Translated "Avante!" article by Jorge Cadima, Member of the International Department
French President Hollande, performed a shy official recognition (42 words) on the police massacre of hundreds of Algerian, in Paris, in 1961,on the 17th October last.
The massacre was not a minor issue: about 30 thousand Algerian demanded independence from the French colony, on the streets.
The Paris police, under the Maurice Papon leadership, answered with savagery: “ about 300 and 400 shot, beaten by guns or by drowning in the river Seine” (in Algérie Patriotique, 12.10.17). Half a century was needed in order to official France admit the massacre took place. But not even 51 years were enough to recognise the number of victims, open up the police files or even point out the responsible. If it were in Syria, all would have been otherwise.
Papon was a Nazi collaborationist during World War II and therefore condemned in 1998, for “ complicity in crimes against Humanity, having collaborated in the Jews deportation under the Vichy regime” (in FranceInter, 12.10.17). But as in many other countries, the bourgeoisie’s and imperialist revival, after 1947, was accomplished with the lowest Fascist scum of society. During decades, Papon had numerous official public posts. And participated in another State massacre in Paris, on the 8th February 1962: during a trade-union demonstration against the OAS ( Secret Army Organization) Fascist terrorism, nine CGT and PCF members were assassinated by the police, at the Charrone underground station.
Papon was a minister under Gaullist presidents such as Raymond Barre and Giscard d’Estaing (1978-81). And the 1961 massacre was silenced during the Socialist Mitterrand’s presidency, himself implied in the brutal colonial repression in Algeria. Mitterrand was France’s minister of Justice at the beginning of 1957, when general Massu and his parachutists ( immortalized the Alger Battle in Gillo Pontecorvo‘s film) received police full powers in the Algerian capital, unleashing a ferocious repression, torture and assassinations, which temporarily smashed the Algerian national liberation movement. Hundreds of thousand Algerians’ blood, blemished the hands of the whole French leader class, just before Algeria could achieve its independence, which celebrates half a century, this current year.
On the other side of the English Channel, barbarian crimes were denounced, this last month. A London Court recognized the right to appeal for damages to three Kenyan colonial victims, at the end of six decades. One was castrated by the colonial authorities (in BBC, 12.10.05). As stated in the news, “ thousands of people were killed during the Mau Mau uprising against the British domain in Kenya during the 50’s and 60’s”. The British government appealed against the sentence and with eloquent cynicism “ pleaded that responsibility for compensations for inflicted torture by colonial authorities was transferred unto the Republic of Kenya, upon the independence in 1963”. The Guardian states, (in 12.04.18): “ thousands of documents describing some of the most shameful committed acts and crimes during the British Empire’s last years were systematically destroyed in order to hinder to fall into post-independence governments “possession” and that “ the documents which escaped destruction, were discretely transferred to Great Britain, where they were concealed for 50 years, in a Foreign Office secret file”. Some of the documents “ described in detail ,how insurrection suspects were beaten to death, burnt alive , castrated […] and fettered for years”, whilst “ ministers and high officials had total knowledge of the prisoners abuses and horrendous systematic assassinations […], but declared, repeatedly, before the British people, that such was not taking place“.
Many are surprised with the Troikas’ EU leaders’ behaviour. But this always was the nature of imperialist powers,standing behind the “European project”. They might paint their faces in blue with yellow stars and hum Beethoven. But the EU reflects the imperialist system class nature which gave birth to it: criminal, exploiter, aggressive. And which, currently, is searching for new colonies.