Algeria Has Passed A Law Declaring France’s 132-Year Colonization Of The Country A "Crime”
Algeria demands an apology, reparations and restitution from France.
Algeria has passed a law declaring France’s 132-year colonization of Algeria a “crime”, demanding an official apology and reparations.
The law reopens long-running disputes over how France addresses its colonial past.
France's colonization of Algeria between 1830 and 1962 was marked by violence, mass killings and forced displacement.
Algeria won its independence in 1962 in a brutal war that Algeria says killed 1.5 million people, while French historians claim the death toll is much lower.
France seized artworks, manuscripts and historical objects from Algeria shortly before its independence and transferred them to museums and state archives.
Most of which has never been returned by France.
France has since made limited and symbolic returns, including the return of the remains of 24 Algerian resistance fighters in 2020; only 6 of those remains could be confirmed as belonging to Algerian resistance fighters, according to the New York Times.
The new legislation, titled the “Algerian law on the criminalization of French colonization,” spans five chapters and 27 articles, specifying that there is no statute of limitations on colonial crimes.
It formally accuses France of crimes during its rule of Algeria for the killings, torture, forced displacement and the confiscation of land and resources.
The law also specifically mentions French nuclear tests in Algeria that occurred between 1960 and 1966, which caused long-term health and environmental damage.
It demands an official apology, reparations and restitution of Algerian archives and property taken to France during the colonial period, including state records, historical documents and other assets removed as France withdrew from Algeria.
The law passed in parliament on Saturday, Dec. 23, with 340 votes in favor at the National People’s Assembly in Algiers as lawmakers wore scarves that read, "Long live Algeria.”
Algerian lawmakerIbrahim Boughali said on Sunday, Dec. 24 the law sends “a clear message” that Algeria’s national memory “is neither erasable nor negotiable”, Euronews reported.
Veteran former lawmaker Mohamed Arezki Ferrad, who first pushed similar bills in the early 2000s, said the vote marked the culmination of a decades-long fight for recognition.
On Monday, Dec. 25, the French Foreign Ministry called the law a “manifestly hostile initiative” and warned it could damage fragile diplomatic ties, the Associated Press reported.
Earlier, on Feb. 14, 2017, French president Emmanuel Macron had described colonization in Algeria as a “crime against humanity” when he first ran for president.
Years later, on Jan. 12, 2023, Macron said he would not seek forgiveness, adding “that word would break all of [France and Algeria’s] ties.”
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