ISLAMABAD : Monitoring Desk – The International Conference on the Crimes of Colonialism in Africa, held in Algiers on Sunday and Monday, resulted in a series of recommendations issued in the “Algiers Declaration,” which aims to restore justice while fulfilling a duty to remember the victims of colonialism.
At first glance, the Algiers Declaration calls the former colonial powers to “fully assume their historical responsibilities through the public and explicit recognition of the injustices committed”, recommending, “the creation of Pan-African digital archives, the revision of educational curricula, and the creation of memorials, museums, and commemorative days.”
The participants in the conference recommended the establishment of national truth and reparations Commissions within the member states of the African Union, in addition to supporting “the establishment and strengthening of legal mechanisms at the national, regional, continental, and international levels aimed at institutionalizing criminalization of colonialism in international law through the documentation, access, and full restitution of archives, and to guarantee both legal accountability for colonial crimes and their lasting consequences.”
The Algiers Declaration also urges AU Member States, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), The Regional Coordination Mechanism (RMs), and academic institutions to develop model laws, draft conventions, and jurisprudential analyses that advance the recognition, criminalization, and prosecution of colonial crimes.
It supports, in this regard, “the creation of a Pan-African Committee on Memory and Historical Truth, which will be mandated to harmonize historical approaches, oversee the collection of archives, coordinate African research centers, and produce analyses and recommendations for the continent.”
“We call for the expansion of continental and national commemorative initiatives, including museums, monuments, memorial sites, commemorative days, and educational reforms,” the participants said.
They affirmed “the need to establish a continental assessment of the ecological and climatic impact of colonialism and the rehabilitation needs of territories affected by nuclear, chemical, and industrial testing.”
ALGIERS DECLARATION @ The International Conference on the Crimes of Colonialism in Africa @ DRAFT
They supported “the establishment of an African Platform for Environmental Justice, tasked with identifying affected areas, assessing the damage, supporting the States concerned, and formulating continental recommendations for rehabilitation and compensation.”
“We urge the states historically responsible for the environmental damage that has caused climate change, particularly the former colonial powers, to assume their moral and political responsibility, calling on them to provide financial, technological, and institutional support for the continent’s adaptation and mitigation efforts.”
On another level, the signatories of the Algiers Declaration emphasized “the urgent need to reform African education systems to fully integrate pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial history, and to equip younger generations with an informed historical consciousness.”
“We encourage African universities and academies to create training programs and degrees Higher National Diploma (HND), Bachelor’s, and Master’s degrees whose curricula are based on historical memory, truth, justice, and the right to reparations,” they said, calling for “the creation and implementation of a continental platform for African researchers and students in the history of colonialism, providing access to books, documentary sources, and scholarships.”
They reaffirm the right of African peoples to “the unconditional restitution of cultural resources, including artifacts, manuscripts, archives, sacred objects, and ancestral remains, taken during the colonial rule.”
Regarding the economic impact of colonialism, the Algiers Declaration emphasizes “the importance of undertaking a continental audit of the economic impacts of colonialism with a view to developing a justice-based reparations strategy, including, among other things, compensation for plundered wealth, debt cancellation, and equitable development financing.”
The document also calls for the need to reform global economic governance in order to dismantle the colonial legacy embedded within international financial institutions and trade regimes.
Finally, participants called for “the revision of the international financial architecture, including an effective rebalancing of decision-making power within the IMF, the World Bank, regional development banks, and global economic regulatory bodies, enabling African countries to freely define their development policies, access financing at fair costs, and participate fully in decisions shaping the global economy.”
The Algiers Declaration, which constitutes a continental reference for the codification of colonial crimes, acknowledgment of their impact, and the development of a justice-based reparations strategy, will be submitted for examination and approval by Heads of States at the upcoming 39th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government in February 2026.
