Algerian Parliament approves law declaring French colonization a crime

The Algerian Parliament unanimously passed a law declaring French colonization of the North African state a crime and demanding an apology and reparations.

The law also criminalizes the glorification of colonialism, state television reports.

The vote is the latest sign of increasingly tense diplomatic relations between the two countries, with some observers saying they are at their lowest since Algeria gained independence 63 years ago.

The French colonization of Algeria between 1830 and 1962 was marked by massacres, large-scale deportations and ended with a bloody war of independence. Algeria says the war killed 1.5 million people, while French historians estimate the death toll much lower.

French President Emmanuel Macron has previously acknowledged that the colonization of Algeria was a “crime against humanity” but has not apologized.

The deputies wore scarves in the colors of the national flag and chanted “Long live Algeria” as they applauded the adoption of the bill by Parliament, reports the AFP news agency.

It says the legislation stipulates that France bears “legal responsibility” for the “tragedies it has caused” and that “full and fair” compensation is an “inalienable right of the Algerian state and people.”

France has not yet commented on the vote.

It comes at a time of growing pressure on Western powers to offer reparations for slavery and colonialism and return looted artifacts still held in their museums.

Algerian lawmakers have demanded that France return a 16th-century bronze cannon, known as Baba Merzoug, meaning “Blessed Father,” who was considered the protector of Algiers, now Algeria’s capital.

French forces captured the town in 1830, in their third attempt, and removed the cannon, which now lies in the port city of Brest in northwest France.

In 2020, France returned the remains of 24 Algerian fighters killed resisting French colonial forces in the 19th century.

Last month, Algeria hosted a conference of African states to push for justice and reparations.

Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf said a legal framework would ensure the restitution was neither considered “a gift nor a favor.”

Diplomatic relations between Algeria and France deteriorated last year, when Macron announced that France recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara and supported a plan for limited autonomy for the disputed territory.

Algeria supports the pro-independence Polisario Front in Western Sahara and is considered its main ally.

Franco-Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal was then arrested at Algiers airport and sentenced to five years in prison, before being pardoned last month by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

Prosecutors said he undermined national security by making comments questioning Algeria’s borders.