The issue of French colonial history (1830-1962) is still present in the cultural memory of Algeria, as well as in the memory and feelings of millions of French people who have ties to Algeria, and the Algerians say that the French occupation did not come out empty-handed, but rather the French soldiers carried art pieces, books and historical maps with them. It is a national heritage that still exists in the French archives today.

Algeria calls on France to restore that heritage, and the Algerian authorities reminds that the colonial forces took tens of thousands of documents to France after entering Algeria, dating back to the era prior to the French occupation.

And recently, nearly 60 years after the end of the war, the decision of French President Emmanuel Macron to lift the secrecy of "documents included under the clause of national defense secrets" - relating to the colonial era of Algeria (1830-1962) - left responses that ranged from an official welcome to an informal apprehension of the dimensions of this. the decision.

The Elysee issued the decision as recommended by historian Benjamin Stora in his report that he had previously delivered to Macron about France's colonization of Algeria, but a report by the American New York Times reported that tens of thousands of documents that were publicly available were subsequently re-stamped, which impeded Historical research and re-impose secrecy on previously disclosed information.

 Conditional welcome

One day after Macron’s decision, Abdel Majid Cheikhi, advisor to the Algerian president for memory affairs, director of the government archive, described Macron’s decision as "positive and important."

In a statement to the official news agency, Sheikhi said, "It can be said that up to now, Macron's decision is good, and the matter is related to openness if it is accompanied by a follow-up that allows its wide application."

According to the Algerian official, "access to the archive will be more open, especially since the period in question is a very important stage in the history of Algeria, and it concerns the period between the years 1920 and 1970."

Denial and apprehension

For his part, former MP Kamal Belarbi said in a statement to Anadolu Agency that "Paris's decision to lift the secrecy of part of the French colonial archive in Algeria cannot be trusted."

Belarbi - who is the owner of a previous parliamentary bill to criminalize colonialism - said, "The French presidency's statement on declassifying documents related to the colonial era in Algeria and some other countries does not concern us, because they will not hand them over to the Algerian authorities."

He added, "France will continue to tamper with the file of memory, and the most important thing is that we remain committed to our demands to hold France accountable for its crimes committed in Algeria for 132 years."

He continued, "Do we expect France, which committed the most heinous massacres against the Algerians, to give us an important archive? This is a misleading act produced by its intelligence."

He said, "These decisions are all fake statements and false files, no more or less, and nothing will be sought from them."

In turn, professor of political science at the University of Algiers, Taoufik Boukeda, believes that there is "selectivity in presenting these documents for the general public to see, and the word part or part suggests that the value of this archive does not affect the relations between the two countries because annually France releases documents without fanfare."

And he considered, with the rule, that "the outstanding issues between France and Algeria are not related to these documents that were detailed in French law (that they are the property of France). Rather, the dispute relates to documents before the colonial period (1830-1962)."

He explained that "pre-colonial documents France does not have the right to own. They are a human heritage of the Algerian people, and this is what Paris rejects."

Algeria is demanding the restoration of the entire pre-colonial French archive, which Paris transferred during the evacuation of its forces from the country.

The Algerian authorities and historians say that the French colonial period in Algeria witnessed violations of the rights of millions, in addition to campaigns of displacement and plundering of wealth.

nothing new

In a previous report by the French mediapart, Rachida Al-Azouzi wrote that French associations interested in the case did not find a new decision in Macron.

The three societies - the Society of Contemporary Historians of Higher Education and Research, the Society of French Archivists, and the Society of Josette and Maurice Odin - that fought to shed light on those who disappeared during the Algerian revolution at the hands of the French army said that they found nothing in the president's decision what she was fighting for.

In order to clarify this confusion about the opening of the archive while remaining inaccessible, the French website requested explanations from Thomas Visset, a lecturer in contemporary history at Le Havre University and the Secretary General of the Society of Contemporary Historians of Higher Education and Research, and asked him: How is the presidential declaration not an "opening" of the archive?

The historian replied that Macron's admission that there is a problem in accessing the archive is the only satisfactory element in the matter, and that the president is aware of the contradiction between his call for historians to work on the Algerian war and the inability to do so in practice, as for what will change tangibly for researchers and students, almost nothing.

The historian pointed out the need to distinguish between the Defense History Department, which maintains the archive of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, and the National Archives, as the Defense History Department has been lifting secrecy for months from a box of documents every time instead of removing them from one sheet, and what will change is the date on which the secrecy will be lifted. The year will be 1970 instead of 1954.

As for the National Archives - as Vise says - nothing will change either, as it is necessary to refer to the departments to which the archive returns to demand that it lift its secrecy, and Macron's statement does not change anything in the case, and therefore those who go today or tomorrow to the National Archives will be disappointed. Amal.

Contradiction and confusion

It is important - according to the professor of history - for people to understand that the president’s announcement does not change anything about the essence of the problem, but on the contrary, it emphasizes the need to lift the secrecy of public archives that the citizen has the right under the law to acquaint with, because blocking them is a violation of the heritage law.

As for the one who prevents the lifting of secrecy, it is - according to the historian - the desire of the General Secretariat for Defense and National Security - a body affiliated with the Prime Minister and responsible for assisting him in his responsibilities in defense and national security affairs - to implement the Interministerial Order No. 1300, although its text indicates that secrecy should be lifted. The documents are 50 years later, indicating a conflict with the law.

The historian cautioned that the Archives Act of 2008 - which was passed under the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy - protects information particularly sensitive to state security regarding everything related to the design, manufacture, use, or location of nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, as well as for documents identifying agents. Private service, time limit is 100 years.

Although the French President has announced upcoming legislation to facilitate the work of researchers, the concern - according to the historian - is that we do not know the nature of the changes that will be made, even if the President implicitly admits the illegality of applying the lifting of administrative secrecy on documents that the citizen has the right to legally see.