Algiers, Algeria – Algeria is preparing to host a major international conference on the crimes of colonialism in Africa, scheduled for November 30th and December 1st, 2025. The conference is being held in response to African Union Summit Decision 903, adopted in February 2025.
The event stems from an initiative proposed by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to organize an international forum dedicated to promoting justice and reparations for African peoples and individuals of African descent. This initiative underscores Algeria’s long-standing commitment to confronting colonialism and defending African memory, dignity, and rights.
The conference is expected to draw wide participation from across Africa and beyond. Ministers, experts, jurists, historians, and academics from the African continent, the Caribbean, and other nations will gather to formulate a unified position on historical justice, the repatriation of looted heritage, reparations, and the strengthening of collective memory.
The forum will provide a platform for exchanging views on classifying colonialism, slavery, racial discrimination, and apartheid as crimes against humanity, based on the recommendations of the African Union.
The conference will address a range of issues related to the colonial era, including:
- The enduring human and psychological impacts across generations.
- The plundering and destruction of African cultural heritage.
- The exploitation of natural resources and the imposition of unjust economic models.
- The profound environmental consequences, including nuclear testing targeting African populations.
- Legal mechanisms to strengthen the criminalization of colonialism and establish a permanent African mechanism for reparations and the restoration of rights.
Algeria, as the host country and originator of the initiative, aims to provide a high-level dialogue platform that supports international recognition of colonial crimes and promotes the adoption of concrete mechanisms for reparations. A key anticipated outcome is the adoption of the “Algiers Declaration,” which will serve as a continental reference point for documenting colonial crimes and developing an African strategy.
