Benjamin Gilman: “since our committee marked up this resolution earlier this month, scores of Algerians, mostly civilians, have been…”

“since our committee marked up this resolution earlier this month, scores of Algerians, mostly civilians, have been killed in a barbaric civil war. Last night, Mr. Speaker, 40 Algerians had their throats cut by fundamentalist rebels. The massacre coincided with the feast of the Moslem New Year. The horror of this violence is unimaginable. Since 1992, over 65,000 Algerians have been killed. It is vital that the Congress speak out on this issue. The resolution before us today I think sends the right message, Mr. Speaker. This resolution rightly calls on the Government of Algeria to allow neutral, independent international investigators to examine the violence that has racked Algeria since 1992. There should be no mistake, my colleagues, that the thrust of this resolution is to strongly condemn the Armed Islamic Group and the other terrorists inside Algeria who have slaughtered, in a barbaric fashion, tens of thousands of innocent Algerians. There is no place in this world for such atrocities.”