Free elections were held in the country beginning in 1988, but a victory by the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) in the 1991 parliamentary ballot sparked a military coup d'état and the imposition, in February 1992, of a state of emergency under which basic human rights were suspended. Freedom of expression, association, and assembly were severely restricted, and many individuals were arrested without charge and held without trial. A civil war raged from 1991 to 1999, and since its end there have been no proper official investigations into the massive human-rights violations that took place during the conflict.