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Claude Lefebure wrote that it was at the teacher’s college that “as if he came out of hypnosis, he suddenly felt “Amazigh.” According to Brahim Aqdim, the president of the Mohamed Kaïreddine Association, he was treated as a “dirty Arab” in the French school and as a “dirty Shluh” in the Moroccan Arabized school. Perhaps that explains his early and very passionate search for an identity.

After passing his baccalaureate as an independent candidate, he attended the Faculty of Letters and the Ecole Normale Supérieure (The Higher Teachers College) and in 1968 he graduated with a License in history and geography. He then taught for two years (1968-70) in a high school in Ra- bat before attending the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris.

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While in Paris he also attended Lionel Galand’s course on Tamazight at Langues’O. Back from Paris he started teaching at the Faculty of Letters and became an active member of the AMREC, an association devoted to the promotion of Amazigh culture.

Ali Sadki Azayku was an avid reader of history. He was interested in the true history of Tamazgha, not the one taught in Moroccan schools and which only starts at the advent of Islam. As he started to understand the true history of his land and his people, he also started to write. His writings were a key element in the identity awareness of the Moroccan Amazigh. He wrote in the newspapers and in the Amazigh magazine ran by Ouzzin Aherdane, the son of Mahdjoubi Aherdane, leader of the Peoples’ Party. It was one of his articles in this magazine titled “For a true approach to our national culture” that cost him 12 months in prison and made the Moroccan authorities close the magazine for good.

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Offered to retract his writings, Ali refused and became the first Amazigh activist to be thrown in prison. His stay in the Moroccan prison of Laalou helped Amazigh activists strengthen their resolve but most importantly, it had a great impact on the poet that he was. His poetry expressed the sorrow and hardship of life (his and that of his own people) and at the same time an immeasurable passion to live and fight. out of prison, with the help of his friends he regained his former job and continued to write about Amazigh culture .

In 1988, he published Timitar, a collection of 33 poems, followed by Izmullen in 1995 that he wrote entirely in prison. the reknown Ammouri Mbark and other Amazigh singers sang many to the board of IRCAM, where he was expected to continue his fight for the Amazigh identity.
Ali Sadki Azayku died on september 10th, 2004, and the Amazigh people and their cause lost in him one of the most respectable figures. he was 62, and he left two children, Tilila and Ziri.

Below are statements released by Amazigh Supreme Council of Libya regarding boycotting of the constitutional rewrite

Tripoli, July 24, 2018

In reference to the declaration of the Amazigh Supreme Council of Libya regarding boycott of the constitutional process;
We affirm that we continue our commitment to apply the concept of “We do not recognize those who do not recognize us”.

Furthermore, to safeguard the sacrifices of our heroes whom gave their lives to pave the way for us to gain our legitimate rights; and for the persistence and courage of the Amazigh people, and their full awareness of their cause and future;
The Amazigh Supreme Council of Libya urges all Amazigh citizens to boycott the so called referendum over a racist unjust draft constitution.
We shall not recognize the constitution resulting from this referendum, for it is an illegitimate document due to its violation to local laws and international conventions and treaties ratified by Libya.

We hold responsible; the so called the Comittee of 58, House of Representatives, High State Council, UNSMIL and everyone supporting this exclusionist project; for the resulting lack of unity and instability in Libya, for they went on with applying procedures to issue a referendum, fully ignoring the lack of consensus with the Amazigh people as a genuine partner in constructing Libya.

We announce that the forthcoming phase will be a beginning of a new political and social rift. It will be a turning point in the Amazigh political mechanisms, and this clear rejection of the Amazigh people as a genuine partner will force us to reciprocate such treatment.

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]nternational Women’s Day is an annual celebration of the respect, honor and appreciation towards women across the world. In recent years, the annual event has gained decent recognition, giving a chance to celebrate achievements in the women’s movement and to inspire further progress through both local and international action.

On this occasion, the Amazigh World News team would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all women across the globe including the Amazigh women of Tamazgha/North Africa, to whom we owe so much.

We also want to assure that we will continue to defend Amazigh women’s rights, try to help them in their daily struggle for a better life, work to promote their role in society, and create a suitable platform that helps them to actively participate in civil society, political leadership and economic development.[ads1]

In 1947, he was assigned in Taourirt Moussa and became a school principal in 1952. Feraoun was one of the most prolific francophone writers of his generation. His works all describe Kabyle peasant life. Le Fils du pauvre (1950; “The Poor Man’s Son”) is a semiautobiographical story of a Berber-Amazigh youth struggling against poverty and hardship to achieve an education and self-advancement.

