Algeria to host 2025 Int’l Conference on Colonial Crimes in Africa

Algeria aims to reinforce Africa’s framework for historical justice by providing a high-level platform that advances international recognition of colonial crimes and supports concrete mechanisms for reparative action.

 

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) — Algeria will host the International Conference on the Crimes of Colonialism in Africa on 30 November–1 December 2025, a major continental event mandated by the African Union (AU) Assembly Decision 903 (XXXVIII) adopted in February 2025.

The decision endorsed President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s proposal for Algeria to convene a conference dedicated to advancing the AU’s 2025 Theme of the Year: ‘Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations,’ according to press release from the Embassy of People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria in Jakarta, Tuesday.

The initiative reflects Algeria’s historic legacy as a nation that endured profound suffering under colonial rule and remains firmly committed to defending the dignity, memory, and rights of African peoples.

Under President Tebboune’s leadership, Algeria has been actively promoting collective efforts aimed at recognizing colonialism, slavery, racial segregation, and apartheid as crimes against humanity, in line with AU recommendations.

The conference will bring together ministers, jurists, historians, academics, and experts from across Africa, the Caribbean, and other regions. Participants will work toward consolidating a unified African position on historical justice, reparations, restitution of cultural heritage, and the preservation of collective memory.

Deliberations will explore the human, cultural, economic, environmental, and legal dimensions of colonial crimes. Key topics include intergenerational trauma, destruction and looting of African cultural heritage, exploitation of natural resources, inequitable economic systems inherited from colonial rule, and the environmental impacts of colonial activities—including nuclear testing conducted on African populations. Experts will also examine legal pathways to strengthen the criminalization of colonialism and establish a permanent African mechanism for reparations and restitution.

As the host and initiator, Algeria aims to reinforce Africa’s framework for historical justice by providing a high-level platform that advances international recognition of colonial crimes and supports concrete mechanisms for reparative action.

A major expected outcome of the gathering is the adoption of the Algiers Declaration, envisioned as a continental reference for codifying colonial crimes, acknowledging their ongoing impacts, and shaping an African strategy for justice and reparations. The document will be submitted for consideration and endorsement at the AU Summit in February 2026.

Through this initiative, Algeria reaffirms its leadership and commitment to supporting African aspirations for justice, reparations, preservation of historical memory, and the strengthening of a shared continental identity based on dignity and justice.

Reporting by Indonesia Window