Algerian law declares France’s colonisation a crime

Farouk Chothia, BBC

Algeria’s parliament has unanimously passed a law declaring France’s colonisation of the North African state a crime, and demanding an apology and reparations.

The law also criminalises the glorification of colonialism, state-run TV reports.

The vote is the latest sign of increasingly strained diplomatic relations between the two countries, with some observers saying they are at their lowest since Algeria gained independence 63 years ago.

France’s colonisation of Algeria between 1830 and 1962 was marked by mass killings, large-scale deportations and ended in a bloody war of independence. Algeria says the war killed 1.5 million people, while French historians put the death toll much lower.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron has previously acknowledged the colonisation of Algeria was a “crime against humanity” but has not offered an apology.

Lawmakers wore scarves in the colours of the national flag and chanted “long live Algeria” as they applauded the bill’s passage through parliament, AFP news agency reports.

It says the legislation states that France has “legal responsibility” for the “tragedies it caused”, and “full and fair” compensation was an “inalienable right of the Algerian state and people”.

The original article describes the social climate in which this law was passed and the history it reflects.

Learn about African peoples before colonization and captivity.

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