File photo: A view of the building of Algerian council of nation, or the parliament, in Algiers, Algeria, Wednesday, June 28, 2017. Algeria's parliament unanimously approved on Wednesday a law declaring France's colonisation of the country a "state crime" and demanding an apology and reparations. It states that "full and fair compensation for all material and moral damages caused by French colonisation is an inalienable right of the Algerian state and people". Algeria says the war killed 1.5 million people while French historians put the death toll lower, at 500,000 in total, some 400,000 of them Algerian. Asked last week about the vote, French foreign ministry spokesman Pascal Confavreux said he would not comment on "political debates taking place in foreign countries".

Source: The North Africa Journal December 24, 2025 16:52 UTC