Algerian law lists crimes of colonization

TT

Published 21.07

 

Members of the Algerian parliament then the law that classifies French colonization as criminal on Wednesday. Photo: Fateh Guidoum/AP/TT

The Algerian parliament has voted through a law that establishes that France bears legal responsibility for its colonial past in the country.

The law lists the “crimes of French colonization” and mentions, among other things, nuclear weapons tests, extrajudicial executions, physical and psychological torture and the plundering of resources.

It also demands “full and fair compensation” for the damage caused by colonization.

The law sends a clear signal that Algeria’s “collective memory can neither be erased nor negotiated away,” parliament speaker Brahim Boughali told the state news agency APS.

The move is largely symbolic, but carries some political weight. The law comes after a period of growing diplomatic friction between Algeria and France.

French President Emmanuel Macron has previously described the colonization of Algeria as a “crime against humanity,” but has not issued an official apology.