France: Parliament condemns massacre of Algerian protesters in 1961

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Algerian demonstrators in Puteaux, west of Paris, on October 17, 1961

Photo: Fernand Parizot / AFP

The French Parliament described the massacre of Algerian demonstrators in Paris in 1961 as "bloody and murderous oppression." In the sparsely populated National Assembly, 67 members voted for a corresponding resolution, eleven against. The text also calls for a national day of remembrance to be established for the victims of October 17, 1961.

That day, numerous Algerians demonstrating for their country's independence were killed in the French capital. According to historians' research, between 30 and 200 people were killed. According to official information at the time, there were only three. The then police prefect of Paris, Maurice Papon, said after the massacre that the police officers had acted in self-defense.

The resolution is a “first step” toward recognizing a “state crime,” said Green MP Sabrina Sebaihi; she initiated the resolution. However, the word “state crime” does not appear in it.

President Hollande acknowledged massacres

State Secretary Dominique Faure spoke to the National Assembly of a demonstration that was "violently suppressed" by units under Papon's command. “Dozens” were killed and their bodies were thrown into the Seine.

In 2012, the then French head of state, the socialist François Hollande, officially recognized the massacre. In 2021, President Emmanuel Macron was the first president to take part in a memorial for the victims. Macron did not give a speech, but spoke to relatives of the victims after a minute's silence and a wreath-laying ceremony on a Seine bridge.

In a conversation with relatives, Macron "acknowledged the facts" and described the crimes committed "under Papon" as "unforgivable for the Republic," said the Elysée Palace. The massacre was “hidden, denied or covered up” for a long time. Critics complained that the Elysée only mentioned Papon and not the then President Charles de Gaulle.

Protests during the Algerian War of Independence

Tens of thousands of Algerians took part in the protests on October 17, 1961 - in the midst of the Algerian War of Independence. The Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) had called for protests against a nighttime curfew imposed in Paris for "Muslim Algerians." Security forces shot at the demonstrators, beat them and threw some into the Seine.

Papon remained police prefect of Paris until 1967. In the 1980s it became known that he had collaborated with the Nazis during the Second World War and had been involved in the deportation of Jews. In 1998 he was sentenced to ten years in prison for aiding and abetting crimes against humanity, but was released early.

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