French parliament paves way for condemnation of 1961 massacre of Algerians in Paris

The French parliament’s lower house has taken the first step in recognizing the “colonial crime” of slaughtering Algerian protesters in the capital Paris by police in 1961.

On Thursday, lawmakers in France’s National Assembly backed a motion condemning as “bloody and murderous repression” the killing of dozens of Algerians protesting peacefully for their country’s independence in the French capital.

The resolution had been proposed by Greens lawmakers Sabrina Sebaihi and Julie Delpech, from French President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance partyو and was approved by 67 lawmakers, with 11 against.

It said the gruesome killing occurred “under the authority of police prefect Maurice Papon,” calling for the official commemoration of the massacre.

According to Sebaihi, the approval of the bill represented the “first step” toward the “recognition of this colonial crime, the recognition of this state crime.”

On the night of October 17, 1961, some 30,000 Algerians living in Paris demonstrated peacefully in the center of the capital to support Algerian independence and voice their opposition against a strict curfew imposed on them. The protests were called by the National Liberation Front (FLN).  

But as night fell, witnesses recall seeing people shot with live ammunition and killed when police charged into the crowd.

France massacre: Paris protesters mark 1961 bloody police crackdown anniv.

Protesters took to the streets in the French capital, Paris, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of a bloody crackdown on Algerian protesters.

Back in 2021, when the 60th anniversary of the carnage was commemorated, Macron admitted that several dozen protesters had been killed during the bloody crackdown by police and that “their bodies thrown into the River Seine.”

To date, it is not yet clear how many Algerian protesters were killed during the massacre with some activists fear that several hundred could have been killed.

“Let us spare a thought here today for these victims and their families, who have been hit hard by the spiral of violence,” said Dominique Faure, the minister for local and regional authorities, on Thursday.

However, she expressed reservations about establishing a special day to mark the bloody crackdown, saying that three dates already existed to “commemorate what happened during the Algerian war.”

“I think it is important to let history do the work before considering a new day of commemoration specifically for the victims of October 17, 1961,” Faure said.

The massacre occurred during a rally that was called in the final year of France's increasingly violent attempt to retain Algeria as a North African colony.

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