The SAS (Section Administrative Spécialisée) were created in 1956 by the French army during the Algerian war to pacify "the natives". During the day, the SAS were used as treatment centres and at night as torture centres, in order to crush the Algerian resistance. The SAS were inhabited by French soldiers and auxiliaries (harkis, goumiers) and their families. At independence in 1962, a few families of auxiliaries stayed on; the vacant buildings were occupied by families of martyrs awaiting the better days promised by the new Algeria. 46 years later, the SAS at Laperrine, in the Bouira region, still exists, a unique place inhabited by people who have taken refuge there. They have been joined by farmers fleeing the terrorism of the 90s. They all live as best they can in a place they did not choose, suffering the consequences of war.
The Pan-african Festival in Algiers
Algeria, Year Zero
Qui êtes vous Mr. Iguerbouchène ?
Alger Et Ses Environs
One, Two, Three – Viva l’Algérie !
Aleph
El Ouafi Boughera, The marathon runner of history
Des femmes
Vichy in the Colonies
Algeria: Drink, Smoke and Love
The Zerda or the Songs of Forgetting
Algeria in Flames
