Algeria’s parliament declares French colonisation a crime
Algeria’s parliament has unanimously adopted legislation declaring France’s colonial rule over the country a crime, placing historical accountability at the center of the national legal framework, reports a Qazinform News Agency correspondent.
During Wednesday’s session, lawmakers approved the bill while wearing scarves in Algeria’s national colors and chanting “Long live Algeria”. The law assigns France legal responsibility for its colonial past in Algeria and the tragedies it caused, while formally demanding an official apology and reparations from Paris.
Parliament Speaker Ibrahim Boughali said the vote sent “a clear message, both internally and externally, that Algeria’s national memory is neither erasable nor negotiable.
The text details crimes committed during French colonial rule, including nuclear tests, extrajudicial killings, physical and psychological torture, and the systematic plundering of resources. It further 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”.
France ruled Algeria from 1830 to 1962. The war of independence between 1954 and 1962 remains particularly traumatic, with Algerian authorities estimating the death toll at 1.5 million.
French President Emmanuel Macron has previously described the colonisation of Algeria as a “crime against humanity”, but has repeatedly ruled out a formal apology, stating in 2023: “It’s not up to me to ask forgiveness.”
Commenting on the vote, French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux declined to engage, saying he would not comment on “political debates taking place in foreign countries”.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Thailand and Cambodia had reported fresh border clashes on Wednesday, even as the two sides were preparing to hold their first military talks since fighting resumed earlier this month.