Algeria to Host International Conference on Colonial Crimes in Africa Starting Sunday

Algeria will host, next Sunday and Monday, the International Conference on Colonial Crimes in Africa, a major continental event following the African Union (AU) summit decision adopted in February 2025. The summit endorsed the initiative of the Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, to organize in Algeria a conference dedicated to celebrating and implementing the AU theme of the year 2025: “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations.”

This initiative is in line with Algeria’s historic tradition as a nation that has paid a heavy price under colonialism and remains deeply committed to defending the dignity, memory and rights of African peoples.

Under the leadership of the Algerian President, Algeria is working to strengthen collective reflection and action aimed at criminalizing colonialism, slavery, racial segregation and apartheid as crimes against humanity, in accordance with relevant AU recommendations.

The conference will bring together ministers, jurists, historians, academics and experts from Africa, the Caribbean and other regions of the world to consolidate a unified African position on historical justice, reparations, restitution of heritage and the preservation of collective memory.

Its sessions will address human, cultural, economic, environmental and legal dimensions of colonial crimes, with a focus on intergenerational trauma, dispossession and the destruction of African cultural heritage, exploitation of resources, and the inequitable economic models inherited from colonialism. Discussions will also highlight environmental impacts, including nuclear tests carried out on African populations, as well as legal pathways to strengthen the criminalization of colonialism and establish a permanent African mechanism for reparations and restitution.

As host and initiator, Algeria aims to contribute to reinforcing the African architecture of historical justice by providing a high-level platform for dialogue, helping consolidate international recognition of colonial crimes and promoting concrete mechanisms for reparations.

One of the major expected outcomes is the adoption of the “Algiers Declaration,” which is set to become a continental reference for the codification of colonial crimes, recognition of their impacts, and the development of an African strategy for justice and reparations. This declaration will be submitted to the AU Summit in February 2026 for review and adoption.

Through this initiative, Algeria reaffirms its leading role and decisive contribution within the continent, supporting African aspirations for justice, reparations, memory sovereignty and the consolidation of a common historical identity grounded in dignity and values of justice.