Algeria to criminalise colonialism with new draft law, targets French colonial era
A parliamentary committee in Algeria is fast-tracking efforts to submit a draft law that would criminalise colonialism, aiming to present the document to the Bureau of the National People’s Assembly (APN) before the legislative session ends in June.
The proposed legislation calls for France to officially recognise crimes committed during its 132-year colonial rule over Algeria.
Representative Zakaria Belkheir, a member of the drafting committee, confirmed that the draft is nearly complete. The final steps include a legal review with specialists and a historical verification process with expert historians to ensure both legal soundness and historical accuracy, Echorouk reports.
He again noted that particular care was taken to craft the law in a way that would not conflict with international treaties, particularly the 1962 Evian Accords, which marked the end of the Algerian War of Independence.
As part of its consultation process, the committee met with Mohamed Lahcen Zeghidi, head of the Algerian Committee for History and Memory. He provided a detailed overview of Algeria’s national memory and the historical crimes committed during the colonial period.
A former delegate for the draft law criminalising colonialism, Moussa Abdi, was also consulted during the drafting process. He noted that the earlier version of the law, which gained parliamentary approval in 2010, was ultimately rejected by the government due to concerns over its alignment with the Evian Accords. Abdi argued that the accords only cover a limited time frame, the years of the Algerian War, and do not encompass the full scope of colonial abuses, many of which occurred outside the framework of the agreement.
The draft law draws from a wide range of sources, including archival records, academic research, eyewitness video testimonies, and official declarations.
