Algeria’s parliament has unanimously approved legislation declaring France’s colonisation of Algeria a crime and calling for an official apology and reparations. The vote took place on Wednesday, with lawmakers standing in the chamber wearing scarves in the colours of the national flag as the bill passed. The law states that France bears legal responsibility for its colonial rule in Algeria and for the harm caused during that period.

According to the text, the legislation lists actions described as crimes of French colonisation, including nuclear testing, extrajudicial killings, physical and psychological torture, and the systematic exploitation of resources. It asserts that compensation for material and moral damages resulting from colonisation is a right of the Algerian state and people. France governed Algeria from 1830 until 1962, a period that included the Algerian war of independence between 1954 and 1962. Algerian authorities estimate that 1.5 million people were killed during the conflict, while French historians place the total death toll at around 500,000, most of them Algerian.

The vote comes amid strained diplomatic relations between Algeria and France. Algeria’s parliamentary speaker, Ibrahim Boughali, said the decision was intended to affirm the country’s position on its historical memory. French President Emmanuel Macron has previously described the colonisation of Algeria as a crime against humanity but has not issued a formal apology. France’s foreign ministry declined to comment on the Algerian parliamentary debate, and historians have noted that the law has no legal force beyond Algeria, while carrying political and symbolic significance.