Africa Seeks Justice for Colonial-era Crimes
On Sunday, representatives from numerous African nations gathered in Algeria to push forward a resolution approved earlier this year, with the AU declaring 2025 as the designated year for reparative justice.
During the opening address, Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf drew upon his nation’s past under French occupation to argue that colonialism should be recognized as an international offense, thereby reinforcing Africa’s call for global accountability.
He emphasized that France attempted to “make Algeria a different country,” seeking to supplant its population, cultural identity, institutions, traditions, religion, and even its language.
Attaf underlined that “this colonial project was the longest-lasting in modern history: 132 years of Algerian resistance, and 132 years of French crimes of every kind.”
He further stated that Africa is “entitled to demand the official and explicit recognition of the crimes committed against its peoples during the colonial period,” injustices that nations across the continent still “pay a heavy price for in terms of exclusion, marginalization and underdevelopment.”
For many years, African and Caribbean leaders and activists have advocated for financial restitution and other corrective measures to address the harms of slavery and foreign rule.
Attaf referenced several devastating colonial-era offenses across Africa, highlighting how Belgium’s governance of the Congo resulted in the killing or mutilation of millions through coerced labor and brutal amputations.
He also recalled Germany’s annihilation of the Herero and Nama communities in Namibia—frequently regarded as the earliest genocide of the 20th century—and noted French military operations in Cameroon, where villages were razed and thousands were killed during anti-colonial revolts.
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