Algeria paid tribute to the victims of the bloody repression by France of independence demonstrations this Saturday on May 8, 1945, in Sétif in particular.
It is a date of sad memory on the other side of the Mediterranean, while in Europe it is a celebration. Algeria celebrated its first “day of remembrance” on Saturday in tribute to the victims of the bloody repression by France of independence demonstrations on May 8, 1945, and again demanded the “repentance” of Paris for its crimes during colonization.
Thousands of people took part in a commemorative march in Setif, in the east of the country, following the route followed 76 years ago by demonstrators demanding the independence of Algeria. On May 8, 1945, the parade in the city celebrating the victory of the Allies over Nazism turns into a demonstration for “free and independent Algeria” and turns into tragedy, triggering riots and repression that will kill thousands of people.
The establishment of a “day of remembrance” was decided a year ago by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who had qualified as “crimes against humanity” the killings perpetrated by the French security forces in North Constantine (Sétif, Guelma, and Kherrata) and the abuses of the colonial period (1830-1962).
The French ambassador was there
In a message, Abdelmadjid Tebboune reaffirmed that “the excellence of relations with the French Republic cannot exist outside of History and the processing of memory files, which cannot be the subject of any waiver”. On Saturday, the crowd led by scouts marched to the stele erected in memory of Bouzid Saâl, shot dead at the age of 22 during the demonstration in 1945 by a French policeman because he refused to lower the Algerian flag.
A wreath of flowers was laid there in the presence of Abdelmadjid Chikhi, advisor to the Algerian president on memorial matters, official media reported. The French Ambassador to Algeria, François Gouyette, also came to present, on behalf of President Emmanuel Macron, a wreath in tribute to the victims. France has already recognized the Sétif massacres in February 2005, through the voice of its ambassador Hubert Colin de Verdière who then spoke of “an inexcusable tragedy”.
“There were two May 8, 1945. In Paris, we celebrated the victory of the Allies against Nazism while in Setif, Guelma, and Kherrata, Algerians were massacred by the French army. Two faces of France, two pages of our history that must both be faced. Together ”also underlined Karim Amellal, Ambassador of France for the Mediterranean on Twitter.
” Repentance “
Algerians report 45,000 deaths in the riots in Constantine and French historians from a few thousand to 20,000, including 103 Europeans.
On the occasion of this memorial day, the government spokesperson, Ammar Belhimer, reiterated Algeria’s requests to France regarding its colonial crimes. “Algeria remains attached to the global settlement of the memorial file” which is based on “the official, definitive and global recognition by France of its crimes, repentance, and fair compensation”, he declared.
According to the spokesperson, this also involves “taking charge of the consequences of nuclear explosions and handing over the landfill cards for the waste from these explosions”. France carried out 17 nuclear tests in the Algerian Sahara between 1960 and 1966. The case is one of the main memorial disputes between Algiers and Paris.
Despite everything, Mr. Belhimer admitted that “gains admittedly modest” but of “great moral value” had been obtained in recent months. He cited the recovery last year of the skulls of 24 nationalist fighters killed at the start of colonization and the recognition in March by Emmanuel Macron of the responsibility of the French army in the death of nationalist leader Ali Boumendjel in 1957.
“Reconciling memories”
The memorial issue remains at the heart of the often passionate relationship between Algeria and the former colonial power. The first French president born after the Algerian war, the founder of En Marche has undertaken a series of “symbolic acts” to try to “reconcile memories” between the two shores of the Mediterranean, as the 60th-anniversary approaches. of independence. But the report by historian Benjamin Stora, submitted in January and on which Mr. Macron relies for his memorial policy, does not advocate apologies or repentance and has been strongly criticized in Algeria.
“We need much stronger political gestures, on both sides,” pleaded the historian on Saturday in an interview with the French international channel TV5 Monde. “Nonetheless, no repentance. What the Algerians want is recognition of the atrocities, massacres, and crimes that have been committed. There is, on that side, a real demand, ”he stressed.
Visiting Algiers in February 2017 when he was a presidential candidate, the French president described the colonization of Algeria as a “crime against humanity” and “real barbarism”, drawing strong criticism from officials. right-wing politicians in France.
