Algeria received the skulls of 24 resistance fighters decapitated during France’s colonial occupation of the North African country, and which had been stored for decades in a Paris museum.
The return of the skulls was the result of years of efforts by Algerian historians and comes amid growing global recognition of the legacy of colonialism.
“The brave resistance fighters who rejected the colonization of their country by imperial France were immorally exhibited for decades, as vulgar objects of antiquity, without respecting their dignity, their memory. That is the monstrous face of colonization,” he said. the head of the Algerian army, Said Chengiha. he said in a speech on Friday.
“Algeria is experiencing a special day today,” he said.
The 24 fought against the French colonial forces that occupied Algeria in 1830 and participated in a revolt in 1849. After being beheaded, their skulls were brought to France as trophies.
In 2011, the Algerian historian and researcher Ali Farid Belkadi discovered the skulls in the Museum of Man in Paris, in front of the Eiffel Tower, and alerted the Algerian authorities.
The investigator lobbied for years for his return, and then-Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika finally launched the formal request for repatriation.
French President Emmanuel Macron agreed in 2018, but bureaucratic obstacles have delayed the return until now.
In December 2019, Macron said “colonialism was a serious mistake” and asked to turn the page on the past.
The remains will be on public display at the Palace of Culture in the capital on Saturday, and will then be buried at a special funeral east of Algiers on Sunday, the 58th anniversary of Algeria’s independence from France after a long and bloody war. .
Crying, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune presided over the ceremony on Friday, along with the heads of both houses of Parliament and senior military officials.
Three MiG planes escorted the Algerian Ilyushin military plane carrying the wreckage.
The skulls were placed in coffins wrapped in the Algerian flag and carried by soldiers across the asphalt while a military band played.
Among the remains were those of the revolt leader Sheikh Bouzian, who was captured in 1849 by the French, shot and beheaded, and the skull of resistance leader Mohammed Lamjad ben Abdelmalek, also known as Cherif Boubaghla (the man with the mule ).
Historians welcomed the return of the remains, but say they are only part of the history of Algeria that is still in the hands of the French.
“We have recovered part of our memory,” historian Mohamed El Korso told The Associated Press news agency.
“But the fight must continue, until the recovery of all the remains of the resistance fighters, who number in the hundreds, and the archives of our revolution.”
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