{"id":30202,"date":"2025-12-25T05:29:24","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T10:29:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=30202"},"modified":"2025-12-25T05:31:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T10:31:27","slug":"algerian-law-declares-frances-colonisation-a-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2025\/12\/25\/algerian-law-declares-frances-colonisation-a-crime\/","title":{"rendered":"Algerian law declares France&#8217;s colonisation a crime"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ssrcss-suhx0k-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1o5p6v2-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\"><b class=\"ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3\">Algeria&#8217;s parliament has unanimously passed a law declaring France&#8217;s colonisation of the North African state a crime, and demanding an apology and reparations.<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The law also criminalises the glorification of colonialism, state-run TV reports.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The vote is the latest sign of increasingly strained diplomatic relations between the two countries, with some observers saying they are at their lowest since Algeria gained independence 63 years ago.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">France&#8217;s colonisation of Algeria between 1830 and 1962 was marked by mass killings, large-scale deportations and ended in a bloody war of independence. Algeria says the war killed 1.5 million people, while French historians put the death toll much lower.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-suhx0k-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1o5p6v2-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">France&#8217;s President Emmanuel Macron has previously acknowledged the colonisation of Algeria was a &#8220;crime against humanity&#8221; but has not offered an apology.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Lawmakers wore scarves in the colours of the national flag and chanted &#8220;long live Algeria&#8221; as they applauded the bill&#8217;s passage through parliament, AFP news agency reports.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-bq6git-ComponentWrapper ep2nwvo2\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1j1rzn0-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<ul class=\"ssrcss-1q9m0bv-Stack e1y4nx260\" role=\"list\">\n<li class=\"ssrcss-qzx51b-LinkItem e3eyuya1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1j1rzn0-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1ww1l1o-LinkHeadline e3eyuya4\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c1wlywx5vv3o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span aria-hidden=\"false\">French relief as Algeria frees jailed novelist at centre of diplomatic crisis<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-bq6git-ComponentWrapper ep2nwvo2\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1j1rzn0-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<ul class=\"ssrcss-1q9m0bv-Stack e1y4nx260\" role=\"list\">\n<li class=\"ssrcss-qzx51b-LinkItem e3eyuya1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1j1rzn0-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1ww1l1o-LinkHeadline e3eyuya4\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c7vn1z0598zo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span aria-hidden=\"false\">French row with Algeria escalates further with tit-for-tat expulsions<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ssrcss-qzx51b-LinkItem e3eyuya1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1j1rzn0-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1ww1l1o-LinkHeadline e3eyuya4\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cj6113n1y9no\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Outcry after Algeria sentences French sports journalist to seven years in jail<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-suhx0k-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1o5p6v2-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">It says the legislation states that France has &#8220;legal responsibility&#8221; for the &#8220;tragedies it caused&#8221;, and &#8220;full and fair&#8221; compensation was an &#8220;inalienable right of the Algerian state and people&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">France has not yet commented on the vote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">It comes at a time of growing pressure on Western powers to offer reparations for slavery and colonialism, and to return looted artefacts still kept in their museums.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Algerian lawmakers have been demanding that France return a 16th Century bronze canon, known as Baba Merzoug, meaning &#8220;Blessed Father&#8221;, that was regarded as the protector of Algiers, now Algeria&#8217;s capital.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">French forces captured the city in 1830, on their third attempt, and removed the cannon &#8211; which is now in the port city of Brest in north-western France.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">In 2020, France returned the remains of 24 Algerian fighters who were killed resisting French colonial forces in the 19th Century.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Last month, Algeria hosted a conference of African states to push for justice and reparations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Algeria&#8217;s Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf said that a legal framework would ensure that restitution was neither regarded as &#8220;a gift nor a favour&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Diplomatic relations between between Algeria and France soured last year, when Macron announced France was recognising Moroccan sovereignty of Western Sahara and backed a plan for limited autonomy for the disputed territory.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Algeria backs the pro-independence Polisario Front in Western Sahara and is seen as its main ally.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">French-Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal was then arrested at Algiers airport in and jailed for five years, before being pardoned by Algeria&#8217;s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune last month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Prosecutors said he had undermined national security for making remarks that questioned Algeria&#8217;s borders.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c14vdpyj1vjo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\">Algeria&#8217;s parliament has unanimously passed a law declaring France&#8217;s colonisation of the North African state a crime, and demanding an apology and reparations. The law also criminalises the glorification of colonialism, state-run TV reports. The <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2025\/12\/25\/algerian-law-declares-frances-colonisation-a-crime\/\" title=\"Algerian law declares France&#8217;s colonisation a crime\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[6193,11954,11956,11580,2913,1618,11953,3709,11955],"class_list":{"0":"post-30202","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-world","9":"tag-algeria","10":"tag-baba-merzoug","11":"tag-boualem-sansal","12":"tag-colonialism","13":"tag-france","14":"tag-morocco","15":"tag-north-africa","16":"tag-slavery","17":"tag-western-sahara","18":"pmpro-has-access"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30202"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30205,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30202\/revisions\/30205"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}