Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Gabriel Osa
Algeria’s parliament has unanimously passed landmark legislation declaring France’s colonisation of Algeria a crime and formally demanding an official apology and reparations from Paris, deepening a diplomatic rift between the two former ruler and colony. The move, adopted on 24 December 2025, carries significant political and symbolic weight even though it lacks binding legal force under international law.
The new law, approved by lawmakers wearing scarves in the national colours and chanting “long live Algeria” in the National People’s Assembly, explicitly holds France “legally responsible” for abuses and tragedies during its rule from 1830 until Algerian independence in 1962, a period marked by brutal repression, mass killings, forced displacement, systematic torture, nuclear testing and economic exploitation. It demands acknowledgment of those crimes and full compensation for material and moral damage suffered by the Algerian people.
Parliamentary leaders emphasised that the legislation was intended to safeguard Algeria’s historical memory. The speaker of the Assembly declared that the vote sent a “clear message… that Algeria’s national memory is neither erasable nor negotiable,” reflecting deep resentment over the colonial legacy and frustration with what many in Algeria see as inadequate acknowledgment by France of the suffering endured under colonial rule.
Under the new law, the catalogue of “colonial crimes” includes extrajudicial killings, physical and psychological torture, forced displacement, the systematic plunder of resources, and nuclear tests conducted in the Sahara. Parliaments also inserted provisions criminalising the glorification or promotion of colonialism within Algeria, underlining the symbolic assertion of national sovereignty over historical narrative.
The legislation comes against the backdrop of already strained relations between Algeria and France. Diplomatic tensions have surged in recent months over a series of disputes, including France’s stance on regional issues such as Western Sahara and mutual expulsions of embassy staff. While the Algerian law will not compel France to act, its passage signals a firm rejection of perceived French reluctance to fully confront its colonial past.
Algeria’s estimates of the human cost of colonial rule — including the violent war of independence — stand at about 1.5 million deaths, a figure widely cited domestically though considered higher than many estimates by French historians, who put the toll at around 500,000. The memory of events such as the massacres in Sétif, Guelma and Kherrata in 1945 — where thousands were killed in retaliation against nationalist protests — remains a potent symbol of that period’s brutality.
France’s response to the new law has been measured but firm. Paris has described the move as largely political and insisted that it will not be drawn into “political debates taking place in foreign countries.” While French President Emmanuel Macron previously acknowledged aspects of the colonial era as a “crime against humanity,” he has consistently stopped short of pledging an official apology or agreeing to reparations for colonial atrocities.
Analysts note that the law’s legal impact is limited — it does not directly bind France under international law — but describe its symbolic and diplomatic significance as substantial. By formally codifying its historic grievances, Algeria is seeking to redefine the terms of memory and accountability in its relations with its former colonial power. Many observers see the move as part of broader efforts in Algeria and across the region to secure recognition and restitution for colonial-era wrongs.
The law also fits within wider discussions about colonial justice and reparations globally, where nations and communities affected by past imperial rule increasingly press former colonial powers to acknowledge harm and provide redress, whether through apologies, financial compensation, or restitution of cultural property. Although Algeria’s action is unprecedented in its formal legal framing, it reflects a growing global impetus to reassess and address historical injustices.
In parliament, Algerian lawmakers stressed that the law’s purpose is not to punish a contemporary French public but to hold the colonial state’s institutions historically accountable and to affirm Algerian sovereignty over the narrative of its past. The measure also establishes a framework for future claims, while implicitly pressuring France to engage in a dialogue about restitution, memorialisation and reconciliation.
Observers in both countries suggest the law will shape bilateral relations in the months and years ahead. While some view the move as largely symbolic, many Algerians see it as an important step toward closure and justice for the collective trauma of colonisation, even as experts caution that meaningful progress on reconciliation will require sustained diplomatic engagement and mutual recognition of historical suffering.
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