Algeria’s parliament has advanced a landmark bill that would formally declare France’s 130 year colonisation of the country a “state crime” and hold it responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed between 1830 and 1962. Lawmakers are voting on the legislation amid a wider diplomatic rift with Paris, with supporters calling the move a historic step in the country’s quest for colonial justice.
The draft law seeks to criminalise France’s colonial rule, classifying atrocities committed during the occupation as crimes against humanity under international law. It also makes the “glorification” of French colonialism in Algeria an offence, signalling a tougher stance on how the period is remembered and discussed in public life.
According to texts seen by local and international media, the bill states that France bears legal responsibility for its colonial past in Algeria and for the “tragedies it caused.” It demands a formal apology from Paris and calls for reparations as part of efforts to address long standing grievances over killings, dispossession and systemic abuses under colonial rule.
The proposed law is structured in multiple chapters and more than 20 articles, grounded in principles of international law affirming the right of peoples to seek legal redress and historical justice. Supporters say it aims to safeguard national memory, ensure accountability and prevent any attempt to erase or downplay colonial era crimes.
Parliament speaker Brahim Boughali has described the initiative as more than a technical legal text, calling it a sovereign act that reaffirms Algeria’s determination to defend its history. He said the measure sends a clear signal at home and abroad that the country’s national memory “is neither erasable nor negotiable.”
Analysts note that, in strict legal terms, the law will have no binding effect on France under international law, but carries significant political and symbolic weight. They argue that it marks a rupture in how Algeria frames its relationship with its former coloniser, and could harden positions in already strained bilateral ties.
French President Emmanuel Macron has previously acknowledged that colonisation in Algeria amounted to a “crime against humanity,” but has stopped short of issuing the full state apology and reparations that Algeria and many African leaders demand. France’s foreign ministry has declined to comment directly on the draft law, saying it would not respond to political debates taking place in foreign parliaments.
The bill follows a broader continental push by African states for recognition of colonial crimes and compensation. At a recent meeting in Algiers, regional leaders and experts renewed calls for formal acknowledgment of atrocities committed during colonial rule, arguing that many African societies still pay the price in exclusion, marginalisation and underdevelopment.
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