The International Conference on Colonial Crimes in Africa opened in the Algerian capital, held in accordance with an African Union resolution under the theme:
“Justice for Africans and Afro-descendants Through Reparations.”
Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf said the continent is witnessing a new wave of awareness aimed at confronting the legacies of colonialism, describing that era as a project of “looting and plunder” that obstructed state-building and deprived peoples of their sovereignty.
He called for explicit international recognition and criminalization of colonial crimes, stressing that demands for reparations and the return of stolen property represent a “legitimate right, not a benevolent gesture.”
The two-day conference brings together ministers, experts, historians, and legal scholars from across Africa, the Caribbean, and other regions of the world, with the goal of crafting a unified African stance on historical justice, restitution of cultural property, and preservation of collective memory.
