El Binaa al Watani Movement Hails Criminalization of French Colonialism as a Sovereign Act of Memory, Justice

In its statement, the Movement affirmed that this step represents a decisive turning point in confronting a century and a third of colonial violence marked by killing, plunder, systematic repression, and cultural and human eradication perpetrated by French colonial rule against the Algerian people. It stressed that the law is not an act of hostility nor an expression of vengeance, but rather a moral, historical, and legal obligation owed to millions of martyrs and to generations stripped of their land, identity, and fundamental right to life.

El Binaa al Watani underscored that the new legislation sends a clear and unequivocal message: the new Algeria will not tolerate the erasure of its memory, will not bargain over historical truth, and will not allow colonial crimes to be reframed as forgettable or negotiable episodes. Criminalizing colonialism, the Movement insisted, is not directed against the French people, but against the criminal colonial system itself and against all attempts to whitewash its atrocities or reproduce colonial discourse in renewed political, cultural, or economic forms.

Within this broader perspective, the Movement warned that colonial thinking continues to resurface globally in evolving guises, a reality that places a particular responsibility on Algeria—born from the crucible of resistance—to remain at the forefront of defending just liberation causes worldwide. Algeria, it maintained, approaches international issues not through temporary alignments, but through principled positions rooted in historical experience. A nation that has endured colonialism in all its manifestations cannot but stand instinctively on the side of justice and reject the imposition of faits accomplis by force, regardless of the political or legal pretexts invoked.

The statement further emphasized that Algeria’s unwavering positions on just causes, foremost among them the Palestinian cause and its sister cause of Western Sahara, are a natural extension of its liberation memory and not a subject of bargaining or political instrumentalization. Just as Algeria refuses to allow its own colonial history to be distorted or erased, it equally rejects the legitimization of occupation or solutions that bypass the inalienable rights and will of peoples.

El Binaa al Watani highlighted that coherence between national memory and foreign policy constitutes the true guarantee of credibility in state positions. This coherence, the Movement argued, explains Algeria’s steadfast defense of the principle of self-determination and its firm opposition to all projects of domination, settlement, and guardianship, irrespective of geography or changing contexts.

The Movement described the parliamentary approval of the law as the beginning of a national and international trajectory aimed at protecting national memory from distortion, imposing recognition of colonial crimes, assigning historical responsibility, and consolidating Algeria’s role as a free and principled voice in defense of liberation causes and international justice.

In this regard, El Binaa al Watani commended the high sense of patriotism expressed by various national forces, political parties, and civil society components across the country, viewing this convergence as a genuine embodiment of national unity that leaves no room for maneuvering or equivocation.

In conclusion, the Movement affirmed that Algeria, which defeated colonialism yesterday, will not remain silent today in the face of any new form of colonialism wherever it may arise. It will remain loyal to its martyrs, faithful to its principles, and steadfast in supporting all just causes. The statement also noted that history will record that the law criminalizing French colonialism was adopted during the presidency of Abdelmadjid Tebboune, despite having long constituted a pressing national demand and a subject of broad consensus. Its realization under his leadership, the Movement concluded, marks a significant imprint in the domain of memory, alongside other major and ambitious projects whose realization the Algerian nation is poised to witness in the near future.