{"id":112327,"date":"2021-03-04T17:25:57","date_gmt":"2021-03-05T00:25:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=112327"},"modified":"2021-03-04T17:25:57","modified_gmt":"2021-03-05T00:25:57","slug":"france-admits-torture-and-murder-of-algerian-freedom-fighter-in-1950s-but-no-apology-for-algeria-for-colonial-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/03\/04\/france-admits-torture-and-murder-of-algerian-freedom-fighter-in-1950s-but-no-apology-for-algeria-for-colonial-past\/","title":{"rendered":"France admits torture and murder of Algerian freedom fighter in 1950s, but no apology for Algeria for colonial past"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy RT<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
\"France<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

(L) Portrait non dat\u00e9 de l’avocat alg\u00e9rien Me Ali Boumendjel alors \u00e2g\u00e9 de 32 ans. \u00a9 AFP PHOTO \/ ERIC FEFERBERG; (R) French troops holding back crowds in front of Government House, Algiers, during the Algerian War of Independence. \u00a9 Stan Meagher \/ Express \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n\n\n\n

French President Emmanuel Macron has formally admitted that his country\u2019s forces tortured and murdered\u201d Algerian freedom fighter Ali Boumendjel in 1957 during the nation\u2019s war for independence in a meeting with his grandchildren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Macron made the confession in the name of France\u201d<\/em> as he met with Boumendjel\u2019s grandchildren on Tuesday, providing an honest and official explanation for his death over 60 years ago, which, until now, had been classed as a suicide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A formal statement from France\u2019s Elysee Palace confirmed that Boumendjel was placed incommunicado, tortured and then killed on 23 March 1957, after being detained during the battle of Algiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boumendjel\u2019s family have not issued a statement after Macron\u2019s statement but, last month, his niece Fadela Boumendjel-Chitour decried France\u2019s behavior as a devastating\u201d<\/em> lie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previously, the former head of French intelligence in Algiers, Paul Aussaresses, admitted that he ordered Boumendjel\u2019s murder and the following cover-up. However, the country\u2019s government had refused until now to confirm if that was true.ALSO ON RT.COM<\/strong>Macron rules out official apology for colonial abuses in Algeria despite calling colonization \u2018crime against humanity\u2019<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The admission of guilt comes after Macron agreed to establish a truth commission\u201d<\/em> to investigate abuses that occurred in countries that were once controlled by France, including Algeria, in order to end the culture of denial\u201d<\/em> that has clouded the country\u2019s colonial past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While he has done more than previous presidents, Macron has caused anger in some communities for refusing to issue an official apology over what took place in Algeria on the orders of French forces and officials, declaring that there will be no repentance nor apologies.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Macron has, instead, pledged to work to present symbolic acts\u201d<\/em> that are aimed at promoting reconciliation after the eight-year war between 1954-1962 strained relations between France and Algeria, with each side accused of committing significant atrocities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy RT (L) Portrait non dat\u00e9 de l’avocat alg\u00e9rien Me Ali Boumendjel alors \u00e2g\u00e9 de 32 ans. \u00a9 AFP PHOTO \/ ERIC FEFERBERG; (R) French troops holding back crowds in front of Government House, Algiers, during the Algerian War of Independence. \u00a9 Stan Meagher \/ Express \/ Getty Images French President Emmanuel Macron has formally […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112327\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}