PARIS – Emmanuel Macron, the first French president born after Algeria’s brutal war of independence, took another step towards reconciliation for the truth by declaring that a leading Algerian lawyer and nationalist did not die by suicide in 1957, as France long ago. stated. but he was tortured and killed by French soldiers.
Ali Boumendjel, a prominent defender of the Algerians imprisoned by the French during the war, was captured on February 5, 1957, during the Battle of Algiers, and kept secret for 43 days.
Speaking “on behalf of France”, Macron said Boumendjel “did not commit suicide. He was tortured and then murdered. “
For decades, and despite persistent pressure from the attorney’s late widow, Malika Boumendjel, France has clung to the story that the death was a suicide. He did this even after French army general Paul Aussaresses admitted in a book published in 2001 that he had killed Boumendjel by defenestration through a sixth-floor window.
The most painful episodes in French history, from the Vichy collaborationist government in World War II to the Algerian war, were difficult to drag into the light of day.
Ending 132 years of French colonization, the Algerian war, waged from 1954 to 1962, left half a million dead, according to French reports, and 1.5 million dead, according to Algeria. He divided France into violently opposed factions that threatened to separate the country, before a peace agreement was signed on March 18, 1962, paving the way for Algeria’s independence.
Mr. Macron, who before his presidency called the French colonization of Algeria a “crime against humanity”, is determined to overcome the Franco-Algerian trauma. Its shadow still extends today to the large population of North Africa with ties to Algeria, which has established itself around the main French cities.
Mr. Macron invited four of Mr. Boumendjel’s grandchildren to the Elysee Palace before making the announcement on Tuesday.
This new generation “has to be able to build its own destiny, away from the two grooves that are amnesia and resentment,” said a note released by the Presidency of the Republic. “It is for them, young French and Algerians, that we must advance on the path of truth, the only one that can lead to the reconciliation of memories.”
The Algerian government welcomed Macron’s statement. “Algeria notes with satisfaction the announcement by French President Emmanuel Macron of his decision to honor the fighter and martyr Ali Boumendjel,” state television said on Thursday, citing an official statement.
This positive response contrasted with the mixed reception given in Algeria to a report commissioned by Mr. Macron on the legacy of colonization and a war for independence between the two countries. Written by Benjamin Stora, a leading French historian, and made public in January, it convened a now-established Memories and Truth Commission to shed light on the dark history of the conflict and to heal wounds.
But for Algerians who demand an apology for French colonial war crimes, it fell short of what they were looking for. Algerian government spokesman Ammar Belhimer said at the time that the report “was not objective” because it placed “victim and executioner on the same level”.
Mr. Stora asked in his report to France to acknowledge the truth about Mr. Boumendjel’s murder. The pressure had been building before the president’s announcement.
Mr. Macron already recognized, in 2018, the widespread use of torture by French forces and, specifically, its use against Maurice Audin, a member of the Algerian Communist Party who was also killed by French soldiers in 1957.
Mr. Macron, who faces a presidential election in 14 months and knows how explosive the Algerian issue is on the right of the political spectrum, insisted that there will be “no regrets or excuses”. The French ambassador to Algeria, François Gouyette, said in an interview published this week that reconciliation must be achieved through a spirit of “neither denial nor regret”.
Jean Castex, Macron’s prime minister, said last November that French “self-infliction” around the issue of colonization was unfortunate. He asked the country to take up its history and find it a source of pride.
The 60th anniversary of the end of the war will be celebrated in March next year, a month before the first round of presidential elections. Mr. Macron is determined to move forward in his quest for Franco-Algerian reconciliation before that, in part to avoid Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigrant challenge.
A perennial candidate, Le Pen has worked hard to attract the moderate center-right, abandoning some of his more extreme positions, such as leaving the European Union and the euro. His National Rally party, formerly known as the National Front, exploited resentment over the loss of Algeria to build its support after its founding almost half a century ago.
“No crime, no atrocity committed by anyone during the Algerian War, can be excused or hidden,” said Macron in his statement. “They must be seen with courage and lucidity, in absolute respect for all those whose life and destiny they have destroyed.”