Mohamed Rahmoune (1940 – 4 February 2022), commonly known as Si Rabah or simply as Rahmoune, was a prominent revolutionary leader during the

Algerian war of independence The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

as a member of the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN; National Liberation Front) that launched an armed revolt throughout

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

and issued a proclamation calling for a sovereign

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

n state.

Education

Rahmoune was born in 1940 in the village of

Soumâa Soumâa or Thala Oufella is a village in the Boumerdès Province in Kabylie, Algeria. Location The village is surrounded by Meraldene River and Isser River, and also the town of Thenia in the Khachna mountain range. Zawiya * Zawiyet Sidi Bou ...

, located 53 km east of the city of Algiers, into a kabyle

marabout A marabout ( ar, مُرابِط, murābiṭ, lit=one who is attached/garrisoned) is a Muslim religious leader and teacher who historically had the function of a chaplain serving as a part of an Islamic army, notably in North Africa and the Sah ...

ic family descended from the

maliki The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as primary ...

and sufi theologian

Sidi Boushaki Sidi Boushaki or Ibrahim Ibn Faïd Ez-Zaouaoui () (1394 CE/796 AH – 1453 CE/857 AH) was a maliki theologian born near the town of Thenia, east of Algiers. He was raised in a very spiritual environment with high Islamic values and ethics wi ...

(1394-1453). His birth in the middle of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

meant the abolition of civil life in French Algeria and the establishment of the

state of exception A state of exception (german: Ausnahmezustand) is a concept introduced in the 1920s by the German philosopher and jurist Carl Schmitt, similar to a state of emergency (martial law) but based in the sovereign's ability to transcend the rule of law ...

with the suspension of the participation of his uncle

Mohamed Seghir Boushaki Mohamed Seghir Boushaki (), (born 27 November 1869 in Thénia, Boumerdès Province, Kabylie, Algeria; died 1959 in Thenia, Algeria) was an Algerian Berber politician after the French conquest of Algeria. Presentation Mohamed Seghir Bousha ...

(1869-1959) in the cogwheels of the colonial administration as adviser and representative of the Algerian natives. Despite this extraordinary situation, he began in 1945 to study with his brother Djilali the precepts of the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

and the

Arabic language Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

in the

Zawiyet Sidi Boushaki Zawiyet Sidi Brahim Boushaki ( ar, زاوية سيدي إبراهيم البوسحاقي) or Zawiyet Thénia is a zawiya of the Rahmaniyya Sufi brotherhood located in Boumerdès Province within lower Kabylia of Algeria. Construction The za ...

like his other cousins, under the patronage and supervision of the

Rahmaniyya The Raḥmâniyya (Arabic: الرحمانية) is an Algerian Sufi order (tariqa or brotherhood) founded by Kabyle religious scholar Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥman al-Azhari Bu Qabrayn in the 1770s. It was initially a branch of the Khalwat ...

mufti A Mufti (; ar, مفتي) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion (''fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatwas'' played an important role ...

and

muqaddam ( ar, مقدم) is an Arabic title, adopted in other Islamic or Islamicate cultures, for various civil or religious officials. As per the Persian records of medieval India, muqaddams, along with khots and chowdhurys, acted as hereditary rural i ...

Ali Boushaki (1855-1965) with the other imams and teachers as the theologian

Brahim Boushaki Brahim Boushaki ( ar, إبراهيم بن علي بوسحاقي ''Ibrahim ibn Ali al-Boushaki'') (1912 CE/1330 Hijri year, AH – 1997 CE/1418 Hijri year, AH), was an Algerian people, Algerian Scholar, Imam and Sufism, Sufi Sheikh (Sufism), She ...

(1912-1997). The massacres of May 1945, for their part, had finally sealed the conviction of the Algerian mountain and rural population that the participatory procedure in local elections could not take away the

civil and political rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

claimed since the 1920 elections in Algeria, and this is so since Mohamed Rahmoune was integrated from a very young age in a course that only saw independence torn by the weapons in the hands of his generation. Among his closest cousins who inspired him in

with nationalist and independence fervor is his cousin Yahia Boushaki (1935-1960) who sponsored and supported him since 1951 to prepare him for the tough and decisive tasks of insurrectionary action against the

French army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...

War of Independence

Since the outbreak of the Algerian revolution when he was only 14 years old, he was well prepared politically and physically to join the maquis and comfort the Algerian warriors against the enemy troops in order to definitively dislodge the French colonial system from the land of Algeria. But after the organization of the

Soummam conference The Congress of Soummam was the founding act of the modern Algerian State, and a crucial element of success of the Algerian war for independence. It took place on 20 August 1956 when the FLN's leadership within Algeria met secretly in the ''Sou ...

on August 20, 1956, and the revolutionary structuring of the Algerian territory, the armed action was entrusted to Mohamed's congeners over 16 years of age to ignite the insurrection to perpetuate it by attacking the colony's interests in cities, such as

Thénia Thénia (), sometimes written as ''Thenia'', with around 40,000 inhabitants, is the chief town in the daïra of the same name, in the wilaya of Boumerdès, in northern Algeria. Historically, the name is a contraction of ''Theniet Beni Aicha'' (ث� ...

