Mohamed Rahmoune
Mohamed Rahmoune, commonly known as Si Rabah or Rahmoune, was a revolutionary leader during the Algerian war of independence and a member of the Front de Libération Nationale.
Early life and Education
Rahmoune was born in 1940 in the village of Soumâa, located 53 km east of Algiers, into a Kabyle maraboutic family descended from the Maliki and Sufi theologian Sidi Boushaki.His early years coincided with the Second World War, during which civil life in French Algeria was disrupted by the imposition of a state of exception. The situation brought an end to the participation of his uncle, Mohamed Seghir Boushaki, in the colonial administrative structure, where he had served as an adviser and representative of Algerian natives.
In 1945, Rahmoune began studying the Quran and Arabic language with his brother, Djilali, at the Zawiyet Sidi Boushaki, under the guidance of Rahmaniyya mufti and muqaddam Ali Boushaki as well as and other teachers, including theologian Brahim Boushaki.
The 1945 Sétif and Guelma massacre influenced local perceptions of political participation under colonial rule. Rahmoune's early education and family environment exposed him to nationalist ideas and the broader movement for Algerian Independence. His cousin Yahia Boushaki played a notable role in fostering his interest in nationalist activities and supporting his early involvement in resistance efforts.
War of Independence
Rahmoune was 14 years old when the Algerian revolution started, therefore he was well prepared politically and physically to join the maquis and comfort the Algerian warriors against the French Army units in order to definitively dislodge the French colonial system from the land of Algeria.After the organization of the Soummam conference on 20 August 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 and perpetuate it by attacking the colony's interests in cities such as Thénia, which was only 3km north of his birth village.
Rahmoune participated, together with his cousin Bouzid Boushaki, in planting a bomb in the post office 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 in the field of honor in 1957, Rahmoune joined the ranks of the National Liberation Army 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 near the town of Beni Amrane, Rahmoune was captured with some surviving soldiers to be taken to the Ferme Gauthier torture camp in the north of the town of Souk El-Had, where he was tortured.Many detainees succumbed to the pain and abuse they suffered, and their bodies and remains were subsequently hidden in wells or thrown into the waters of the Isser River. However, Rahmoune was transferred after a few weeks to the Serkadji Prison in the Casbah of Algiers to stand trial alongside the local leaders of the revolution.
Escape
Rahmoune escaped from Boghar prison in 1959 with four mujahideen acolytes, 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 National Liberation Army (ALN), who took him to the headquarters of the fourth historical wilaya to meet Colonel M'Hamed Bougarra, who appointed Rahmoune as military secretary in the first region of this historic wilayah.
He then asked the command to post him to the Sour El-Ghozlane region due to his high familiarity of the region and his strong revolutionary ties. There, he resumed military operations 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.
The injury made it difficult for him to move in the maquis, which led to French soldiers arresting him again and transferring him to the second office in Sour El-Ghozlane. Rahmoune was sent to the CMS prison, where he spent 7 months repeatedly tortured by French soldiers. He remained in custody at the CMS until 23 February 1962, a few weeks before the ceasefire on 19 March, on the eve of independence after the Évian Accords had been concluded.
Death
Mohamed Rahmoune died on 4 February 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 Thénia on the outskirts of the village of Soumâa in front of his family and friends and a delegation from the Algerian government.