US EditionAlgeria's Parliament Approves Law Declaring France's Colonisation a Crime
The law criminalizes colonial glorification and demands reparations for alleged crimes including torture and resource plundering, marking a political rupture in Algeria-France relations.
- On December 24, 2025, Algeria's lower house unanimously approved a law declaring France's colonisation a crime and demanding apology and reparations.
- Amid a broader diplomatic crisis between Algeria and France, tensions intensified after President Emmanuel Macron's July 2024 recognition of Moroccan control over Western Sahara soured relations last year.
- The bill lists specific alleged crimes, including nuclear tests, extrajudicial killings, physical and psychological torture, and systematic plundering, while assigning France legal responsibility, demanding `full and fair` compensation, and criminalising glorification of colonialism.
- France has so far declined to comment, with Pascal Confavreux saying last week he will not engage in `political debates taking place in foreign countries`; President Abdelmadjid Tebboune's green light signals growing hostility and political significance.
- Algeria's wider reparations push includes hosting an African states conference last month and demanding return of Baba Merzoug, while experts warn the law lacks binding international effect but could strain Algeria–France migration and bilateral ties.
124 Articles
124 Articles
The relations between France and Algeria have reached a critical point following legislation adopted by the Algerian Parliament condemning "the crimes of...
Il Sole 24 Ore
Corriere Della SeraThe measure identifies more than 30 types of crimes related to the French occupation, including nuclear experiments and detonations in the desert, civilian killings, use of unconventional weapons and a ban on return for exiled resistants
Middle East Eye
Algeria declares French colonisation a crime and demands reparations
Lawmakers demand Paris return looted artefacts and apologise formally for 132 year occupation
The Algerian Parliament unanimously adopted on Wednesday 24 December a law criminalizing French colonization (1830-1962) and demanding that France "official excuses", a measure with a strong symbolic significance...
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