Hearings, Field Visits to Draft a Proposal to Criminalise Colonialism
This is part of its work on the national memory issue and the completion of the legislative process aimed at holding France accountable for colonial crimes, based on a comprehensive legal and political approach, as the commission seeks to achieve.
According to what Echorouk learned, the commission's work includes scheduling field visits to several wilayas and regions that witnessed serious violations during the French occupation. This will be done to collect field testimonies and official data documenting these crimes. The goal is to develop a legal framework that reflects a renewed societal and political demand to uncover the truth and reject the whitewashing of the colonial past, according to statements made by commission members.
On Monday, the commission discussed with history expert Mohamed Doumir in a session devoted to monitoring legal and political interpretations that support the legislative endeavours of this proposal. Meetings will continue in the coming days with specialists and academics from various relevant disciplines, as well as scheduling field visits to several wilayas and organising an official meeting with the Algerian Commission for History and Memory.
Over the past weeks, the commission intensified listening sessions that targeted previous initiatives in the field of memory documentation and anti -colonialism, and also looked at the experiences of many countries that have fought similar colonial stages, to benefit from their legal approaches and symbolic steps in imposing recognition, and extracting historical and material compensation.
The commission was based, in preparing the law proposal, on archival documents, scientific research, video testimonies and official data that document the various forms of crimes committed by French colonialism in Algeria, including mass massacres, impoverishment, displacement and cultural eradication that targeted the Algerian people for decades.
The file also includes, according to parliamentary sources, the crimes related to the nuclear bombings in the Algerian sahara and other issues whose repercussions still exist to this day, in light of an international legal consensus that gives colonial peoples the right to demand recognition and historical responsibility, especially when the effects of aggression are extended throughout time and place.
Through these steps, the Parliamentary Commission seeks to overcome the symbolic nature of the file by building a clear legal path that holds France directly a historical responsibility for its severe violations against the Algerian people, whether through genocide or systematic colonial policies that targeted national identity and economic capabilities.
Previously, the commission had supervised the organisation of listening sessions for specialists and owners of previous initiatives in the field, and examples of countries that have had similar colonial experiences were found to benefit from their legal mechanisms and symbolic steps in achieving recognition and compensation.
This was not yet clear whether the draft would be completed and officially deposited with the Office of the National People's Assembly before the conclusion of the fourth parliamentary session, or if the commission would be postponed until the opening of the next session, after completing the programmed listening sessions and field visits.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
El Chorouk
10 hours ago
- El Chorouk
Algerian Foreign Ministry Official Responds to the French Interior Minister
An official source at the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was inquired about the recent statement by French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau to Le Figaro newspaper, in which he announced his intention to instruct French prefectures 'not to recognise passports issued by Algerian consulates to Algerian citizens to obtain residence permits.' The source was keen to recall, first, that granting these passports is a right for Algerian citizens and that issuing them is a duty incumbent upon the sovereign Algerian state. Therefore, recognising these passports is a duty imposed upon the French state. The same source considered the French minister's statement to be arbitrary, discriminatory, and an abuse of power, as it explicitly contravenes French law itself. As far as its author is concerned, this statement has a clear political dimension, is also legally unfounded, and is not based on any rule in French law itself. In the same context, the official explained that the passports in question are issued at the request of the French prefectures themselves, as they are indispensable reference documents in applications for residence permits. On this basis, the failure to recognise these passports, as stated by the French Interior Minister, constitutes a violation of individual rights and a further breach of France's bilateral and international obligations.
