The people of Algeria will decide today whether or not to accept an amnesty proposed by the Government that aims to draw a line under a civil war that has killed more than 100,000 people.

Today's referendum, dubbed the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation, is expected to produce a "Yes", but opposition groups and human rights campaigners have expressed extreme doubts about the measure because they say it will absolve both sides for crimes committed during the war.

More than 18 million people are eligible to vote on the amnesty, a long document that offers immunity to Islamist rebels who have fought the government since 1992 and compensation for the families of les disparus, or the "disappeared", the estimated 10,000 people kidnapped and killed by government forces.

Despite the broad pardon, anyone who took part in a massacre, rape or bomb attack in a public place during the civil war will still face judicial proceedings.

Algeria erupted into war in early 1992 after the army cancelled elections which the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), an Islamist opposition party, looked set to win.

The government then started arresting and attacking members of FIS, leading to violence that killed more than 1,000 people every month at its peak.

Today's referendum, which has been preceded by an intense campaign to encourage turnout and the "Yes" vote, is the second such initiative launched by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. In 1999, his Government passed a Civil Harmony Law and followed it with an amnesty for all Islamist fighters who laid down their weapons.

On television shows and at rallies across the country, Mr Bouteflika has urged voters to accept the referendum to help close the wounds of what he calls "the national tragedy" but critics of the amnesty say the document is vague and will allow the Government to exonerate itself of the deaths of thousands of people.

In a report released soon after the text of the amnesty was printed in August, Human Rights Watch said the charter "reinforces a climate of impunity that has aggravated the country’s human rights crisis since the 1990s."

The campaign group went on to say: "The Charter mentions nowhere the duty of the state to investigate serious human rights abuses, to prosecute those found to be responsible, or to address the right of families of the 'disappeared' and other victims and their survivors to know the truth and see that justice is done. The document makes no mention of the possibility of establishing a truth commission of any kind."

The group highlighted some of the more obscure sections the amnesty. One paragraph forbids the people of Algeria from using the history of the civil war to criticise the country:

"No one in Algeria or abroad is empowered to use or to instrumentalise the wounds of the national tragedy to harm the institutions of the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, to weaken the State, to undermine the honour of all its agents who served with dignity, or to tarnish the image of Algeria internationally," the amnesty says.

Opposition parties have also voiced their dissatisfaction at the amnesty. The Socialist Forces Front (FFS) said it "cannot endorse a text that glorifies force and deprecates political mediation, consecrates impunity and amnesty, and in the end negotiates away pain and suffering".

The League for the Defence of Human Rights (LADDH) described the referendum as "scandalous and absurd", and said: "Nobody has a right to vote no".

"We’re not against peace and reconciliation, but we do oppose this charter since we don’t think it will bring peace," said Abdennour Ali-Yahia, the President of LADDH.

Polls are scheduled to close at 8:00pm in Algeria, but could stay open later in large cities. Around one million Algerians living overseas, including over 750,000 in France, could vote from last Saturday.

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