Responsibility for maintaining law and order in Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

 is shared by the 60,000-member Gendarmerie Nationale

Gendarmerie Nationale (Algeria)

The Gendarmerie Nationale , is the national rural police force of Algeria. As part of the Algerian Armed Forces is commanded by a Major General who reports directly to the Minister of National Defense. In 2007 the gendarmerie consists of 60,000...

, under the Ministry of National Defense, and the 30,000-member Sûreté Nationale

Sûreté Nationale (Algeria)

The Sûreté Nationale is the civil police of Algeria. It polices Algeria's larger cities and urban areas. The Sûreté is part of the Ministry of Interior and is charged with maintaining law and order, protecting life and property, investigating crimes, and apprehending offenders...

, or national police

Police

The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...

 force, under the Ministry of Interior. The Gendarmerie Nationale is mainly active in rural and remote areas of the country, while the Sûreté Nationale is primarily an urban police force. There are also 94,000 Municipal Guards. They have as primary duty protect the villages and act as an auxiliary force of the law enforcement.

During the Algerian Civil War

Algerian Civil War

The Algerian Civil War was an armed conflict between the Algerian government and various Islamist rebel groups which began in 1991. It is estimated to have cost between 150,000 and 200,000 lives, in a population of about 25,010,000 in 1990 and 31,193,917 in 2000.More than 70 journalists were...

, the Guards were the primary targets of the Islamic militants, with 4,000 Guards killed in action since 1994. Algeria’s various security forces have been involved in counterterrorism operations and have been accused of breaches of Human rights

Human rights in Algeria

Some human rights in Algeria have been suspended under the long-lasting state of emergency, which was first imposed in 1992. In response to the 2010–2011 Algerian protests, the state of emergency was lifted by the end of February 2011, but the possible effect this will have on human rights remains...

 and excesses in the battle against Islamist groups. They also face complaints of harassing journalists.