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Algeria’s parliament has unanimously approved a law stating France’s colonisation of the country a criminal act and demanded an apology and reparations.

Legislators, gathered in parliament wearing scarves in the colors of the Algerian flag, chanted “vive l'Algérie” on Wednesday as they applauded the passage of the legislation, which affirms that the former colonial power holds “accountability for its history of colonisation in Algeria and the tragedies it caused”.

A Diplomatic Crisis and a Political Move

The both nations are locked in a significant bilateral dispute and observers say that while Algeria’s action is mostly gestural, it is still politically significant.

“a clear message, both internally and externally, that the nation's historical memory is not erasable nor subject to negotiation.”

The law lists the “atrocities of colonial rule”, which include atomic tests, extrajudicial killings, “torture” and the “systematic plundering of resources”.

Call for Reparations

It states that “complete and just reparation for all physical and psychological harms caused by colonial rule is an inalienable right of the state and people”.

French governance over Algeria from the 19th century until independence was a period marked by widespread deaths and large-scale deportations, all the way up to the bloody independence war from the mid-1950s to 1962.

• Algeria says the conflict claimed one and a half million lives.
• Historians in France estimate the fatalities at half a million in all, four hundred thousand of them Algerian.

Official Reaction and Academic View

The head of state, Emmanuel Macron, has in the past acknowledged the colonisation of Algeria as a “crime against humanity” but has stopped short of an apology.

Questioned last week about the vote, a diplomatic representative said he would not comment on “internal political matters taking place in other nations”.

A researcher in colonial history, commented that “legally, this legislation has little international force and therefore is not enforceable for France”. However, “its political and symbolic importance is considerable: it marks a break in the ties with France in terms of memory,” he added.