For several years after my departure from the Australian academic climate, I spent my time travelling and living in the Middle East, meeting with LGBTIQ rights activists from throughout the region. I soon realized that it was not in the interest of these activists, nor their beneficiaries, to publish any of my work that I had collected on the subject. While I had originally intended to write my findings in my forthcoming book, I realized that to do so would be irresponsible. At the same time, you can’t really publish academic work without proper references, factual details and exact information that can be corroborated. But nevertheless, I’ve spent the last few years wondering what to do with this information that I have.
There was one particular set of data from North Africa which left a lasting impression on me. I have wanted to share the information, no matter how imprecise and when the idea for this website came up, I took heart that it is perhaps now time. I am relaying information shared with me without having substantiated the alleged facts, with the exception of those that were reported in North African media. I have been haunted by the fact that some of these victims never had their stories heard and their murders never investigated, and I have wanted to do something to address this. It is for this reason that I share the below with you about a period of time between August 2010 and September 2011 in Algeria, which saw a spate of hate crimes, possibly incited by increased media attention on homosexual activity in public places.
Among the primary culprits is al-Shurooq newspaper. The newspaper has a broad circulation, reaching one million readers across the Arabic-speaking world, and it is accessible online. It began to run a series of stories about homosexual beats (cruising places) in North Africa. My analysis of the headlines that circulated clearly shows that homosexuality is depicted as a monstrosity and disease. One would expect no less. Simultaneously al-Nahar Al-Jaza’eria, an Algerian newspaper of wide circulation, was also focusing on exposing homosexual cruising places in the country. These stories produce strong reactions among the readers and the sensationalism provides unfailing high ratings, so it is no wonder that newspapers resort to this kind of “journalism.”
The newspapers may have been in league with the state apparatus as well, which was seeking to turn attention away from civil unrest and popular dissatisfaction with the state’s many political and social failings, internally and externally. These stories, wittingly or unwittingly, were inciting violence against gender and sexual minorities, and most vulnerable among these groups are always those who are visibly non-normative – feminine men, masculine women and gender ambiguous individuals. There is no way we can be certain that the media hype played a pivotal role or not in the series of uninvestigated murders that took place, but the activists’ guess is that this is exactly what they did. Fearing for their own safety and security, when stories of murdered individuals began to surface, activists were not able to follow up with police about the murders and ask why the reports were not followed by thorough investigations and why no one had ever been charged. Interestingly, the newspapers also remained silent about the killings.
The first of these murders involved two young men, aged 19 and 21, whose bodies were found at al-Ramliyeh sublet. Two months later a gay fashion designer was found naked and had been suffocated with a bag, in the gulf not far from Parliament House. Some three months later, another murder took place in Bab al-Wad, a popular suburb in the Algerian capital. The victim was a dance teacher – nicknamed Whitney, after Whitney Houston, for the complexion of his skin. He was found with his throat cut on the eve of the Festival of Sacrifice (Eid al-Adha), the festival that celebrates the sacrifice of a sheep in place of Ibrahim’s son. The victim was murdered in his home and none of his possessions were taken. Locals reacted nonchalantly, including police officers, who felt that he had brought it on himself. The local newspaper did report the murder but did not indicate the possible motivation and, predictably, no one was ever brought to justice. Shortly afterwards, some one or two months later, a transsexual sex worker was murdered with a knife in Jaza’er Square near Port Saeed.
In the meantime, weekly demonstrations against the Algerian government were being organized and held by a left wing political party, the MTLD, led by Law Professor Wahran al-Karoumie. The demonstrations were largely inspired by the success of the Tunisian revolution (of January 2011) and they were relentless and growing in support. Al-Karoumie was widely respected and lauded by his students and followers alike. He was beginning to wield significant political leverage in the public arena. When a member of his party was murdered, Karoumie and his followers demanded answers. Two weeks later the government investigation claimed that two of the victim’s neighbors went to rob her and subsequently killed her, charges were laid. But shortly thereafter, al-Karoumie himself was killed and it appeared as though the incidents were related. He was murdered in the party office and no one was charged. He was survived by his wife and children. His students and followers accused the government of killing him and the entire country was galvanized against the government. Shortly thereafter, al-Nahar al-Jaza’eria published a front page headline stating that Karoumie was killed by his (male) lover.
Some time later the alleged lover and killer of Karoumie was arrested and put on trial. At the trial it was alleged that a condom, filled with the killer’s semen had been found at the scene of the crime. A train of witnesses, some forty men, took the stand to testify that they had had sexual relations with Karoumie. This instantly ended support and sympathy for him and eased pressure on the government as a consequence. The impact of this murder and its coverage was greatly felt in the underground gay community, with the occurrence of yet another unsolved murder of a gay man, this time during Ramadan.
*Originally published on July 9, 2015 at http://samarhabib.com/murders-in-north-africa/ now discontinued.
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