Algeria brands French colonisation a crime, demands reparations, apology in landmark move
France’s rule over Algeria from 1830 until 1962 remains a sore spot in relations between the two countries
Algeria’s parliament unanimously approved on Wednesday a law declaring France’s colonisation of the country a crime, demanding an apology and reparations in a move Paris condemned as “hostile”.
Standing in the chamber, lawmakers wearing scarves in the colours of the national flag chanted “long live Algeria” as they applauded the passage of the bill, which states that France holds “legal responsibility for its colonial past in Algeria and the tragedies it caused”.
The vote comes as the two countries are embroiled in a major diplomatic crisis, and while the move is largely symbolic, it is still politically significant, an analyst said.
Parliament speaker Brahim Boughali told the APS state news agency before the vote that it would send “a clear message, both internally and externally, that Algeria’s national memory is neither erasable nor negotiable”.
The legislation lists the “crimes of French colonisation”, including nuclear tests, extrajudicial killings, “physical and psychological torture”, and the “systematic plundering of resources”.
It states that “full and fair compensation for all material and moral damages caused by French colonisation is an inalienable right of the Algerian state and people”.