Algeria’s parliament has passed a landmark law formally declaring the period of French colonial rule a criminal act. The legislation demands an official apology and financial reparations from France.
The bill, approved unanimously, asserts France’s “legal responsibility for its colonial past in Algeria and the tragedies it caused.” Lawmakers celebrated the vote in the chamber, draped in national colors.
While analysts view the move as largely symbolic, it carries significant political weight amid ongoing diplomatic tensions between the two nations. The law catalogues alleged colonial offenses, including nuclear tests, extrajudicial killings, systematic torture, and the plundering of national resources. It frames compensation for material and moral damages as an “inalienable right.”
French colonial administration lasted from 1830 until Algeria’s independence in 1962 after a protracted and brutal war. Historical casualty figures remain disputed, with Algerian estimates at 1.5 million and French historians citing lower numbers.
Although a French president has previously described the colonization as a “crime against humanity,” the state has stopped short of issuing a formal apology. French officials have declined to comment on the Algerian parliamentary action.
Experts note that while the law holds no direct international legal force, it represents a potent symbolic rupture, reframing the historical narrative and escalating demands for a reckoning with the colonial past.