Algeria's parliament has unanimously passed a law declaring French colonisation of the country a crime, demanding an apology and reparations from France. Lawmakers stood in the chamber wearing scarves in the colours of the national flag and chanted 'long live Algeria' as they approved the bill, which states that France holds 'legal responsibility for its colonial past in Algeria and the tragedies it caused.'
The legislation lists the 'crimes of French colonisation,' including nuclear tests, extrajudicial killings, 'physical and psychological torture,' and the 'systematic plundering of resources.' It asserts 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, a period marked by mass killings and large-scale deportations, culminating in the bloody war of independence from 1954 to 1962. Algeria says the war killed 1.5 million people, while French historians estimate 500,000 in total, 400,000 of them Algerian.
The two countries are embroiled in a major diplomatic crisis. Analysts say the move is largely symbolic but politically significant. Parliament Speaker Ibrahim Boughali told state news agency APS that the vote sends 'a clear message, both internally and externally, that Algeria’s national memory is neither erasable nor negotiable.'
French President Emmanuel Macron has previously described the colonisation of Algeria as a 'crime against humanity' but has stopped short of issuing an apology. Asked about the vote, a French foreign ministry spokesperson declined to comment on 'political debates taking place in foreign countries.'
