E/CN.4/2003/66/Add.1 page 5 under 15, and nearly 70 per cent is under 25. Some 23 per cent of the population are said to be living below the poverty line, and the unemployment rate is 27.3 per cent or 2.3 million, 80 per cent of whom are aged under 20. 1. Independence and construction of the State 9. Algeria attained independence on 5 July 1962 amidst intense political struggles between personalities and political viewpoints jostling for power. Ahmed Ben Bella became head of State. The Constitution adopted in 1963 established a democratic people’s republic and presidential regime together with a single political party, the National Liberation Front (FLN). 10. But the political situation remained unstable and, on 19 June 1965, the army, led by Colonel Houari Boumediene, took power following a coup d’état, secured for itself a dominant position and became the means by which the élite were chosen. All sectors of the economy were progressively nationalized, an agrarian revolution was launched in 1971, and in 1976 the country adopted a national Charter that blended political and economic voluntarism with nationalism, based on a combination of Islamic moral and socialist revolutionary principles that were incorporated into the Constitution adopted by referendum in November 1976. 11. On the death of Boumediene in December 1978, Colonel Ben Djedid Chadli assumed power and embarked on a policy of economic liberalization which was stepped up in 1985 and 1987, in view of falling oil prices and an increase in Algeria’s foreign debts. 2. Political and economic difficulties 12. Extensive unemployment, the apparent inability of the regime to reform or improve living conditions for the general public, and corruption on the part of some officials led to more and more frequent unrest from 1986 onwards. Riots broke out in Algiers, then in Oran and Annaba, in October 1988, pitting young people against the forces of law and order; 159 people were reported killed, and 3,500 arrested. 13. On 23 February 1989, a referendum called by President Chadli adopted an amendment to the Constitution instituting the separation of powers, limiting the role of the army and restricting the presidential term of office to five years; above all, it allowed a multiparty system in Algeria. Many political parties were founded. The State monopoly over the press was abolished but, despite the reforms, strikes and demonstrations continued. 14. In April 1991, an indefinite strike and demonstrations led to the proclamation of a state of emergency and the arrests of roughly 700 members and sympathizers of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), including its chairman and vice-chairman. 3. Spread of religious extremism and violence 15. Having first come to light in 1982 and gained a foothold thanks to determined efforts from the mid-1980s onwards amongst the least well-off by militants operating in a dense, active associative and cultural network centring on the mosques, FIS swept to victory in the first multi-party local elections on 27 June 1990. On 26 December 1991, it won 47.5 per cent of the