African nations push for recognition of colonial crimes and reparations

ALGIERS, Algeria: African leaders pushed Sunday to have colonial-era crimes recognized, criminalized and addressed through reparations.

At a conference in Algiers, diplomats and leaders convened to advance an African Union resolution passed at a meeting earlier this year calling for justice and reparations for victims of colonialism.

In his opening speech, Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf said Algeria’s experience under French rule underscored the need to seek compensation and reclaim stolen property.

A legal framework, he added, would ensure restitution is seen as “neither a gift nor a favor.”

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“Africa is entitled to demand the official and explicit recognition of the crimes committed against its peoples during the colonial period, an indispensable first step toward addressing the consequences of that era, for which African countries and peoples continue to pay a heavy price in terms of exclusion, marginalization and backwardness,” Attaf said.

International conventions and statutes accepted by a majority of countries have outlawed practices including slavery, torture and apartheid. The United Nations Charter prohibits the seizure of territory by force but does not explicitly reference colonialism.