The French National Assembly approved, Thursday March 28, a proposed resolution which “ condemns the bloody and murderous repression of Algerians committed under the authority of police prefect Maurice Papon on October 17, 1961 » in Paris, during which between thirty and more than 200 peaceful demonstrators died, according to historians.
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A ” vote for history “. This is how the ecologist Sabrina Sebaihi welcomed the adoption of the proposal for this resolution. In detail, the text further asks “ the inscription of a day of commemoration of the massacre » of Algerians on October 17, 1961 has ” the agenda of national days and official ceremonies » French.
The bill carried by Sabrina Sebaihi and the Renaissance deputy, Julie Delpech, was approved in a sparse hemicycle by 67 deputies, mainly from the left and from Renaissance – 11 voting against, from the ranks of the National Rally.
“ Rewriting work to the nearest comma »
For Sabrina Sebaihi, this vote represents the “ first stage ” of ” work for the recognition of this colonial crime, for the recognition of this state crime “. This term of “ state crime » does not, however, appear in the proposed resolution, the result of careful writing work with the presidential party and the Élysée to arrive at a consensual text.
In fact, the writing of the text was the subject of a “ rewriting work to the nearest comma » with the presidency to arrive at a version that suits the executive, in a context where questions of memory still weigh heavily in relations between France and Algeria. “ We have landed on a text where there is no notion of state crime », Specified Sabrina Sebaihi on Wednesday.
The vote of the deputies comes a few weeks after the announcement by the Élysée of a state visit of the Algerian presidentAbdelmadjid Tebboune, “ late September-early October “.
🇫🇷🇩🇿 Today, the National Assembly recognized and honored in the Republic the innocent Algerian victims of #17October1961 and their families.
France, proud of its history and lucid about its past, will have stood up for memory, for the victims and for… pic.twitter.com/LCWvQ7dJZk
— Sabrina Sebaihi (@SabrinaSebaihi) March 28, 2024
Event ” repressed in violence »
63 years ago, some 30,000 Algerians who came to demonstrate peacefully in Paris suffered violent repression from the police. The official toll of three deaths and around sixty injured is far below the estimates of historians, who record “ at least several dozen » deaths.
To qualify the events of that fateful October 17, 1961the Minister Delegate in charge of Local Authorities, Dominique Faure, mentioned in her speech this Thursday a demonstration “ violently repressed by the services acting under the authority of the police prefect at the time, Maurice Papon “, during which ” in addition to numerous wounded, several dozen (people) were killed, their bodies thrown into the Seine “.
Memory work
“ Today, at this podium, let us have a thought for these victims and their families hit hard by the cycle of violence. », added the minister, under the eyes of representatives of the collectives who have been pleading for this recognition for several years. She also recalled the work of memory already accomplished to recognize the massacre. In 2012, President François Hollande made “ tribute to the victims » of a “ bloody repression » which had fallen on these women and men demonstrating for “ the right to independence “.
His successor Emmanuel Macron declared on October 17, 2021 that “ the crimes committed on October 17, 1961 under the authority of Maurice Papon are inexcusable for the Republic “. Paris then announced in December of the same year expanded access to archives on the Algerian War (1954-1962).
Minister Dominique Faure, however, expressed reservations regarding the establishment of a day of commemoration, stressing that three dates already existed for “ commemorate what happened during the Algerian War “. Reservations shared by the MoDem and Horizons groups, members of the majority, for whom “ historical work must continue “.
Read alsoMassacre of October 17, 1961: 60 years of fight for recognition of a state crime