The portrayal of the simple life in the mountains is filled with nobility, human compassion, and a love of family and native soil. La Terre et le sang (1953; “Earth and Blood”) deals with an émigré whose life in France is burdened by the sequestration of his proud countrymen and with the importance of nif (“honour”), the basis of all traditional morality and the source of the sense of self-worth, dignity, pride, and community. Les Chemins qui montent (1957; “The Upward Roads”) carries forward in more bitter tones the themes of the resignation, resistance, and endurance of the fellah (peasant) faced with the realities of colonial society; it also deals with the strictures placed on the youth and the narrowness of choices available to them.

Feraoun’s devotion to Kabyle culture is also evident in a collection of portraits and sketches, in a translation of 19th-century Kabyle poetry, and in his journal. Through his works he achieved his goal of discovering the voice of “an indomitable people of flesh and blood.”

On 15 March 1962, Feraoun as well as five of his colleagues were assassinated by a commando of the Organisation armée secrète (OAS), an extremist organization of the French settlers in Algeria.

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“Languages Matter!”

Tamazight language matters!

Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.

Among the list of recommendations made to the Member States by the declartion of this International day one reads:

(a) create the conditions for a social, intellectual and media environment of an international character which is conducive to linguistic pluralism;

(b) promote, through multilingual education, democratic access to knowledge for all citizens, whatever their mother tongue, and build linguistic pluralism; strategies to achieve these goals.

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The 21st of February is celebrated as World Mother Tongue Day. The UNESCO, which hopes to make people conscious of the importance of the mother tongue, declares in its latest publication Education in a Multilingual World (2003), that the most suitable language for teaching basic concepts to children is the mother tongue.

Indeed, the UNESCO declared this as early as 1953 in its report The Use of Vernacular Languages in Education. Yet, as the world modernized, the smaller and weaker mother tongues started dying. The schooling system, the media and the jobs all demanded the languages of power – the languages used in the domains of power i.e. administration, government, military, commerce, education, media etc. – which had to be learned by people in their own interest. As globalization increases, languages die.

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The 21st of February reminds us that, despite this inequality of power between our mother tongues and the languages of power, we must not give up hope. We must be conscious of the significance of our mother tongues, which give us identity; which are repositories of culture and which, in the final analysis, make us what we are.

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Mano led the Tuareg Rebellion in Ténéré region, northern Niger during the 1990s, He was born in Tiden valley in the Aïr Mountains in 1949 and died in a suspicious plane crash in the Adrar Chirouet region in Niger, on the 15th of December 1995, while he was in his way to meet government officials to discuss peace talks.

Mano Dayak was the group leader who led Tamoust Liberation Front (FLT) – also a member of the CRA (Coordination de la résistance armée),  and the one who opposed the peace accord with the government of Niger that was signed by another Touareg Coalition (ORA) .

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Mano’s forces continued to pound government positions from their base in the Tenere Desert, East of Agadez. and wrote a book on the Tuareg grievances  against the government of Niger.

Another great success in Boston for hosting—on September 23rd at Tufts University—the ninth annual of the Amazigh Film Festival for the second year in a row, film festival dedicated to Amazigh films and documentaries made by Amazigh and international filmmakers.

The festival was hosted by the Amazigh Cultural Network in America (A.C.N.A.) in collaboration with the Tazzla Institute for Cultural Diversity. Sponsored by the the BMCE Bank Foundation.

The festival featured a wide variety of movies, short-films and documentaries that spanned various cultural, societal, historical, political and artistic themes. The audience was well receptive and activrely engaged, and the intermission allowed people from a round-the-world diversity to intermingle, share and connect.

The festival ended with a live panel discussion spiced up with interesting interventions from the audience, as well as a vivid live performance featuring famous tunes from Rif and Kabyle land.

Special thanks to the organizers, coordinators, host at Tufts University and to all of the talented and ambitious Amazigh and international filmmakers that were featured in this years festival including Kamal Hachkar, Anita lewton, Izza Genini, Mohamed Bouzaggou , Dounia Benjelloun Mezian and Tahar Houchi. We’re well on our way to make this a standard festival going forward with even bigger exposures and impact in the years to come.

[dropcap]J[/dropcap]une 27th marks the 63 years anniversary of the assassination of Abbas Messaadi, Amazigh leader and one of the founding members of the Moroccan Army of Liberation before his controversial assassination in June 1956 that would ultimately trigger the 1957 Rif Revolt.

Abbas was running a military camp in Aknoul and was assassinated in Fes in June 1956 allegedly by Karim Hajjaj, a member of the Istiqlal party. His assassination was allegedly ordered by Mehdi Ben Barka, one of the younger leaders of the Istiqlal party.

