Serkadji Prison Riot and Killings (1995)

Serkadji Prison, formerly known as Barberousse Prison, was a high-security prison in Algiers, Algeria, built by French colonial authorities in 1846 on the site of earlier Ottoman-era prisons above the Casbah of Algiers. During the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962), several hundred FLN fighters were held there, and 58 were executed by guillotine in the prison's main courtyard. By 1995, the prison held roughly 1,500 prisoners, about two-thirds of whom were accused or convicted of terrorism-related offenses.

A prison riot occurred between 21 and 23 February 1995. According to accounts agreed upon by officials and witnesses, on the morning of 21 February a small group of prisoners attempted to escape after allegedly being supplied with four guns and three grenades by a recently appointed prison guard. In the course of the escape attempt, four prison guards and one prisoner were killed, and cell doors were opened, allowing other prisoners to join a growing riot while others stayed in their cells or fled to courtyards.

Negotiations followed between prisoners and prison administration, with prisoners demanding the presence of lawyers and assurances of protection for those not involved in the killings of guards. The administration rejected these demands and ended negotiations. In the mid-afternoon, security forces stormed the prison and began shooting; gunfire and grenade detonations continued until approximately 11 a.m. the following day. Human rights groups cited claims that the government executed prisoners after resistance had ceased, without due process, and shot wounded prisoners.

Official figures state that 96 prisoners were killed by security forces while suppressing the riot; other sources put the toll as high as 110. Significant discrepancies exist between the government's official account — that a small group of prisoners took hostages as human shields and killed fellow detainees — and accounts from prisoners, who alleged that security forces shot indiscriminately, targeted specific individuals from lists, killed prisoners in their cells regardless of involvement in the uprising, and continued beating prisoners after regaining control.

A government-linked human rights body, the Observatoire National des Droits de l'Homme (ONDH), conducted an inquiry in March 1995 that supported the Minister of Justice's account, though its methodology and findings were called into question, including its decision not to use tear gas, the limited number of prisoners interviewed (10 of 1,500), the absence of autopsies, and the unexplained gap between the number of prisoners killed (96) and those injured (12). Amnesty International investigated but was not permitted to visit the prison or meet with the Attorney General. Bodies were reportedly buried without notifying relatives, marked only as "X-Algerian," and no exhumations or independent post-mortem examinations have been conducted. Eight people were later sentenced to death in connection with the escape attempt. The list of victims has not been made public. Serkadji Prison was permanently closed in 2014 and is now a public museum of national memory.