In Algeria, writer Kamel Daoud and his wife accused of “violation of privacy” by a victim of terrorism

The novel Houris (Gallimard), by Kamel Daoud, Goncourt Prize 2024, was it built on a violation of medical confidentiality? This is the accusation made by Saâda Arbane, the only survivor of a massacre which took away her family during the civil war of the 1990s, in Algeria, when she was only 6 years old. This woman told, on November 15 on One TV, a private Algerian channel, that the novel is in fact a transposition of her confidences to the wife of the Franco-Algerian writer, a psychiatrist, whom she began to consult in 2015 before the therapist married Kamel Daoud.

Saâda Arbane, accompanied by her husband and helped by a device to express herself – she lost most of her voice, the after-effect of an attempted throat slitting – thus affirmed that she had subsequently explicitly informed her doctor and the writer for her refusal to divulge her story. However, she says she finds details of her story in Aube's character that would only be known to her psychiatrist: “Three years ago, I was invited by M^me Daoud to have a coffee at their home, in the Hasnaoui city. Kamel Daoud then asked me if it was possible to tell my story in a novel, I refused. Later, his wife told me that he was writing a book and I told her that I didn't want it to be about my story. She told me “Not at all… I’m here to protect you”. Houris “is a violation of my privacy”she concludes.

“From a legal point of view, this case raises many questions, writes the Algerian daily El Watan. Saâda Arbane's accusation is based on violation of professional secrecy, an offense which could lead to prosecution of Kamel Daoud's wife, if the accusations were proven. As for the writer, although he wrote a novel whose similarities with the reality of Saâda are striking, it would be difficult to initiate proceedings against him, as long as the direct link between his book and the story of Saâda is not explicit and is not cited by name. »

“Purely fictional characters”

Kamel Daoud and his publishing house were not authorized to participate in the Algiers International Book Fair which ended on Saturday: the novel Houris is also banned in Algeria. Kamel Daoud's defenders denounce a campaign to denigrate the writer and argue that novelists around the world are inspired by real events. “Yes Houris is inspired by tragic events that occurred in Algeria during the civil war of the 1990s, its plot, its characters and its heroine are purely fictional”assures Antoine Gallimard in a press release. “Since the publication of his novel, Kamel Daoud has been the subject of violent defamatory campaigns orchestrated by certain media close to a regime whose nature is well known”says the text again.

Arezki Aït Larbi, the director of Koukou Editions, an Algerian house also banned from participating in the Algiers book fair, denounces on his Facebook account a “lynching” Who “smells like a sponsored operation”. Ali Bensaad, professor at the French Institute of Geopolitics at Paris VIII University, while recalling his “disagreements” assumed with the public positions of Kamel Daoud, said on the same social network “deeply disgusted by the delusional hatred and evil pack joy that is poured out against him. This is not the debate I want in my country. Hatred is a fuel whose explosion ends up taking everyone away. I condemn without reservation. »

The support in Algeria, however, seems less numerous than the condemnations. Many insist on the importance of preserving medical confidentiality. “This affair risks weakening and complicating, or even breaking, the already fragile trust between women and health professionals. There has been so much progress in terms of awareness of the need for psychological follow-up for women victims of violence in Algeria, this abuse risks harming this progress. writes feminist Hanane Trinel on her Facebook account.

Kamel Daoud, made famous by his chronicles Raina Raikoum In The Daily of Oranlost popularity among the French-speaking Algerian readership, after he displayed his hostility to the peaceful Hirak protest movement and refused to take a position in favor of prisoners of conscience in Algeria. His articles in The Pointweekly
often considered hostile in Algeria, also regularly arouse controversy.