Algeria Passes Law Criminalizing French Colonization

The Algerian Parliament unanimously adopted a law on Wednesday that criminalizes French colonization (1830-1962) and demands "official apologies" from France. This initiative has been described as "hostile" by Paris and could further escalate tensions between the two countries, which are already in crisis.

In the assembly hall, deputies wearing scarves in the colors of the Algerian flag applauded the passing of the bill, which places "legal responsibility for its colonial past in Algeria and the tragedies it caused" on the French state.

"Long live Algeria!" they chanted amid ululations.

The President of the National People's Assembly, Brahim Boughali, welcomed the unanimous approval of the legislation by those present.

The new law lists the "crimes of French colonization" deemed unprescriptable: "nuclear tests," "extrajudicial executions," "widespread physical and psychological torture," and "systematic plundering of resources."

It states that "full and fair compensation for all material and moral damages caused by French colonization is an inalienable right for the Algerian state and people."

"Hostile Initiative"

In Paris, the Foreign Ministry condemned this as "a clearly hostile initiative, both to the desire to resume Franco-Algerian dialogue and to a calm approach to memory issues." However, the Quai d'Orsay indicated a willingness to continue "working towards resuming a demanding dialogue with Algeria," particularly on "security and migration issues."

Despite the undeniably symbolic nature of the law, its real impact on reparations claims could be limited. "Legally, this law has no international implications and cannot therefore bind France," commented Hosni Kitouni, a researcher in colonial history at the University of Exeter.

However, he noted, "it marks a rupture in the memory relationship with France."

During the debates this weekend, Mr. Boughali assured that this approach "targets no people, seeks neither vengeance nor to fan the flames of resentment."

The vote comes at a time when Paris and Algiers remain embroiled in a diplomatic crisis following France's recognition in the summer of 2024 of an autonomy plan "under Moroccan sovereignty" for Western Sahara, which Algeria supports through the Polisario independence movement.

Several incidents have since escalated tensions, including the conviction and imprisonment of Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who was ultimately pardoned following German intervention.

The issue of French colonization in Algeria is a very sensitive topic and remains one of the main sources of tension between Paris and Algiers.

Nuclear Tests

The conquest of Algeria from 1830 was marked by mass killings and the destruction of its socio-economic structures, along with large-scale deportations, according to historians. Numerous revolts were suppressed before a bloody independence war (1954-1962) that claimed 1.5 million Algerian lives according to Algeria, with 500,000, including 400,000 Algerians, according to French historians.

In 2017, Emmanuel Macron, then a candidate for the French presidency, referred to the colonization of Algeria as a "crime against humanity." "This is part of a past that we must face while also offering our apologies to those against whom we have committed these acts," he said.

After the publication of a report by French historian Benjamin Stora in January 2021, Mr. Macron committed to "symbolic acts" to attempt to reconcile the two countries, but excluded any apologies this time.

He later sparked outrage in Algeria by questioning, according to the newspaper Le Monde, the existence of an Algerian nation before colonization.

According to the text, the Algerian state will seek to demand that France decontaminate the sites of nuclear tests.

Between 1960 and 1966, France conducted 17 tests at several sites in the Algerian Sahara.

The text also qualifies the "collaboration of harkis"—the name given to Algerian auxiliaries of the French army—as "high treason" and plans to punish anyone who glorifies or justifies colonization.

The criminalization of French colonization has been raised several times since the 1980s in Algeria without any results until now.