Algeria passes law declaring French colonisation a crime

Algeria’s parliament has unanimously approved a law declaring France’s colonisation of the country a crime and demanded an apology and reparations.

Lawmakers, standing in the chamber wearing scarves in the colours of the national flag, chanted “long live Algeria” on Wednesday as they applauded the passage of the bill, which states that France holds “legal responsibility for its colonial past in Algeria and the tragedies it caused”.
The two countries are embroiled in a major diplomatic crisis and analysts say that while Algeria’s move is largely symbolic, it is still politically significant.

The parliament speaker, Ibrahim Boughali, told the APS state news agency that the vote would send “a clear message, both internally and externally, that Algeria’s national memory is neither erasable nor negotiable”.

The legislation lists the “crimes of French colonisation”, which include nuclear tests, extrajudicial killings, “physical and psychological torture” and the “systematic plundering of resources”.