He was first buried in Fes but in 1957 his remains were transferred to Ajdir, in Rif region. the stronghold of Mohamed ben Abdelkrim al-Khattabi, against the wishes of the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior. When security forces were sent by the ministry to repatriate the body to Fes, this sparked clashes with the population in Ajdir which led to the Rif revolt

His murder was the first in a series of assassinations directed against members of the Moroccan Army of liberation and other factions competing with the Istiqlal party and the Alaouite family. [ads2]

Amazigh people urge North Africa countries to respect the “UN declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples”

Tiznit, southern Morocco,  hosted the international forum on the rights of Amazigh people under the theme of “UN declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples”, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of its adoption, in Tiznit city from 28^th to 30^th of last April 2017.[ads1]

The forum was organized by “the Amazigh World” newspaper, Tiznit Anamour Association and Souss Abaraz Association, in collaboration with Friedrich Naumann Foundation for freedom, Tiznit Provincial Council, Tiznit Municipality and the Amazigh World Congress. The said forum took place at the same time of the sixth anniversary of the democratic spring of peoples. It is also part of the preparation for the ninth general congress of the Amazigh World Assembly which will take place in the Tunisian capital in November 2017.  

During the program of the forum, the participants concluded with a number of points and recommendations from a fruitful exchange on different issues and files concerning the Amazighs especially Tamazgha territory. Thereupon, we declare to the public opinion as follows:

• We affirm that the Amazigh, as indigenous peoples of North Africa, although they are the majority of the population of the region, are always facing many violations which conflict with the “UN declaration on the right of the indigenous peoples” and the “Universal declaration of human rights” as well as the other international covenants and charters concerning cultural, linguistic, economic, social and political rights.
• Although that the North African states have ratified several international human rights charters, their constitutions have not reached the degree of cohesion with these charters in terms of overriding international rights compared with the national legislations.
• All the North African states, although their constitutions grant this official status to the amazigh language and recognize rights, experience a contradiction between the legal texts and the policies of these countries in reality. This adds to the suffering of the amazighs vis-à-vis states which enact official laws and act according to a customary law. The fact which deepens such suffering resides inn the ongoing targeting of amazigh activists who defend values and principles as well as universal covenants in their struggle in the face of dictatorial and racist regims, parties and entities based on extremist Arabs nationalists’ constants and an extremist political Islam.

And the fact that the Northern African States do not enforce their laws and the fact that these laws contrast the majority of the content of the said laws and the provisions of the “UN declaration on the rights of indigenous people” as well as the international charters and the peoples, the amazighs suffer, in Morocco, in Algeria, in Libya, in Tunisia, in Azawad, in Niger and in other countries where Touareg live and in the Diaspora too, from wars and humanitarian crises. These crises are incarnated in the lack of food, famine, forced migration, repression, killings, racism, ethnic segregation, political, cultural, economic and social exclusion and marginalization in accordance with the following data:

In Libya:

• Immediately, after the collapse of Kadhafi’s regime, the Amazighs and Touareg, many times, were targets to military attacks. Besides, the suffered from the ongoing war between the other Libyan components, causing deaths and injuries. Many were forced into exile either southward for the Touareg and westward for the Amazighs.
• In all the negotiations and through the different stages of the inter-Libyan dialogue, all the parties refused to recognize the amazigh rights, especially the revision of the article 30 of the Libyan constitutional declaration, in order to provide an opportunity to recognize the Amazigh, Touareg and Toubou as official languages in Libya along with Arabic in accordance with the international charter on human rights and the “UN declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples”, ratified by the Amazigh Supreme Council of Libya.
• A number of Amazighs and Touareg were subject to killings, threats if not ethnocide from ‘the Arab Army” led by the general Khalifa Haftar who gained the support of Toubroq parliament the mandate of which is well accomplished.
• The Amazighs have opted for all forms of peaceful protests during the last six years, including sit-ins, walks, strikes and rebellion. However, the other Libyan parties (including Arab and moderate and Islamist or extremist nationalist organizations) did not change their minds and kept refusing the recognition of the Amazighs’ rights in the post-revolution Libyan constitution. The parties which benefited from the support of the middle eastern arab countries in terms of weapons and money and which participated from time to time with military aircrafts in operations.

In Tunisia:

• The post-revolution Tunisian constitution makes reference neither to the presence of amazighs nor to their language or culture in the country which has undergone arabization for centuries. Moreover, the post-revolution Tunisian constitution established the Arab identity of the country and, Arabic as the official language and Tunisia as a part of the Arab world and Maghreb. This exclusivist constitution contains an article which makes the Tunisian identity an Arab one. Another article stipulates that it would not be possible to reform or amend the previous article. Fact that eternally and symbolically condemns the recognition of the Amazighs rights in Tunisia.
• Racism and segregation against the amazighs embodied in the post-revolution constitution lead to the foundation of a number of Amazigh associations the majority of which requested the recognition of the Amazigh linguistic and cultural rights.

