300 Algerians were killed,The French Parliament condemns the “Paris Massacre of 1961”

The French Parliament approved a non-binding proposal condemning the “Paris Massacre of 1961,” demanding that the day commemorating the massacre in which more than 300 Algerians were killed be included among the national days and official celebrations.

The French National Assembly (the first chamber of Parliament) on Thursday approved a proposed resolution condemning the "1961 Paris massacre" in which more than 300 Algerians were killed.

The National Assembly discussed a project aimed at recognizing and condemning the “massacre” in which more than 300 Algerian demonstrators were killed in the capital, Paris, on October 17, 1961.

The National Assembly adopted the one-article proposal with a majority of 67 votes and 11 votes against.

The non-binding proposal stated that Algerian families organized a peaceful demonstration on October 17, 1961, after they objected to the authorities imposing a curfew on “French-Algerian Muslims.”

The motion condemned the “Paris massacre of 1961,” recalling that Algerian demonstrators faced harsh and deadly police pressure on the orders of Maurice Papon, the then Paris police chief.

The proposal also requested that the “1961 Paris Massacre” memorial day be included among the country’s national days and official celebrations.

The proposal is expected to be discussed in the Senate (the second chamber of Parliament), after it has been ratified by the National Assembly.

Paris massacre 1961

On October 17, 1961, the French police, on orders from Baboun, attacked a peaceful demonstration of thousands of Algerians who came out to demand the country’s independence.

According to witnesses to the massacre, the police deliberately killed hundreds of demonstrators in the streets and metro stations, and threw a number of injured people from bridges into the Seine River, leading to their deaths, which became known as the “Paris 1961” massacre.

The Algerian media described what happened on the night of October 17, 1961, as “a real massacre against defenseless innocents that continued until after the night of October 17, with dozens of demonstrators being thrown into the Seine River after being shot dead or beaten.” A large number of them were put in prisons.”

She pointed out that the number of victims reached "hundreds of dead, in addition to thousands of wounded and missing, while the testimonies of people who escaped death indicate unparalleled brutality, describing hideous scenes of dozens of bodies floating in the waters of the Seine River."

In 1998, France acknowledged the killing of 40 people in the demonstration, but it has not yet recognized the massacre as a “state crime.”

In October 2021, the French presidency acknowledged for the first time the arrest of about 12,000 Algerians and their transfer to sorting centers at the Coubertin Stadium, the Sports Palace, and other places. Dozens of them were killed and their bodies were thrown into the Seine River.