Since the fall of Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 2019, the Algerian people had opened a historic breach. The Hirak had given rise to immense hope: that of a State finally freed from arbitrariness, founded on popular sovereignty, justice and freedoms. For months, millions of Algerians marched peacefully, with dignity, to demand real change.
But that hope was gradually smothered.
Since 2021, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, an authoritarian tightening of control has taken hold. Arrests of activists, imprisonment of journalists, judicial intimidation – 87bis: repression has become part of daily life. Vague accusations, such as “attacking national unity” or “spreading false information”, have become political tools to silence any dissenting voice.
The finding is damning: the space for freedoms has shrunk considerably, almost to the point of disappearing.
The independent press is weakened, marginalized or silenced. Public debate is locked down. Elections, marked by massive abstention, no longer convince anyone. They reflect neither popular support nor genuine democratic competition. As for the announced reforms, they have not made it possible to guarantee an independent judiciary or a real separation of powers.
At the same time, the authorities are seeking to rebuild their image. The Pope’s visit scheduled for 13 April 2026 appears, to many, as an attempt at legitimation on the international stage. A communications operation that contrasts brutally with the reality experienced by Algerians.
For while the regime seeks to give itself respectability, part of the youth is fleeing.
Every week, young people take to the sea, with no guarantee of return. They cross the Mediterranean Sea in the hope of a better life. Many never make it. They disappear, swallowed by the waters, victims of a system that offers them neither prospects nor a future.
Faced with this situation, silence is no longer an option.
The Algerian diaspora today has a historic role to play. Free to speak out, it can raise the alarm, denounce and carry the voice of those whom others are trying to silence. It can also mobilize.
This is why we call for a massive presence on 1 May 2026 in Geneva and for the need to continue the fight for freedoms.
This gathering is more than a march. It is a message. A demand. A promise.
The Hirak is not dead.
The aspirations of the Algerian people are not negotiable.
They are defended.