The Tunisian republic is contradiction with the provisions of the “UN declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples” and the “Universal declaration of Human Rights” as well as other UN charters and recommendations.

In Algeria:

•  Algeria recognized the amazigh as an official language for more than a year. However, this recognition depends on an organic law which has yet to be proclaimed.  Hence, this formalization remains on paper.
• The Algerian authorities kidnapped 165 Amazighs rights activists, from Oued M’Zab, including 43 detainees. Among them, there is the amazigh rights activist Dr. Kamal Eddine Fekhar who spent two years in prison alongside his friends without trial. An arbitrary rrest which respects neither the Algerian nor the international laws. A number of mozabite people detainees of rights died in prison. Others have been on hunger strike which threats their lives as it is the case of Dr. Kamal Eddine Fakhar who has been on hunger strike during 110 days. He stopped his strike without receiving any response from the Algerian authorities concerning his claims. Claims similar to those proclaimed by the amazigh and international legal organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. These organizations demand to bring the detainees before the court or provide evidence about their accusation, otherwise, release them.
• After these outlaw killing and detention crimes in Kabylia region, the Algerian regime carries on these methods against the Amazighs of Mzab. This through encouraging           and supporting Chaamba “arab” militia which attack the Amazighs as shown by the the photographs and videos released by the Mzab amazigh activists. Thses actions resulted in dozens of deaths, injuries and exiled people. Subsequently, this regime carried out an arbitrary detention operation against activists and mozabite rights defenders without respect for the international norms and laws.

In Azawad:

• Following the suffering of Touareg of azawad from marginalization and repression of the Malian regime which compelled them to military confrontations, France intervened under “Serval” operation to put an end to the touareg aspirations as for their independence in Bamako. Before doing so, with neighboring countries, under UN sponsorship, a dialogue for peace, reconciliation, in accordance with the Algerian process which enabled the signature of a convention in Bamako in 2015. However, none of the articles of the convention was applied, apart from the establishment of a company grouping the Azawad movements and the Malian forces, led by the French forces.
• The touareg citizens suffer from severe humanitarian crises inherent in lack of food, famine and different types of humanitarian suffering. Neither France nor Mali made an effort to reduce such suffering. On the contrary, the French and UN political discourse focused on combating the terrorist groups supported by the neighboring countries including Algeria.
• The solution to the insecurity in Azawad would not be resolved with French nor Malian military intervention, only the application of the “UN declaration on the rights of the indigenous peoples” and granting the political autonomy status to Azawad may resolve this regional conflict.

In Morocco :

• The Moroccan state recognized the Amazigh as an official language in 2011 to calm down the protests of the democratic spring of peoples. But, it associated such recognition with an organic law which has not been enacted since that time. Also, the recognition of the amazigh language remains open. Far more, this recognition depends on an organic law which has been used by state institutions and some political parties to put into question all the fragile achievements of the amazigh language in education and media.
• The Moroccan state resorted to an extensive use of violence against the amazigh peaceful protests as the case of Rif protests which triggered following the murder of the citizen Mouhsin Fikri, crushed in garbage truck. The state repressed the protesters, although it should assume the responsibility of its officials by having a number of them arrested and brought to justice.
• The marginalization policy of the Moroccan state lead to the death of “Idya” in Tinghir city, as result of lack of adequate health facilities which must have been equipped with the necessary means, in a region where there is the largest silver mine in Africa.

We, within the framework of the « International forum on the rights of the Amazighs under the « UN declaration on the rights of the indigenous peoples », request all the global organizations and bodies of human rights as well as world countries, in addition to the United Nations, to intervene to protect the amazighs in North Africa. And this, by forcing the states of the region to respect the terms of the “UN declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples”, the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” and the different national and international covenants and charters. We call the Amazighs to adopt “Tamazgha charter for a democratic, social and transnational confederation based on the right to self-government of regions” » , which was adopted by the Amazigh World Assembly during its seventh general meeting in Tiznit in December 2013.

We also call for operational measures and coordination, on the basis of the results. With any party able to put an end to the suffering of the Amazigh people as part of clarity and transparency, respect of norms and laws, respect of fidelity to references based on the international covenants of human rights of peoples especially the “UN declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples”.

And we reaffirm, therefore, the necessity to grant a representation to the amazigh in the UN structures, as peoples without a state in the Northern African countries.

To conclude, we draw the attention of all Amazigh activists as to vigilance concerning the continuous targeting of Amazigh activists and to their exploitation by entities and Arab nationalist, racist or islamo-extremist countries which reject the other.

When:
May 23, 24 2017
Where:
Fundación Euroárabe de Altos Estudios
Calle San Jerónimo, 27, 18001 Granada, Spain
Event Website:
www.fundea.com