Several NGOs and associations, notably veterans, demanded on Monday March 4 recognition by the French state of its “responsibility” for the use of torture during the Algerian War (1954-1962).
“Employing the path of understanding the repressive spiral leading to the use of torture, of which rape is a constitutive instrument, is (…) not an act of contrition, but an act of confidence in the values of the nation”, write around twenty organizations in a file sent to the Elysée and made public on Monday. Among these authors are the Human Rights League (LDH) or the “former conscripts in Algeria and their friends against the war”.
The French presidency took a first step in this direction two years ago, during a tribute to the fighters of the Algerian war. “We recognize with lucidity that in this war there are those who, mandated by the government to win it at all costs, have placed themselves outside [of] the Republic. This minority of fighters spread terror, perpetrated torture,” the Elysée wrote in a press release on October 18, 2022.
An “important” and “courageous” recognition but incomplete because it does not establish a chain of responsibility, told AFP Nils Andersson, president of the ACCA association (Acting against colonialism today), signatory of the call. “It is neither a question of condemning nor judging, but of looking history in the face, with a view to appeasement. This will allow us to move on to the next step: understanding how this was possible and moving forward in living together,” he explained.
During what has long been called the Algerian “events” that led to the country’s independence in 1962, “torture as a system of warfare was theorized, taught, practiced, covered up and exported by French governments, which fully engages the responsibility of the State”, estimated the organizations, which deplore not having been received at the Elysée. Asked by AFP, the presidency did not respond immediately.
