Ferhat Mehenni

Ferhat Mehenni 2011

Ferhat Mehenni ( Kabyle ⴼⵔⵃⴰⵜ ⵎⵀⵏⵉ Ferhat Mhenni * 5. March 1951 in Illoula ) is an Algerian musicians and politicians .

He is the spokesman for the Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylia , the autonomy movement of Kabylia in Algeria.

Life

Fehrat Mehenni was born the son of an Algerian fighter . From January 1963 he attended a primary school in Algiers and after two years continued his education in the Kabyle town of Larbaâ Nath Irathen, where he passed his Abitur (Bac) in 1971. After graduating from high school, he studied political science at the University of Algiers, where he dealt with Berber politics and the various current trends in Algeria's capital. During this time he met his future friend and comrade in arms Saïd Saadi, with whom he published the magazine Taftilt 'Licht' , which later changed the title to Itri 'Stern' . The magazine's topics were cultural and linguistic issues.

In April 1973 he took part in a festival of Algerian music. Like the chansonnier Idir , he tries to revive traditional Algerian music as an identity-creating element of Berber culture. His songs were denounced as subversive under the authoritarian regime of Houari Boumediennes . Likewise, his songs are vehemently rejected by militant Islamists in Algeria who, like Algerian state organs, have threatened him with death several times.

Since the summer of 1976 he has been actively involved in the disputes that preceded the referendum for a constitutional amendment aimed at guaranteeing Boumedienne's rule. In this context, he came into the focus of the military security police ( Sécurité militaire ), as he emphasized his Berber identity at all rallies and gatherings. The police arrested him for 24 hours, but he was released under certain conditions.

The Berber spring

In 1980 Algeria saw the first spontaneous resistance movement against the regime, the Printemps Berbère 'Berber Spring' . At first glance, it was about the recognition of the Kabyle language as an independent and equal language in Algeria. 126 people were killed and 5,000 wounded in the fighting with the police. Fehrat Mehenni was arrested as an active member and released a month later. He resumed his activities as a defender of an independent Kabyle culture, but was constantly monitored and intimidated by the police and had to surrender his passport .

The League for Human Rights

On June 30, he was among the founders of the Algerian League for Human Rights ( Ligue algérienne pour la défense des droits de l'homme ) and was a board member. He was arrested in Azazga on July 17, as a member of the league and because he had celebrated Algeria's Independence Day outside of the official events organized by the government. He was sent to Berrouaghia Prison, sentenced to three years' imprisonment and a fine of 5,000 dinars . After three months, he was pardoned by the President on April 27, 1987.

The collection movement for culture and democracy

In November Mustapha Bacha, Mokrane Ait Larbi and Saïd Saadi founded the collection movement Rassemblement pour la culture et la démocratie (RCD) , in which Mehenni was involved as secretary for national issues and culture. Due to differences of opinion with Saadi, however, he soon gave up this post to join the Mouvement Culturel Berbère (MCB). Mehenni was one of the main organizers of the school and student boycott of September 1994, which a year later led to the establishment of a high commissioner for Berber issues ( Haut Commissariat à l'Amazighité ) by the Algerian government.

1994 returned Mehenni from a stay in Paris with an Airbus of Air France , the Islamists back Groupe Islamique Armé was kidnapped (GIA) to Marseille. The Islamists recognized him and wanted to shoot him, but could be overpowered by French security forces beforehand. Traumatized by this experience, he began again to write political chansons in which he dealt with these experiences. In 2001, his eldest son Améziane Mehenni was killed on the street in Paris, possibly because he had been mistaken for his father.

Music and politics

Ferrat Mehenni comes from a family in which the old Kabyle music tradition was maintained, the stories, traditions and religious ideas of their people being passed on orally in songs and not in writing. Ferrat uses this medium, which is familiar to its people, as a means to communicate its political freedom and human rights ideas. His music and his political commitment can hardly be separated for him. He sings his songs under the name Ferhat Imazighen Imoula , which he has been wearing as a musician since his first appearance on Algerian radio after winning first prize in a national song competition. The name of the group was Imazighen Imoula , but the moderator presented Ferhat Mehenni as the winner, Ferhat corrected him, which was the first time the frowned upon word Imazighen (= Berber) was pronounced on state radio.

Discography

• Revolutionary Songs from Kabylia . 1979. The album contains the song Ameddakʷel , based on a poem by Ludwig Uhland ( The Good Comrade ), translated into Kabyle and composed by Laimèche Ali, arranged and sung by Ferhat Mehenni [1]
• Tuγac n ddkir - Songs of steel, love and liberty (1994)

• Tuγac n tmes d waman - Songs of Fire and Water (1996 and 2001)
• I Tmurt n Leqvayel - Hymn to Kabylia (2002) [2]
• Adekker d usirem - Requiem and Hope (2004) [3]

literature

• Synthèse A. Mekdam: Ferhat Mehenni: “Nous libérerons la Kabylie” . In: Le Matin DZ. March 17, 2010. [4]

Web links

• Dissident watch: Ferhat Mehenni
• Ferhat Mehenni on Middle East Forum

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Denis MacEoin: Dissident Watch: Ferhat Mehenni. In: Middle East Quarterly. Spring 2010, p. 96
2. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from November 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.