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18,000 disappearances according to ALDHR, an interview with Ali Yahya Abdennour Ali Yahya Abdennour has been a militant member of the Algerian national movement since the 1940’s. In 1956 he founded the central union UGTA with Aissat Idir. After Algeria won its independence, he held various administrative positions, but resigned after coming into opposition with the authoritative orientation of the new administration. He became a lawyer in Algiers in 1967. In 1985, he was arrested and tried in front of the Court of State Security for having created the first Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights (ALDHR). Abdennour has continued to fight against the massive violations in human rights since 1992, and has led an intense push to mobilize oppositional forces inside the country and to alert public opinion in the rest of the world. Ali Yahya Abdennour is currently the president of the LADDH.