El Chorouk
a day ago
- El Chorouk
A new book reveals Macron's exploitation of memory in the relationship with Algeria
A new book published in France, titled 'The Poisonous President,' shed light on Emmanuel Macron's attempt to exploit the sensitive memory file with Algeria as a lever in his political project, which he began in 2016, and after only one year, he managed to ascend to the Élysée throne. The book, published by 'Robert Laffont' publishing house, is an 'investigation into the real President Emmanuel Macron,' authored by Étienne Campion. In it, the author introduces the early beginnings of the Élysée Palace master's thinking on dealing with the Algerian file, and at the forefront of its dimensions is the memory dimension, which is considered the most sensitive among all other files. The author says: 'Macron's story with Algeria began in 2016. Where did it come from? What motivated him to focus his efforts on the memory file with Algeria?' The author answers this question by attributing the reason to the turbulent political relationship between Paris and Algeria, which has extended for decades. 'Because the Algerian issue is not considered by the French due to the wounds left by memory and repressed memories.' Étienne Campion believes that the file of France's colonial past in Algeria posed a challenge that all of Macron's predecessors faced, such as Nicolas Sarkozy (2007 / 2012), and François Hollande (2012 / 2017) also did not deal with the file for various reasons. Therefore, Macron tried to embody the desire for reconciliation between Algeria and Paris, crediting the historian Benjamin Stora, Algerian-born (born in Constantine in 1950), for this. According to the book, Benjamin Stora was the first to confirm that 'the issue of France's colonial past in Algeria directly or indirectly affects everyone on both sides: descendants of immigrants, Pieds-Noirs, Harkis, Jews, conscripts… an unimaginable collective memory.' Here, Étienne Campion pointed out that the historian Benjamin Stora met Emmanuel Macron in 2014, and according to the same source, the credit for this goes to Paul Jean-Ortiz, the diplomatic advisor to the former French President, François Hollande, knowing that Jean-Ortiz was an old friend of historian Stora. Despite Jean-Ortiz's death in the same year, the relationship between the historian and the future president of France at the time remained. They met in 2016, and Macron was a prospective presidential candidate. During the meeting, the French president showed an overwhelming desire to tackle this sensitive file, unlike his predecessor François Hollande, who was cautious about taking it too far. Benjamin Stora was not aware of what Macron, the presidential candidate, was thinking, says Étienne Campion, when he visited Algeria in February 2017, where he issued a statement that turned many expectations upside down when he described colonialism as a 'crime against humanity' and acknowledged that 'we must face it and apologize to those against whom we committed these acts.' The author asks: 'Why did he do that? Was it to position himself among progressives? And was it to make a sharp turn to the left?' He answers: 'Benjamin Stora has nothing to do with it, but he believes that his excessive will to act is shown through this initiative. Can this statement lead to anything? Stora, optimistic despite everything, believes that this young president, who, if he addresses him informally, may have the same vision and boldness that previous generations did not have.' The author also spoke about a meeting between Macron and former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in December 2017, during an official visit to Algeria, at his therapeutic residence. The French president tried to get an approach from his Algerian counterpart on the 'Harkis' issue, telling him: 'Mr. President, I am a young president, and I am well aware that I did not live through that period. Isn't this the right time for forgiveness?' However, the former president responded firmly. 'These are traitors… Never.'
El Chorouk
3 days ago
- El Chorouk
European Union Distances Itself From Sansal's Support Committee
Noëlle Lenoir, president of the so-called International Committee in Support of Franco-Algerian Writer Boualem Sansal, expressed her dismay at the failure of the 'strategy of extreme restraint' adopted by the French authorities and the lack of European Union support to confront Algeria's strict handling of the Sansal case. This was the conclusion reached by the committee at a meeting of its members held on Thursday, July 17, in Paris. The committee acknowledged, according to a statement circulated to the press and largely published in French media, that its efforts over nearly eight months 'have not borne fruit.' This has prompted them to reconsider their working methods and seek out prominent figures with strong friendships with the Algerian authorities to soften their stance. In this regard, they mentioned the name of the revolutionary Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The meeting of Sansal's advocates came after hopes of a presidential pardon for the prisoner on the occasion of Independence Day, on July 5, had faded. The hopes of a humanitarian release, as they had subsequently promoted, also evaporated. The Algerian Press Agency settled the controversy once and for all, confirming that Sansal would not be released and that the decision of the Algerian judicial authorities would remain supreme, as President Abdelmadjid Tebboune had also stated on multiple occasions. In a desperate tone, Noëlle Lenoir spoke about the European Commission's position on the committee's efforts with her: 'They tell us they support us, but they do nothing.' This is the conclusion Lenoir reached after meeting with the working group of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and with Kaja Kallas. The French authorities were not spared criticism from the Sansal Support Committee, which attacked French President Emmanuel Macron's handling of the Sansal case. According to the committee's spokesperson, Arnaud Benedetti, 'The strategy of excessive restraint chosen by the Élysée Palace and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not yielded results.' French government spokesperson Sophie Primas confirmed, after Paris confirmed that Sansal would not receive a presidential pardon, that the French authorities do not see verbal violence as a solution to the Sansal case, in a letter addressed to the Sansal Support Committee and all those who follow its approach. Commenting on the controversial statements of French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, the Élysée Palace and Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot have repeatedly affirmed that the diplomatic path remains Macron's preferred option, despite the failure of all previous attempts. This is a fact that the far right, both politically and in the media, is seeking to exploit to undermine Macron's strategy and return to the logic of escalation advocated by Bruno Retailleau, whose failure has also been confirmed. The presence of former French ambassador to Algeria, Xavier Driencourt, among the committee's members is a development that is likely to further complicate the work of Sansal's defenders, given his extremist positions on Algeria. The proposals he put forward to pressure for the release of the Franco-Algerian writer were inspired by the campaign he led against Algeria for nearly a year. These included calls to abolish the 1968 historical immigration agreement between the two countries, limit the number of visas granted to Algerians, and reduce the number of Algerian consulates on French soil. As for the retired diplomat, France has not yet had its say (…), because the French authorities, he said, have not initiated any escalatory measures, although Paris unilaterally suspended the 2007 and 2013 agreements on Algerian diplomatic passports, which required the Algerian side to respond within the framework of the principle of reciprocity.
