Details of the Amendments to the Draft Criminalising French Colonisation

The joint committee of the two houses of parliament finalised its report on amending the draft criminalising French colonisation in Algeria.

The amendments included the deletion of four articles and the modification of seven others that had been points of contention between the National People’s Assembly and the Council of the Nation. The final draft will now be presented to the National People’s Assembly for a vote on March 9.

According to the final report reviewed by Echorouk, the committee members reached a final wording for the disputed articles, which was approved by a majority vote after amendments were introduced. These amendments included deleting some articles, modifying others, and merging the content of some articles into others.

Regarding the adopted amendments, Article 1 was repealed and its content incorporated into Article 2, while Article 5 was amended by adding the phrase “sexual slavery” to the list of colonial crimes.

Article 5, as amended, defines the acts that constitute colonial crimes. These include aggression against the Algerian state, premeditated murder, directing military attacks against the civilian population, excessive use of armed force, use of unconventional and internationally prohibited weapons, laying landmines, chemical and nuclear tests, extrajudicial killings, and the plundering of state treasury funds and the systematic looting of resources.

The crimes also include subjecting Algerians to exceptional laws, practicing physical and psychological torture, racial discrimination and inhumane treatment, the deliberate denial of fundamental rights, exile, the illegal deportation of civilians to the mountains and arid regions and the confiscation of their property, kidnapping and enforced disappearance, detention outside the framework of the law, the concentration of civilians in camps and their use as human shields, forced conscription into the French armed forces, the establishment of special courts without judicial guarantees, the destruction or confiscation of property, and the denial of freedom of opinion and expression.

The amendments also included Article 7, from which the word “great” was removed. The new wording states that the crime of treason encompasses all forms of collaboration by the Harkis and those considered similar with the colonial authorities against the various forms of struggle and resistance for the restoration of national sovereignty and independence.

In Article 9, the phrase “and apology” was deleted, and the new wording states that the Algerian state seeks, through all legal and judicial means and mechanisms, to secure official recognition by the French state of its colonial past.

Article 10 of the text was also repealed, while Article 15 was amended by removing the reference to Article 61 of Law No. 99-07 of April 5, 1999, concerning the Mujahid and the Martyr. The amended wording now states that the State guarantees the dignity of all Algerians who contributed directly or indirectly to confronting French colonialism during the popular resistance, the national movement, and the War of Liberation.

Regarding penal provisions, Article 16 stipulates that anyone who glorifies colonisation through words, actions, writings, or the publication of images, videos, or audio recordings aimed at justifying or praising French colonisation shall be punished with imprisonment from three to five years and a fine ranging from 100,000 to 500,000 DZD, with the penalty doubled in case of recidivism.

Article 17 stipulated harsher penalties, ranging from five to ten years imprisonment and a fine of between 500,000 and one million DZD, in addition to the deprivation of national, civil, and family rights, for anyone who promotes colonisation through media, academic, cultural, or political activity aimed at reviving, disseminating, or praising colonial ideas, or denying that colonisation is a crime.

Articles 20 and 25 of the draft were also repealed, while Article 26 was amended by replacing the phrase “including civil society” with “with the contribution of civil society organisations.” This amendment stipulates that state institutions, with the contribution of these organisations, work to preserve and promote national memory and ensure its transmission to future generations within the framework of protecting and strengthening the historical, cultural, and national identity of the Algerian people.

The report indicated that the text’s articles would be rearranged and renumbered after incorporating the amendments approved by the Joint Committee, before being presented to the National People’s Assembly for a decision during the session scheduled for March 9.