Algeria Commemorates Massacre of Citizens By French Police

Algeria has commemorated the 63rd anniversary of the killing of some Algerians who were holding demonstrations in Paris, demanding independence from France.

While commemorating the anniversary on Wednesday, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune referred to the event as “moments of madness devoid of all civility and humanity,” and said it “remains deeply engraved in our minds.” 

In honour of the victims, he said, “I bow with piety and deference to the memory of the victims of that sinister day.”

In October 1961, Algerian protesters were beaten, killed, or thrown into the River Seine, by French Police in Paris.

The massacre was concealed by French authorities for decades, until 1988 when the French government acknowledged that it happened and noted that 40 people died.

However, historians and activists argued that the number of victims was in the hundreds.

The protests took place in the final year of France’s bloody effort to maintain control over Algeria and its other African colonies.

In 2021 President Emmanuel Macron admitted the role of the French government in the massacre and condemned it as “inexcusable”. 

In March 2024, France’s lower house of parliament passed a resolution condemning the massacre as a “bloody and murderous repression.”

However, despite calls for an apology or acknowledgment of France’s 132-year colonial rule, which ended in 1962, the French government is yet to offer an official apology or compensation.

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