(formerly Ménerville) which was only 3 km north of his village of

. Thus, he participated, together with his cousin Bouzid Boushaki, in planting a bomb in the

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

in the center of Thénia in 1956, as well as various sabotage actions in the colonial agricultural estates around this strategic railway city. After his brother Djilali Rahmoune died as a martyr (

shahid ''Shaheed'' ( , , ; pa, ਸ਼ਹੀਦ) denotes a martyr in Islam. The word is used frequently in the Quran in the generic sense of "witness" but only once in the sense of "martyr" (i.e. one who dies for his faith); ...

) in the field of honor in 1957, he joined the ranks of the National Liberation Army (ALN) in the third district, the first region, in the fourth historical wilaya, where he participated in many battles.

Prison

After participating in a 1957 military ambush against

French soldiers French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

near the town of

Beni Amrane Beni Amrane is a town and commune in Boumerdès Province, Algeria. According to the 1998 census it has a population of 21,452. Villages The villages of the commune of ''Beni Amrane'' are: History French conquest * Expedition of the Col des B ...

Mujahid ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term t ...

Rahmoune was captured with some surviving soldiers to be taken to the Ferme Gauthier torture and physical abuse camp in the north of the town of Souk El-Had. He was then tortured with electric shocks and brutal traumas while he was buried with his cousin Bouzid Boushaki in the pits of the vats of this wine estate that was transformed by the torturers Scarfo and Mathieu among others into a

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

and

extrajudicial killing An extrajudicial killing (also known as extrajudicial execution or extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, whethe ...

. While many detainees in this sinister place of torture succumbed to the pain and abuse they suffered, and their bodies and remains were hidden in wells or thrown into the waters of the

Isser River The Oued Isser is a river of Algeria. It begins in Médéa Province, is the main river, with Oued Sébaou of the Medea, which runs through the Lower Kabylie of Djurdjura (or the current province of Boumerdès) Wilaya of Bouira, then flows into ...

, Rahmoune was transferred after a few weeks of torture to the

Serkadji Prison Serkadji Prison, formerly Barberousse Prison, is a high-security prison in Algiers, Algeria; in 1995, about two-thirds of the 1,500 prisoners detained are (or were) accused or convicted of terrorism. History The Barberousse Prison was constructe ...

in the Casbah of Algiers with the local leaders of the revolution to stand trial.

Escape

Rahmoune managed to escape from

Boghar Boghar is a town and commune in Médéa Province, Algeria. History During the Roman Empire the town was the site of a Roman town called Voncaria. At the 411 Carthage conference, between Catholic and Donatist bishops, the town was represented b ...

prison in 1959 with four mujahideen acolytes, and this after recovering from the aftermath of the 1957 battle and the various phases of torture he suffered. After having crossed the Chahbounia ravines with his friends, he was picked up by the soldiers of the Algerian Revolutionary Army (ALN) who took him to the headquarters of the fourth historical wilaya to meet Colonel M'Hamed Bougarra (1928-1959) who appointed Rahmoune as military secretary in the first region of this historic wilaya. He then asked the revolutionary command to post him to the

Sour El Ghozlane The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste (flavor). Taste is the perception produced or stimulated when a substance in the mouth reacts chemically with taste receptor ...

(former Aumale) region that he knew well and in which he had strong revolutionary ties, and there he continued his subversive action against French settlers and soldiers. While traveling in 1960 to Mount Dirrah overlooking Sour El Ghozlane to carry out one of the military operations he was orchestrating, he was exposed to direct confrontation with enemy French forces, during which he was seriously injured in the knee. This restrictive injury made it difficult for him to move in the maquis, which made it easier for the French soldiers to arrest him again and transfer him to the torture center (the second office) in Sour El Ghozlane. Rahmoune was re-arrested at Boghar Prison, and immediately spent 7 months in the CMS prison where he was repeatedly tortured by French soldiers. He remained in custody at the CMS until February 23, 1962, a few weeks before the ceasefire on March 19 on the eve of independence after the

Évian Accords The Évian Accords were a set of peace treaties signed on 18 March 1962 in Évian-les-Bains, France, by France and the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic, the government-in-exile of FLN (), which sought Algeria's independence ...

have been concluded.

Death

Moudjahid Rahmoune died on February 4, 2022, at the home of his family in Thénia at the age of 82. He was buried the following day at the Djebanat El Ghorba Cemetery in southern

on the outskirts of the village of

in front of his family and friends and a delegation from the

Algerian government Politics of Algeria takes place in a framework of a constitutional semi-presidential republic, whereby the President of Algeria is head of state while the Prime Minister of Algeria is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by th ...

References

External links

Official website of the Ministry of Mujahideen in Algeria.

Official website of the National Organization of Mujahideen in Algeria.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahmoune, Mohamed 1940 births 2022 deaths People from Thénia Kabyle people Zawiyet Sidi Boushaki alumni Algerian revolutionaries Indigenous activists of Africa People of the Algerian War Algerian torture victims Members of the National Liberation Front (Algeria) Algerian military personnel Members of the National Liberation Army (Algeria) Algerian resistance leaders National Heroes of Algeria Algerian political people Arab politicians National Liberation Front (Algeria) politicians Burials in Algeria