against violence in the society, in all its forms, including the violence in stadiums and road violence, through several remedial measures,” said the minister during a plenary session at the Council of the Nation (Upper House of Parliament) in reply to a question of senator Boushaba Rachid.

Mr Bedoui announced other measures and strategies in the struggle against violence with the participation of experts and researchers, stressing that the security and safety of citizens, the protection of their property, the preservation of stability and peace are the Government’s top priorities

“The few incidents recorded of late in some cities were isolated acts which cannot be assimilated to a phenomenon of violence,” he said, asserting that “the real situation is far from the media amplification and the rumors relayed on the Social networks “.

He explained that the resettlement of families who lived previously in slums in Algiers, in new neighborhoods has generated friction between some young people, as some offenders have sought to assert themselves notably by ‘monopolizing the car parking lots’, adding that it is in some cases “revenge actions or simple altercations that turn into a general brawl”.

Some of these incidents “are mere altercations that occur in some neighborhoods involving misguided young people, delinquents or habitual offenders,” he said, stressing that they “are settled immediately through the intervention of security forces who duly ensure the control of restive neighborhoods as part of their daily fight to stamp out crime in all its forms “.

After recalling that “violence, under all its forms, is at the crux of the public authorities’ preoccupations”, Mr Bedoui said that the violence recorded in the new city compounds “has decreased significantly in recent years, most incidents being unimportant and not affecting the daily lives of the citizens “.

To curb this nefarious phenomenon, the Interior minister pointed to “urgent measures of a coercive nature coupled with sensitization campaigns aimed at responding to the sprawling urban extension which requires the deployment of elements of the national gendarmerie and those of the national police in waging control operations in those districts usually frequented by the habitual offenders”.

“The new housing estates have been accompanied by the creation of cultural and sports structures such as youth centers, recreation centers, prayer rooms and health facilities”, the minister asserted.

In addition to these measures, the stakeholders have been involved in the fight against violence through the fostering of neighborhood committees and their involvement in social mobilization activities, monitoring, protection and encouragement of young people towards common objectives which serve the public interest.

While emphasizing the “important role” of the mosques in disseminating “the values of fraternity and coexistence in peace and serenity”, the minister stressed “the need to compel parents to spare their children from evil-doing”, recalling that the Children’s Code make the parents liable to legal sanctions in case of breach of their civil duties.