Algeria: Conference renews call to recognise colonial-era crimes

African leaders held a conference on November 30th where they urged former European colonial powers to recognise crimes committed under colonial rule, according to the Associated Press on December 1st.

The conference, held in Algiers, was attended by diplomats, academics, lawyers and leaders and convened to advance an African Union resolution passed in February, which called for justice and reparations for victims of colonialism.

Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf opened the conference with a speech where he stated that “Africa is entitled to demand the official and explicit recognition of the crimes committed against its peoples during the colonial period.”

He called recognition “an indispensable first step toward addressing the consequences of that era, for which African countries and peoples continue to pay a heavy price in terms of exclusion, marginalisation and backwardness.”

Although the UN Charter prohibits the forceful seizure of territory, and most countries have accepted the outlawing of practices like apartheid, slavery and torture, there is no explicit reference to colonialism in the Charter.

A law to criminalise French colonialism was called for by Algerian speaker Ibrahim Boughali in January, who urged the passing of the draft law, which was first introduced in 2006.

French colonial rule of Algeria ended in 1962; however, tensions between the nations continue to this day. In 2021, France angered Algeria when it announced that it would not apologise or repent for colonial-era atrocities, such as the May 8th, 1945, massacre of Algerian demonstrators by the French colonial army.

Similarly, a report from Senegal on October 16th accused French colonial forces of killing West African soldiers in 1944, after the soldiers protested against unpaid wages. French troops maintained a presence in Senegal until 2025, despite Senegal gaining independence in 1960.

In January, French forces handed over their last military base in Chad, a process repeated in the Ivory Coast in February.

Furthermore, the economic impact of European colonialism is still felt across Africa as European powers plundered the continent for its natural resources, such as gold, diamonds and rubber.

European settlers dominated the social, political, and economic spheres of their colonies, resulting in significant wealth disparities between the settlers and the indigenous populations.

African nations also face a technological divide, as only 38% of the continent’s population has internet access, and only ten out of the continent’s 55 member states have the infrastructure necessary for digital advancement.

Associated Press and Maghrebi.org