Lawmakers in Algeria have begun debating a draft law that would criminalise France\u2019s colonisation of the North African country amid a period of tense ties between the two countries, according to the People\u2019s National Assembly.<\/p>\n
French colonial rule in Algeria lasted for more than 130 years, which was marked by torture, enforced disappearances, massacres, economic exploitation and marginalisation of the Indigenous Muslim population.<\/p>\n
Algeria gained independence from France in 1962, but it came at a high human cost: up to 1.5 million people are believed to have been killed, thousands disappeared and millions displaced.<\/p>\n
Here is what we know about the draft legislation.<\/p>\n
What do we know about the bill?<\/p>\n
The draft law, which seeks to criminalise France\u2019s colonial rule in Algeria between 1830 and 1962, was introduced in the People\u2019s National Assembly, Algeria\u2019s lower house of parliament, on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The bill will go up for a vote on Wednesday, according to reports.<\/p>\n
Public broadcaster AL24 News reported that the draft, which contains five chapters comprising 27 articles, is based on \u201cthe principles of international law that affirm peoples\u2019 right to legal redress\u201d and \u201cthe achievement of historical justice\u201d.<\/p>\n
It aims to \u201cestablish responsibility, secure recognition and an apology for crimes of colonialism as a foundation for reconciliation with history and the protection of national memory,\u201d the channel reported.<\/p>\n
What has the speaker said?<\/p>\n
Introducing the bill, Speaker Ibrahim Boughali said it was not just a legal text, but a \u201cdefining milestone in the course of modern Algeria\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a supreme act of sovereignty, a clear moral stance, and an unambiguous political message, expressing Algeria\u2019s commitment to its inalienable rights and its loyalty to the sacrifices of its people,\u201d Boughali said, according to the Anadolu news agency.<\/p>\n
He noted that France\u2019s colonisation of the country was \u201cnot limited to the plundering of wealth\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt also extended to policies of systematic impoverishment, starvation, and exclusion aimed at breaking the will of the Algerian people, erasing their identity, and severing their ties to their \u2026 roots,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
How has France responded?<\/p>\n
The French government has not yet responded to the debate.<\/p>\n
But French President Emmanuel Macron has previously said he would not apologise for the colonisation of the country.<\/p>\n
He told Le Point magazine in 2023 that he would not ask forgiveness from Algeria<\/a> but intended to work towards reconciliation with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not up to me to ask forgiveness,\u201d he said in the interview, the AFP news agency reported.<\/p>\n \u201cThe worst thing would be to decide: \u2018we apologise and each go our own way\u2019,\u201d Macron said. \u201cWork on memory and history isn\u2019t a settling of all accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n What do we know about France\u2019s colonial history in Algeria?<\/p>\n France ruled Algeria from 1830 until being driven out as a colonial power in a brutal war of independence that raged from 1954 to 1962.<\/p>\n Some 1.5 million Algerians were killed in the war, with French forces accused of gross human rights violations and war crimes, including systematic torture, summary executions and enforced disappearances. The French colonial forces also destroyed thousands of villages, forcibly displacing some two million Algerians.<\/p>\n