Cover-up claims in case that inspired hit film about murder of monks in Algeria
- The Observer,
A French judge has reopened an investigation into the murder of seven monks in Algeria whose ordeal is portrayed in the film Of Gods and Men.
The mystery of what happened to the Cistercian monks who were snatched from the Our Lady of Atlas monastery near the village of Tibhirine in 1996 has never been solved. Although it is believed that they were shot, then beheaded, their bodies have never been found.
Islamic extremists were blamed for the killings but information emerged that implicated the Algerian military in their deaths and suggested that France had colluded in covering up the truth. The French, Algeria's former colonial masters, have refused to release confidential papers which might shed light on the case. The government has claimed the papers are vital to state security.
In the years after the deaths, which provoked an outpouring of anger in France, the French and Algerian authorities stuck to the line that an Islamic terrorist group was to blame.
A French film about the case, Des Hommes et Des Dieux, won the Grand Prix at this year's Cannes film festival. It was a box-office hit in France where one and a half million people saw it in the first three weeks after its release in September. Released in Britain this month as Of Gods and Men, it depicts the events leading up to the kidnapping of the monks in March 1996. Now France's foremost anti-terrorism investigating judge is waiting for a response to his official request that three French ministries drop secrecy orders on documents relating to the case.
Marc Trévidic, who submitted his request in October, expects to have a response by the end of the month. After declarations from President Nicolas Sarkozy that he wanted more transparency, dozens of files were handed over last year. But those close to the case say vital documents have been withheld.
In the past 14 years numerous books, documentaries, and articles have been written on the Tibhirine monks, but none has answered the questions posed by the victims' families and friends and by the Catholic church.
The monastery, in a remote area at the foot of the snow covered Atlas mountains, was home to nine Trappist monks who passed their days in prayer and working the land. In 1996, Algeria was five years into a civil war that was to last until 1998 and the monks incited mixed reactions from the population. To those whose medical needs they tended they were friends. But to others, including those in authority, they were a symbol of French colonial power.
As tensions rose between the government and the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria (GIA) grew, the monks were advised to leave their sanctuary. They refused. Early on 27 March 1996, several members of the GIA forced their way into the monastery and snatched seven of the nine monks. A GIA communique reported their deaths on 21 May and their heads were found on 30 May.
Fourteen years on, there are many theories: that the Algerian army shot the monks by accident then cut off their heads and hid their bullet-riddled bodies; that a double agent was planted with the GIA who then encouraged the kidnapping and that the monks were killed in a bungled rescue attempt.
Patrick Baudouin, the lawyer representing the family of one of the victims, told the Observer that the hypothesis that the men were killed by their Islamic fundamentalist captors holds little water. And he blamed both countries for "not wanting to find the truth".
"We cannot say for sure what the Algerian authorities' involvement was but we can say for sure that there has been an absolute lack of transparency from the French authorities," he said.
He added: "I believe there are people in France, politicians and members of the intelligence services, who know much more about this affair than they have said."
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