Thirty mayors demand official recognition of the 1961 Paris massacre as a state crime, 65 years after Algerians were brutally repressed for protesting a discriminatory curfew.
Mayors demand recognition of 1961 massacre
A group of around thirty mayors has urged the French government to fully recognize the October 17, 1961, massacre as a state crime and to include the date in the official calendar of national days and ceremonies. Massacre details and historical context
The massacre occurred 65 years ago when nearly 25,000 Algerians gathered in Paris at the call of the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) to protest a discriminatory curfew imposed on October 5, 1961, under the authority of Prefect Maurice Papon. Discriminatory curfew and its targets
The curfew specifically targeted Muslim French citizens from Algeria. The peaceful demonstration was met with violent repression by authorities, leading to more than 12,000 arrests, at least 150 Algerians killed, and some bodies being thrown into the Seine. Current status of the massacre's recognition
Sixty-five years later, the status of the opening of archives related to the massacre remains unclear. President Emmanuel Macron has referred to the events as "inexcusable facts for the Republic," but there is still no official recognition of the massacre as a state crime.
