🔗 Share this article Algeria Passes Legislation Labeling France's Colonisation a Crime Algeria’s parliament has voted unanimously for a law stating French colonial rule of the country a crime and called for an official apology and compensation. Lawmakers, wearing scarves in the colours of the Algerian flag, shouted ‘long live Algeria’ as they applauded the approval of the legislation. Legislators, standing in the chamber adorned with scarves in the colors of the Algerian flag, chanted “vive l'Algérie” on Wednesday as they applauded the passage of the legislation, which states that France holds “legal responsibility for its history of colonisation in Algeria and the atrocities it caused”. A Significant Crisis and a Political Move The both nations are embroiled in a major diplomatic crisis and observers note that while Algeria’s move is mostly gestural, it is still a major political statement. “an unambiguous signal, both domestically and internationally, that Algeria’s national memory is not erasable nor subject to negotiation.” The law lists the “crimes of colonial rule”, which encompass atomic tests, summary executions, “physical and psychological torture” and the “systematic plundering of resources”. Call for Compensation It asserts that “full and fair reparation for all physical and psychological harms caused by French colonisation is an inalienable right of the state and its people”. French governance over Algeria from 1830 until independence was a period marked by mass killings and large-scale deportations, all the way up to the violent war of independence from the mid-1950s to 1962. Algeria states the war claimed 1.5 million lives. Historians in France put the death toll at 500,000 in all, four hundred thousand of them Algerian. French Response and Historical Perspective The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has previously acknowledged the colonial era of Algeria as a “grave injustice” but has declined to offer an official apology. Asked recently about the vote, a French foreign ministry representative stated he would not comment on “political debates taking place in foreign countries”. A researcher in the history of colonisation, commented that “from a legal standpoint, this law has no international scope and therefore is not enforceable for the French state”. However, “its political and symbolic importance is important: it signifies a break in the ties with France in terms of historical memory,” he said.