01-07-2025
Algeria Strongly Pushing Forward Efforts to Criminalise Colonialism
Algeria supports all efforts demanding justice for colonial crimes, including those committed by the French occupation in Algeria, to end the policy of denial and impunity, the Minister of Mujahideen (war veterans) and Rights Holders, Laïd Rebiga, said on Tuesday.
At the opening of the international forum on 'Crimes of Colonialism in Human History… From the Wounds of Collective Memory to the Deservedness of Historical Justice,' organized by the Ministry of Mujahideen and Rights Holders under the high patronage of President of the Republic Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the minister said that Algeria 'has supported and continues to support all noble efforts demanding justice for colonial crimes and pushing hard to end the policy of denial and impunity, and to hold perpetrators fully responsible for the effects of colonialism, slavery, the plunder of wealth, the dispossession of resources, the violation of identities, and the distortion of cultures.'
In this regard, he recalled the 'heinous colonial crimes Algeria and many other peoples of the world were subjected to, which, according to all international principles and conventions, are not subject to a statute of limitations. These crimes cannot be forgotten, but are addressed through recognition.'
He added that Algeria is 'an integral part of the fabric of this world. With its visionary leadership and proud people, it is committed to security and peace and mobilised to support the causes of liberation and emancipation.' He emphasised that the Algerian revolution has always been 'a source of inspiration for oppressed peoples.'
In the same context, he explained that Algeria 'has never wavered in its commitment to supporting just causes and the legitimate aspirations of peoples, such as the causes of the two brotherly peoples in Western Sahara and Palestine,' recalling the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza, which, he said, has become 'a graveyard for the fundamental legal principles upon which the international system is based.'
The Minister stated that 'Algeria, today under the leadership of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, attaches special importance to restoring memory, as it is a source of values and principles and a fundamental gateway to justice.' He noted that 'in light of this renewed awareness, the growing awakening of peoples who were yesterday victims of colonialism is emerging, renewing their demand today for a new path that not only ends the past, but also rewrites it from the perspective of the victim and establishes a historical justice that ends arrogance and promotes the building of a shared future based on dignity and mutual respect.'
Regarding the forum, which brought together a select group of professors, academics, and specialized experts from within and outside the country, Rebiga explained that it represented 'an opportunity to deepen the debate on the crimes of colonialism,' which constitutes 'a moral obligation and historical duty toward the present and the future, and a cry of awareness against forgetting.'
