Calls for France to recognise 1962 massacres in Algeria

Eight French lawmakers have submitted a draft law to the Parliament demanding it recognise the “horrific massacres, retaliation and public square executions” committed against the French and Europeans who lived in the Algerian city of Oran in 1962.

The text of the bill came in the form of a single article which states that “the French Republic recognises the massacres against the French population that took place on 5 July in Oran”.

The politicians said that 5 July 1962 was “written with the blood of innocent people who were dragged on to public squares and were killed with guns and knives”, pointing out that the collected testimonies indicate that hundreds, even thousands of French citizens and Europeans were killed on that day. Some 100,000 Frenchmen lived in the area at the time.

The MPs said that based on testimonies from French nationals and journalists who were present on the day, French citizens living in Oran were subjected to mass massacres.

Read: Remembering the massacre of 45,000 Algerians