Algeria will host, on 30 November and 1 December 2025. the International Conference on the Crimes of Colonialism in Africa, a major continental event organized in line with Africa Union Assembly Decision 903(XXXVIII), adopted in February 2025, which endorsed the offer made by the President of the Republic, Mr. AbdelmadjidTebboune to convene in Algeria a conference dedicated to the celebration and implementation of the African Union Theme of the Year 2025: “Justice for Africans and People ofAfrican Descent through Reparations.”
This initiative is rooted in Algeria’s historic legacy as a nation that has paid a heavy price for colonialism and remains deeply committed to defending the dignity, memory, and rights of African peoples.
Under the leadership of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Algeria is working to strengthen collective reflection and action aimed at criminalizing colonialism, slavery, racial segregation and apartheid as crimes against humanity, in line with the relevant recommendations of the African Union.
The Conference will bring together ministers, jurists, historians, academics and experts from Africa, the Caribbean, and other regions of the world with the objective of consolidating a unified African position on historical justice, reparations, the restitution of cultural heritage, and the preservation of collective memory.
The deliberations will address the human, cultural, economic, environmental, and legal dimensions of colonial crimes, with a focus on intergenerational trauma, the spoliation and destruction of African cultural heritage, the exploitation of resources and the inequitable economic models inherited from colonialism. The environmental impacts including nuclear testing conducted on African populations, as well as the legal pathways enabling the strengthening of the criminalization of colonialism and the establishment of a permanent African mechanism for reparations and restitution.
As host and initiator, Algeria aims to contribute to strengthening Africa’s architecture for historical justice, by providing a high-level platform to advance international recognition of colonial crimes and promote concrete mechanisms for reparative action.
One of the key expected outcomes is the adoption of the “Algiers Declaration”, which is intended to serve as a continental reference for the codification of colonial crimes. The recognition of their impacts, and the development of an African strategy for justice and reparations. This declaration will be submitted to the African Union Summit of February 2026 for consideration and endorsement.
Through this initiative, Algeria reaffirms its driving role and decisive contribution within the continent, by supporting African aspirations for justice, reparations, the preservation of historical memory, and the consolidation of a shared identity founded on dignity and the values of justice.
