Algeria’s parliament on Thursday approved legislation that criminalizes French colonization, but lawmakers stopped short of endorsing provisions seeking compensation and an official apology.
The vote came during a plenary session of the Council of the Nation, the upper house of parliament, which unanimously endorsed the legislation while reserving 12 articles out of 27.
The bill had already been approved by the lower house, the People’s National Assembly, on Dec. 24.
In a report presented ahead of the vote, the National Defense Committee recommended excluding articles calling on France to issue an apology and provide compensation for crimes committed during the colonial period between June 14, 1830, and July 5, 1962.
The committee said the move was intended to align the legislation with Algeria’s "sovereign position,” which prioritizes official recognition of colonial crimes.
The committee also noted that several provisions require further revision to improve the wording and substance of the text and ensure its legal and institutional coherence.
The reserved articles were referred to a joint committee composed of members from both parliamentary chambers to rework the disputed provisions.
Despite the reservations, lawmakers praised the law and commended the People’s National Assembly for initiating the legislative process last year.
Council of the Nation Speaker Azzouz Nasri said the legislation would stand as a lasting record of the crimes committed by French settler colonialism in Algeria.
The law was drafted by a seven-member parliamentary committee representing various political blocs in the lower house, along with one independent lawmaker, under the supervision of People’s National Assembly Speaker Ibrahim Boughali.
In a speech before both chambers of parliament on Dec. 30, 2024, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said Algeria seeks recognition of colonial crimes, stressing that "the sacrifices of the martyrs cannot be compensated with billions of dollars.”
The approval comes amid one of the most serious crises in Algerian-French relations in recent history.
Tensions escalated months ago after Paris recognized Morocco’s autonomy plan for resolving the Western Sahara conflict.
Algeria supports the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination and backs the Polisario Front, which rejects Morocco’s autonomy proposal.