France continues to glorify its colonial atrocities by keeping the skulls of Algerian resistance fighters locked away in the vaults of a Paris museum. These men—heroes who gave their lives fighting French imperialism—are still being used, in death, to feed a narcissistic narrative of dominance and so-called civilisation. This is not remembrance—it is humiliation.
The truth is stark: France did not bring civilisation to Algeria. It brought genocide, theft, destruction of culture, and illiteracy. When France invaded Algeria in 1830, over 90% of Algerians—men and women—were literate in Arabic through Quranic schooling. By the time France was forced out in 1962, after 132 years of occupation, more than 99% of Algerians had been stripped of literacy, education, and opportunity. What was built by Algerians was systematically erased. That is the legacy France left behind—not progress, not light, but ashes.
Yet today, France has the audacity to speak of “friendship” and “cooperation” with Algeria while refusing to repatriate the bones of our martyrs. They display them like trophies—skulls of decapitated fighters—preserved to celebrate colonial brutality. What kind of civilisation honours itself by exhibiting the remains of those it slaughtered?
And as if this disgrace weren’t enough, France now openly welcomes and encourages a separatist political group considered by the Algerian state as a terrorist organisation. This party, operating freely on French soil in 2025, is not advocating for reform—it is calling for division, for chaos, for civil war in Algeria. And yet France plays host, pretending to be a neutral actor, while fuelling the fire against Algerian unity. How dare you speak of good relations?
We say this clearly: enough hypocrisy.
No apology. No accountability. No respect for Algerian sovereignty. And President Tebboune’s silence in the face of this insult is unacceptable. Algeria must not allow diplomacy to continue under these conditions. We call for:
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Zero diplomatic relations.
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Zero commercial exchange.
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Zero tolerance for the glorification of colonial violence.
France must first return the skulls. Then it must issue a full, formal apology for the crimes committed during its bloody colonisation of Algeria. And it must immediately cease all support—direct or indirect—for any group working to destabilise Algerian unity.
Until these demands are met, Algeria owes France nothing—not a handshake, not a contract, not a conversation.
Algerian martyrs deserve to rest in peace on Algerian soil—not in a museum serving a sick colonial fantasy. The time for politeness is over. The time for dignity has come.