Belkacem Lounes (in

Tifinagh Tifinagh ( Tuareg Berber language: or , ) is a script used to write the Berber languages. Tifinagh is descended from the ancient Libyco-Berber alphabet. The traditional Tifinagh, sometimes called Tuareg Tifinagh, is still favored by the Tuar ...

: ⴱⴻⵍⴿⴰⵚⴻⵎ ⵍⵓⵏⴻⵙ; born 6 February 1955) is an Algerian Kabyle indigenous

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

and activist who was President of the

World Amazigh Congress The World Amazigh Congress (CMA) (in Tamazight ⴰⴳⵔⴰⵡ ⴰⵎⴰⴹⵍⴰⵏ ⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖ; ''Romanized'': Agraw Amaḍlan Amaziɣ) is an international non-governmental organization made up of Amazigh sociocultural and development ...

(also known as the CMA) during 2002 and 2011.

Political activism

He is a critic of

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonis ...

in Pan Arabism. He has been critical of

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

's dictator

Muammar al-Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...

for belittling the Berber people and culture. On May 3, 2007, wrote an open letter to Libyan leader Mu'ammar Qaddafi in response to the latter's March 1 speech in which he denied the existence of a Berber or Amazigh people in North Africa. In his letter, dated April 10, Lounes protested Qaddafi's statements, saying that the 30 million Amazigh living today in North Africa cannot be ignored. He added that the Amazigh had played a central role in the fight against European

colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colony, colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose the ...

, but that since independence they had been oppressed by the "internal colonialism" of pan-Arabism, which he labels an imperialist ideology. Lounes stated that it was archaic to consider diversity a danger, and calls on the North African governments to commit to democracy and human rights. He said: "There is no worse colonialism than that of the pan-Arabist clan that wants to dominate our people." In the 2010 French regional elections, he was elected a member of the

Rhône-Alpes Regional Council Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône an ...

as part of the Régions et Peuples Solidaires. In March 2016, he was appointed expert of the working group of the Commission on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of Africa within the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights of the African Union.

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20081011174545/http://www.souss.com/Interview-de-Belkacem-Lounes.html
"Interview de Belkacem LOUNES, Président du CMA, accordée au journal Marocain Al-Michaal", 30 March 2007
Amazigh World. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lounes, Belkacem Living people Anti-racism activists Berber activists United Nations officials 1955 births