These are the most important amendments that were included in the proposed law criminalizing colonialism – New Algeria

The sessions of the equal-member committee charged with proposing a consensus formula on the disputed provisions of a draft law ended Criminalizing French colonialism To include a set of amendments in exchange for abandoning the demand for an apology for the crimes of French exploitation in exchange for adhering to a demand that it considers fundamental and important related to an explicit recognition by the French state of the crimes committed against Algerians from 1830 until 1962.

The most prominent proposed amendments included deleting Article 1 of the draft law criminalizing French colonialism, as it is general, so that Article 2 becomes the first, and Article 1 establishes the initial framework of the law. In return, it was proposed to delete the phrase (or sexual slavery) from Article 07 of the draft law, but the vote tended to keep the article as it is without deleting it or making any changes to it. In return, it was proposed to delete the phrase (and apology) from Article 9, which are the justifications given by the Speaker of the National Assembly during the session. Lack of harmony The issues of compensation and apology are in line with the national approach established by the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, which is based on the demand for recognition of colonial crimes.

Among the questions raised in the preliminary report: whether compatibility with the rules of international criminal law requires explicitly including the crime of genocide among the criminalized colonial crimes, in order to avoid any incomplete or diluted description of the gravity of the acts committed against The Algerian peopleIn addition to the clarity of the text in enshrining Algeria’s demand for official recognition of colonial crimes, as it is the basis of historical and legal responsibility, without confusing it with concepts of apology of a political, non-legally binding nature.

Questions were also raised about the absence of a precise legal definition of the concept of “colonialism” in a text that is supposed to establish a clear and uninterpretable criminalization, especially in light of what comparative experiences highlight of the importance of terminological control in laws with historical and sovereign dimensions.

It also raised the question of whether the principle of non-prescription exists Colonial crimes It requires an explicit and expanded text that includes various forms of damage, including environmental, health, and moral damage, in line with the rules of international law, in addition to the extent to which the current wording of the text is immunized from the risks of legal interpretation or unintended use of some of its provisions, which may weaken its mandatory effect in the future.

Council members also asked about the necessity of including an explicit legal commitment that preserves national memory by integrating colonial crimes into educational, training, and media systems, considering memory is a component of national security, as well as the extent to which the text provides a sufficient legal basis to enable the state to activate international accountability mechanisms.

In the same context, observations were raised about the law not stipulating the creation of a permanent national memory body, which is responsible for documenting colonial crimes, following up on the implementation of the law, and proposing the necessary legislative amendments to ensure the continuity of the institutional approach, in addition to highlighting the preventive nature of the law as a tool for protecting national unity and preventing the use of history to undermine stability or sovereignty.

It is expected that the joint committee’s work report will be approved next 9th according to the agenda of the National People’s Assembly, where the disputed provisions will be approved after listening to the government representative’s presentation of the text prepared by the equal-member committee on the disputed provisions and presenting a report on the equal-member committee.

Fouad Q