It was May 8, 1945. In Algeria, independence demonstrations had been violently repressed by France. The country celebrated, on Saturday, May 8, 2021, its first “National day of remembrance” in homage to the victims of this bloody repression. Algeria reiterated its demand for ” repentance “ of Paris for his crimes during colonization.
Thousands of people took part in a commemorative march in Setif, in the east of the country, following the route followed, seventy-six years ago, by demonstrators demanding the independence of Algeria. On this day, the parade through the city celebrating the Allied victory over Nazism turns into a demonstration for “Free and independent Algeria” and turns into tragedy, triggering riots and a crackdown that will kill thousands of people.
The establishment of a “Remembrance day” was decided a year ago by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. The latter had described as “Crimes against humanity” the killings perpetrated by the French security forces in Constantine (Sétif, Guelma and Kherrata) and the abuses of the colonial period (1830-1962).
45,000 dead
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.
The procession laid a wreath of flowers at the foot of this stele, in the presence of Abdelmadjid Chikhi, advisor to the Algerian president on memorial matters, official media reported. Algerians report 45,000 deaths in the riots in Constantine and French historians from a few thousand to 20,000.
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”, did he declare.
“Reconciling memories”
According to Mr. Belhimer, this also involves “The management of the consequences of nuclear explosions and the delivery of landfill cards for waste from these explosions”. France carried out 17 nuclear tests in the Algerian Sahara between 1960 and 1966, on the sites of Reggane and then of In Ekker. The case is one of the main memorial disputes between Algiers and Paris.
Despite everything, Mr. Belhimer admitted that “Admittedly modest” but of a “Great moral value” had been obtained by Algeria in recent months. He cited in particular the recovery last year of the skulls of 24 nationalist fighters killed at the start of colonization and the recognition in March by the French President, Emmanuel Macron, of the responsibility of the French army in the death of nationalist leader Ali Boumendjel in 1957.
The memorial issue remains at the heart of the often passionate relationship between Algeria and the former colonial power. Mr. Macron, the first French president born after the Algerian war, has undertaken in recent months a series of“Symbolic acts” to try to “Reconcile memories” between the two shores of the Mediterranean, as the 60th anniversary of independence approaches.
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.
Bilateral relations experienced a new cold snap after the cancellation of a trip to Algiers in early April by French Prime Minister Jean Castex, at the express request of the hosts. Algerian media then accused Paris of ” provocation “, while the Minister of Labor, El-Hachemi Djaâboub, called France “Traditional and eternal enemy” from Algeria.
Visiting Algiers in February 2017 when he was a presidential candidate, Mr. Macron described the colonization of Algeria as ” crime against humanity “ and of “Real barbarism”, which had earned him strong criticism from right-wing politicians.