ALGIERS, Algeria — After decades in a French museum, the skulls of 24 Algerians decapitated for resisting French colonial forces were formally repatriated to Algeria on Friday in an elaborate ceremony led by the teary-eyed Algerian president. A 21-gun salute thundered from Algiers’ international airport as a military plane touched down, carrying the remains. The return of the skulls was the result of years of efforts by Algerian historians, and comes amid a growing global reckoning with the legacy of colonialism. “The valiant resistance fighters who refused the colonization of their country by imperial France were displayed immorally for decades, like vulgar objects of antiquity, without respect for their dignity, their memory. That is the monstrous face of colonization,” Algerian army chief Said Chengiha said in a speech.

Source: International New York Times July 03, 2020 16:52 UTC