colonialism

The signing of the Évian Accords on March 18, 1962 paved the way for Algerian independence in July of the same year. But the agreements included a clause that allowed France to continue carrying out nuclear tests in the Algerian desert, causing widespread radioactive contamination of the soil and air. Sixty years later, the victims have not been properly compensated and the extent of the damage poorly assessed. Report by Karim Yahiaoui and Jennie Shin of FRANCE 24.

It's been exactly six decades since the ink was signed on the Evian Accords, an agreement aimed at ending a nearly eight-year conflict that has claimed the lives of more than 300,000 Algerians. But France is still struggling to come to terms with its colonial and wartime heritage in Algeria. We are joined for Perspective by historian Jim House, senior lecturer and research director for French at the University of Leeds in the UK.

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After 130 years of absence, 26 objects stolen in Benin are finally exhibited at home after being returned by France. The pieces were looted by French soldiers from the Kingdom of Dahomey in 1892 and now take pride of place in the presidential palace. Our team…

More than 60 years since France launched its nuclear test in Algeria, their legacy continues to poison the relations between the North African nation and its former colonial rulers. The issue has resurfaced after President Emmanuel Macron said in French Polynesia on Tuesday that Paris owed "a debt" to the South Pacific over nuclear tests there between 1966 and…

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that France will close all military bases in the Sahel region in 2022 as part of its reconfiguration of the country's military involvement in Africa. Macron announced the military shutdown, including the reduction of troops and the closure of bases during a press conference with Nigerian President Mohamed Bazoum at the end of the G5 Sahel summit in Paris. The transition is necessary at the end of France's operation Barkhane in the Sahel, which Macron announced last month.…

Germany acknowledged for the first time on Friday that it had committed genocide during the colonization of Namibia and promised more than one billion euros ($ 1.2 billion) for projects in the African country. German colonial settlers killed tens of thousands of indigenous Herero and Nama peoples during the massacres of 1904-1908 - which historians called the first genocide of the 20th century - poisoned relations between Namibia and Germany for several years. While Berlin had previously acknowledged…

Germany acknowledged for the first time on Friday that it committed genocide during the colonization of Namibia and promised more than one billion euros for projects in the African country. German colonial settlers killed tens of thousands of indigenous Herero and Nama peoples during the massacres of 1904-1908 - marked the first genocide of the 20th century by historians - poisoning relations between Namibia and Germany for several years. While Berlin had previously acknowledged that atrocities had…

Algeria on Saturday honored tens of 1000's of individuals killed by French forces in 1945, because the North African nation waits for Paris to apologize for its colonial crimes. Measures of independence following an indication through the final months of World Warfare II that France responded with the bloodbath of tens of 1000's of overwhelmingly unarmed Algerian Muslim civilians, a turning level in Algeria's lengthy wrestle for independence. By Could 8, 1945, 1000's had gathered in Setif as Allied…

French President Emmanuel Macron announced a decision on Tuesday to speed up the declassification of secret documents related to Algeria's 1954-62 independence war from France. The move comes from a series of measures taken by Macron to unite France with its colonial past and address its brutal history with Algeria, which had been under French rule for 132 years until its independence in 1962. The French Presidency said in a statement that archival services will now be allowed to use a new procedure to…