E/CN.4/2003/66/Add.1 page 12 5. States of emergency 50. The state of emergency declared by decree of 9 February 1992, of which the United Nations was notified, is still in effect. The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior’s Director of Public Liberties say that all that now remains of the state of emergency is the decree that proclaimed it: in other words, the decree no longer means anything and its maintenance is a pure formality. The Minister of Justice also said that the state of emergency is being kept in existence owing to instability, so as to permit action to be taken in real time, but many have called for its repeal. B. Political setting 1. Religion, society and politics under Islam 51. Although many of those interviewed, whether official or not, emphasized the importance of not turning religion into a tool serving political ends, Algeria’s history shows that it is always very difficult to separate Islam, society and politics and, in fact, there is invariably a religious element at the midst of every political struggle. 52. At independence, there was a pervasive desire to design a State and society in political terms that drew their inspiration from Islam and broke with the colonial period. The reinstatement of national values which then seemed to be inseparable from religion is said to have resulted in the definition of Algerian nationality by membership of the Muslim faith, the restoration of religious control over schools, the introduction of religious education and mass campaigns against declining moral standards launched by the Ministry of Religious Affairs. 53. Many non-governmental representatives interviewed emphasized that places of worship and religion generally have always been used, either by the opposition to challenge the powers that be, or by the authorities to entrench their position and combat those seeking to turn religion to partisan ends. 54. For example, mosques were said to have served as political platforms for touting the merits of agrarian reform, blocking left-wing political movements and generally rousing support for the authorities in power. 55. This constant exploitation of religion was said to be the source of all the disturbances; a number of speakers said that the Islamic Salvation Front was merely the product of this system that mingled politics with religion, extremism and holier-than-thou posturing. 2. Takeover of the mosques by FIS and the regimentation of the general public 56. In the mid-1980s a great many imams installed by the State were driven out of the mosques and replaced by imams with links to FIS - imams who, having for the most part scant religious learning, attracted the disaffected from all sides, especially disoriented young people, with simplistic speeches making the Koran (which many do not know) and religion (which many